Dear Colleagues,

CONGRATULATIONS TO MEMBERS - UNDERGROUND STRIKE SOLID

I am writing to congratulate members on the magnificent solidarity you have shown in the recent strike. Despite the lies and misleading propaganda put out by management, politicians and the media, you know that the network hardly ran any services at all.

We can all manipulate statistics but LUL’s attempt is actually farcical. They ran a small number of trains but could not stop them at most stations because the stations were shut, they opened a small number of stations but there were no trains running to stop at them! You were on the picket line or saw the news; the system was practically at a standstill.

But very worryingly it seems management are playing fast and loose with safety during the dispute in order to run services at any cost. There have been a number of serious breaches of safety during the last strike such as;

• Passengers being allowed to exit trains at Leytonstone while access to and from the station was locked.
• Passengers allowed to exit trains at Angel. The escalator (the longest in Europe) was switched off and when passengers arrived in the booking hall the station was un-staffed and all exits were locked. Passengers had to walk back down to the platform and re-board trains to escape.
• At least two breaches of the “three stations rule” which states that if more than three or more stations in a row are not operational trains should not proceed. These breaches occurred on the Bakerloo and Northern lines.

I have asked HMRI to investigate these safety related incidents and will let you know the outcome as soon as possible.

As has been stated in previous letters, RMT members do not want these cuts and nor do the travelling public. The passengers who use the tube have time after time expressed their wish to have booking offices open, a staff presence in stations to offer assistance and make them feel safe and secure when travelling, especially in quiet periods during the day and at night. There is NO justification for these cuts which will make the Underground a less welcoming environment for all concerned.

The Mayor of London keeps on about having a first class transport system in the capital and then complains when the RMT and its sister Union TSSA take action to ensure that these detrimental cuts do not happen. When on the election trail he insisted the tube was safe with him: well look what’s happening – under his leadership 800 jobs are going. And what’s more worrying is that later this month the government is going to announce further austerity cuts that will no doubt mean further cuts to jobs, services, and investment mainly in the public sector.

We make no apology for stating here and now we will do all in our power to defend terms, conditions and jobs on London Underground. The next strike is due to start on the 2nd November but I can assure you we are doing all we can to resolve this dispute but we must ensure that members and the travelling public are not left with an unsafe network. We will continue to press management for early discussions on the job cuts and will keep you informed of developments as and when they happen.

We have received support from many Trade unions, Organisations and individuals, both domestic and international, and you can read them on the RMT website - see the following link

In the mean time stand firm and continue to show the wonderful solidarity that you have to date.

NO TO JOB CUTS YES TO SAFETY

Yours sincerely, Bob Crow General Secretary