Click on the link to see a copy of the November edition of Bakerloo News.

Main story follows:

Next strike day - November 3rd! Together we will win!

The 2nd day of combine wide industrial action by RMT and TSSA members was a resounding success. Even the most begrudging naysayer would have to agree. By the morning peak on Monday 4th October even LU had to admit that the second day of strike action for jobs was having an even greater impact than the first.

With most stations closed a skeleton service on some lines and no service at all on other lines. Management broke briefly from the habit of a lifetime and said that the network was in chaos. This of course didn’t stop them trying to run some trains putting both passengers and staff at risk. LU have the cheek to call our dispute political while they play Russian roulette with staff and passenger safety just so they can tell their friends at the Standard that they ran a service. Hypocritical and arrogant to the extreme.
Passengers were found wandering around Regents Park and Charing Cross station even though both stations were closed and unstaffed. Be sure that it would be the driver, having opened the doors and not the manager who decided to authorise this dangerous practice who would get the sack if there had been an accident. Technically this is considered a wrong side door opening, as there is no correct side at a closed station. Drivers should think twice before working in these degraded conditions: you are not immune from discipline because there is industrial action!
On the picket lines there was growing evidence that the strike was spreading with more picket lines across the combine, considerable picket lines at Elephant and Castle and Queen’s Park, more Aslef drivers refusing to cross the picket lines and considerable numbers of Queen’s Park and Elephant & Castle DMTs joining the dispute. At Queens Park, even refuse collectors and maintenance staff were turned back at Premier House gates. It’s about all time that all drivers showed the same backbone and refuse to cross the lines.
There was also anger amongst some drivers who did come to work, with one Elephant & Castle driver saying that they had to drive for six hours before a break, they will not be coming in for the next strike.
Meanwhile, management have announced another 800 job loses in what they call ‘support’, services to you and me that’s the people who process our wages, sort out our annual leave and oh yes, maintenance staff who check that the trains are safe to run. At the last count we were up against almost 2000 job cuts; this is despite LU keeping most of it’s budget at the Chancellors spending review. More evidence, if any was required, that LU are hell bent on using the excuse about the recession to cut, slash and burn our hard fought for terms and conditions.
No grade is immune from this attack! Changes to pool driver requirements and axing of team talk will leave LU heavily over subscribed in driver numbers; there are also plans to slash IO numbers from 350 to 120 across the combine. Wake up, this dispute does affect you!
The next 24 hours of action starts on Tuesday 2nd of November and runs into Wednesday the third. All shifts booking on after 21.00 hrs on Tuesday should stay in the pub, take the family out for the day or join our picket lines
Again we call on all Underground workers, regardless of union, to join us in this fight for jobs and safety. Don’t put yourself or the passengers at risk by helping the bosses to run a dangerous service during next months strike, refuse to cross picket lines and let’s show the management that we mean to win. Unlike the Government’s hollow claims, we really are all in this together.