Reasons To Be Striking. Part 2

The stitch-up that led to the unfair dismissal of Fitz Chambers is as clear as day. Let’s look at the facts of the case:

A new Train Operations manager arrives at the Elephant from the District Line with a clear agenda to get the District’s unpopular and discredited “fixed links” system up and running on the Bakerloo.

Your RMT branch resolves to fight this attack on the successful and long running syndicates and this blatant attempt to undermine workers’ control in the depots.

A ballot is held among drivers at the Elephant and the proposed rosters are democratically rejected by staff, despite some managers attempting to influence individual drivers to vote Yes.

Less than a week later the leaders of the “Dream Team Syndicate” are stood down amid allegations of corruption. The very same day a pro-forma is issued to Dream Team drivers entreating them to sign up to management’s puppet “mafia”.

It emerges that three drivers have put pen to paper alleging that they were asked for or handed over cash to the Syndicate leaders for certain duties, in one case over a year previously. All of the memos were submitted within days of each other and all after the No result in the fixed links ballot. All of them were submitted to the same DMT.

The three Quislings at the centre of this kangaroo court have since been rewarded for stitching up their work-mates by being moved from the Elephant, at least one of them on a “hardship” transfer to a senior depot on another line while one syndicate leader was forced to resign and the other summarily and unceremoniously sacked.

Ask yourself this: If the Dream Team Syndicate was as corrupt as management allege it was, why didn’t they investigate other syndicates on the Bakerloo Line and around the combine? There was nothing going on in the Dream Team Syndicate that isn’t going on today in any other syndicate on the job.

There have been rumours for years of London Underground offering severance to long-serving staff. Well they’ve already told us there is no more money. Sacking everyone they can drag in front of a disciplinary board on trumped up charges is about as close to severance as any of us are likely to get.

This isn’t about personalities. This is about a principle. They came for Kevin Dobinson and people didn’t stand up and be counted. This gave them the green light to come for Fitz, Joel Miah and Rob Barton. Where do you think we should draw the line? After you’ve been sent up the road as well? We need to say enough is enough. Nobody is untouchable and management have made their agenda very clear.

The current attacks on all drivers, be they RMT, ASLEF or non-members, will only continue and increase all the while people are happy to sit back and say “I’m alright, Jack”.

But you ain’t alright Jack… YOU’RE NEXT.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH – SUPPORT THE STRIKE