TUBE BOSSES TEAR UP PEACE DEAL

A second day of solid 24-hour strike action by Tube station staff took place on January 8/9, which saw London Underground once again blatantly breach health and safety rules. LUL’s actions have triggered a ballot of all RMT Tube members for further action from the end of January which could lead to closure of the network. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that after an initiative by RMT and TUC general secretary Brendan Barber, the union believed that it had reached an agreement for peace talks. “It is bitterly disappointing that that agreement has fallen foul of an internal row between the industrial relations and operational sides of LUL and rejected without any explanation. “Instead of taking sides London mayor Ken Livingstone should now take the necessary steps to bring all sides back to the table to negotiate sensibly,” Bob said. SAFETY BREACHES Tube bosses ignored widespread safety breaches that occurred during the first strike on New Year’s Eve and continued ignoring them in an attempt to beat strike action by station staff over the imposition of unsafe rosters. RMT London regional organiser Bobby Law said that the system was being kept open by untrained staff and managers who were working shifts of up to 20 hours. “Due to the intransigence of LUL, trains were running through closed stations, in direct contravention of safety rules. “Instead of disembarking passengers, Piccadilly line trains were running through three consecutive closed stations, Caledonian Road, Holloway Road and Kings Cross,” he said. At certain points over 50 per cent of the 108 stations, covered by Section 12 fire-safety regulations, were shut and others were kept open by untrained staff. Many other stations were left open unstaffed or shut down without informing drivers. Bobby Law outlined an incident at Upminster Bridge on Sunday evening when an emergency alarm stopped the train halfway into the platform. Unruly passengers began opening the doors and the driver retreated to his cab and locked himself in. Police arrived 40 minutes later with a supervisor who had been called in from his home to open the station up. “It is clear that LUL attempts to run a network without adequate station staff is putting the public at risk. They can’t even keep their headquarters station, St James’s Park, open without using untrained staff,” said Bobby Law. Bob Crow said that such blatant safety breaches showed just how desperate Tube bosses were. “We will be balloting the union’s entire London Underground membership for action short of strike action over these health and safety breaches. “The sad events at Euston station on New Year’s Eve – one of the stations for which staffing levels are not agreed – in which there were three stabbings, underline the fact that the safety issues at the heart of this dispute remain to be resolved. “However, the union appeals to LUL, even at this late stage, to postpone the imposition of these unsafe staffing plans in order to assess all safety implications,” Bob Crow said. www.rmt.org.uk :: january 2006 :: RMTnews 13 TUBE BOSSES TEAR UP PEACE DEAL A second 24-hour strike by RMT Tube station staff went ahead earlier this month after an internal row in the LUL board scuppered a peace formula negotiated during two hours of emergency talks hosted by the TUC The deal brokered by TUC general secretary Brendan Barber between RMT and LUL which Tube bosses later rejected • That urgent negotiations will take place next week with the aim of reaching agreement on all outstanding issues relating to the new rosters arising from the implementation of the agreement on the shorter working week • The aim agreed by both sides is to conclude the negotiations to enable notification of the new rosters to all staff as soon as possible. A report back of progress in the negotiations will be made to the TUC general secretary by January 17 by the latest. • The RMT negotiating team will be led by Bob Crow and the LUL team by operations director Mike Brown. • In light of those negotiations RMT agrees to suspend the industrial action.