RMT appalled by way LUL has acted over Night Tube “grade consolidation” plan

Dear Colleagues

RMT is appalled by the way London Underground has acted over Night Tube “grade consolidation”. Instead of accommodating those NT drivers who want to go full time, they attempt to do away with the grade completely and impose Night Tube shifts on the TO21 drivers.

London Underground management have told us that they are desperate for drivers. Night Tube drivers are fully trained up and many of them are eager to begin a full-time role. The solution therefore is simple: those Night Tube drivers who want to be full time should be promote as a matter of urgency.

We now know that the Night Tube service won’t be back before 2022, so most likely management have at least 12 months to resolve Night Tube operation concerns. However, rather than focusing on giving Night Tube drivers what most want, a full-time role, our managers have tried to manipulate this situation to also get Night Tube run on the cheap by rolling it into the Full Time (T021) role.

RMT has made clear to management that we will not allow this to happen.

RMT does not accept the abolition of the Night Tube (TO23) grade which will mean a reduction of jobs and the removal of a line of promotion for our members in other grades.

It would mean reversing a democratic decision taken in 2016 when all of our drivers took industrial action against increased night working and weekend on the full-time rosters. It has also been reiterated recently that the vast majority of our 1600 members still don’t support this move - even with the cash incentives offered. This was evidenced by an RMT reps meeting which was unanimously against these proposals.

We call on ASLEF to get behind all drivers, both Full time (T021) and Night Tube (T023). We should all demand that management get T023s into full time roles as quickly as possible, rather than the secondment. We should also all be demanding that management drop plans to vastly increase night working for T021s by imposing Night Tube operation onto the full time roster.

We feel it is shameful how management have used the pandemic to manipulate this situation in the way that they have. All our members, whether Night Tube or full-time drivers, and those waiting for driver jobs in the other grades, have suffered and worked hard throughout this pandemic.

Management should be thanking us not making things harder.

RMT is continuing to demand NT drivers get full time roles, with no strings attached. We call on other unions and London Underground to back that too, for the good of all our members and all drivers.

Yours sincerely

John Leach

REGIONAL ORGANISER