The London Transport Regional Council has passed a motion written by Jubilee South branch which calls for meaningfully reduced working hours, fir safety reasons, during the Coronavirus crisis.

The Jubilee South branch motion

This branch believes that there is a fundamental error in the way that London Underground is managing workers during the Coronavirus crisis. London Underground should be running a necessary service for key workers, not running as many trains as possible.

A recent 'Change Assurance Plan' from LU bosses stated that their aim is to run 'as many trains as possible' meanwhile bosses attempted to introduce timetables running a service as frequently as every four minutes throughout the day. On stations we see workers forced onto gate lines or platforms purely because they are available for work, not based on whether their presence is required.

None of these actions demonstrate an attempt to protect staff from unnecessary work and the danger it poses.

We note that there has been success by our union so far, with unnecessary proposed timetables being kicked back and a recent agreement on stations seeing senior LU management commit to only having staff at work when necessary. This is a good step, but we are concerned it will not be implemented in a meaningful by many local managers who will either refuse to implement it hastily or will only make tweaks to duties.

This branch believes a clear step towards protecting workers on London Underground is to put all full timers onto at maximum a four-day week, for as long as the lock down continues, with further reductions in hours made wherever possible as well. There should also be similar meaningful reduction in hours for those on part time contracts.

This would mean less time travelling to and from work, less time interacting with the public and risking catching and spreading Coronavirus, and also more time for workers to care for vulnerable family members and others in the community who require our support.

We call on the NEC to make this a central demand for the safety of our members in all operational grades on London Underground