The next Morden & Oval branch meeting will take place on Wednesday 19th May 2010 from 5.30pm at the Wheatsheaf public house, 2, Upper Tooting Road, London, SW17. It is situated next to Tooting Bec tube station.
Update: TfL have now confirmed this story, saying it will cost £310m to buy out Tubelines.
It is being reported that TfL are planning to buy out Tubelines shareholders and put the final nail in the PPP coffin. The Times reports that TfL "will buy out Amey and Bechtel, the shareholders that control Tube Lines."
Click on the attachment to see the latest Branch Newsletter.
Articles follow...
Don’t be fooled by the lies - Stand up for jobs and safety
London Underground has fired the first shots in the coming battle over jobs and safety with their recent consultation document. They have announced that 450 ticket office positions must go as well as another 150 CSA positions. Meanwhile, management have approached the Train’s Health & Safety Council (THSC) with proposals for the worst watering down of safety standards ever seen. Add to this a leaked document from management in which they spell out their plans for smashing the unions on the job and it is clear that our bosses are intent on reversing all the gains we have won over the years and are going to put both us and the passengers in danger with their attacks on safety.
A freedom of information request shows that it takes on average nearly 11 minutes to resolve a query for customers calling the Oyster Helpline.
Is this what TfL and LU see as staying true to their vision of world class customer service when discussing job cuts? Is 11 minutes on a telephone better service than a face to face chat with staff in a ticket office?
TfL have spent £7.8 million pounds of a budget allocation of £15 million, to find a replacement for the Routemaster bus which was scrapped by the previous London Mayor Ken Livingstone, as it was inaccesible to many people.
This is at a time when 800 staff are being cut at LUL in a drive for ‘efficiency'.
At all these, we will be giving out leaflets which spell out the proposed cuts to ticket offices and staff at the station concerned, and will be collecting signatures on our petition. Please come along and help if you can.
From Bob Crow, RMT General Secretary ...
In the final days before the General Election I would remind you of the stance taken by the Conservative Party with regard to protecting workers health, safety and welfare. The Tories have repeatedly diminished workers rights when in power and were responsible for the harshest erosion of protection via their sustained attacks on trade union legislation during the 80s and 90s.
Station Group's
Harrow on the Hill
Dave Phillips
Train Depots
Rickmansworth(MET)
Mark Williams
Revenue Control
Service Control
The attached document summarises the differences between the policies of the former Metronet and the policies of London Underground. As Metronet is now part of London Underground, there will be a process to 'harmonise' these policies. By comparing them, we can see which are the best bits of each!
Thanks to Paul Jackson for compiling this document.
