METRONET STAFF BALLOTED OVER BREAKDOWNS IN RELATIONS

RMT helpline 0800 3763706 :: october 2008 :: RMTnews 5 A round 2,500 Tube infrastructure workers at Metronet are to be balloted for industrial action over breakdowns in industrial relations following the victimisation of an RMT safety rep, dangerous plans to reduce signals maintenance and attempts to impose rosters. RMT is balloting its entire membership in Metronet following the crudely engineered suspension of experienced health and safety rep Andy Littlechild for attempting to uphold the company’s own health and safety policy. He was suspended after a ‘fact-finding’ meeting pre- judged him guilty of refusing to wear a hard hat where one was required. He was told to leave the premises at 3am with no means of getting home and banned from talking to any of his colleagues. For more than two years Metronet has ignored a central plank of Metronet’s health and safety policy, under which the first principle is to eliminate a particular hazard. Failing that attempts should be made to change the way in which a job is carried out, while the use of personal protective equipment (PPE), including hard hats, is regarded under the policy as a last resort – indeed ‘PPE is the last resort’ is a Metronet slogan. The union will also ballot Metronet signals staff if the company does not withdraw proposed cuts in signals maintenance and recognise that rosters are subject to negotiation. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that Andy Littlechild had been fitted up on a bogus charge that “would embarrass the Spanish Inquisition”. “Andy has spent more than two years trying to get Metronet’s official safety policy applied, and it is the management that has brazenly ignored that policy that should be disciplined,” he said. Bob warned that industrial relations on the signals side had also plummeted in recent months, with management throwing weeks of patient talks out of the window and attempting to impose unacceptable rosters and transfers. “But most worrying is the company’s intention to halve the frequency of signalling maintenance and move to what it calls risk-based maintenance – something that even Metronet managers have admitted privately is simply about saving money. “The company says it needs to divert staff for an urgent survey of signals cabling that is half a century old, but it must be unacceptable to do that at the expense of basic maintenance,” he said. METRONET STAFF BALLOTED OVER BREAKDOWNS IN RELATIONS RMT demands re-instatement of victimised rep, no cuts in signals maintenance and no imposed rosters D espite London mayor Boris Johnson’s public announcement that the network would operate 24 hours a day during the 2012 Olympics, there is no agreement with London Underground staff to run the network round the clock during the games. RMT has yet to be even approached by the mayor, TfL or LUL management for discussions on the many complex issues involved. “It is all very well the mayor announcing that the Tube will run-around the clock during the Olympics, but if it is going to happen it will need detailed planning and the agreement and goodwill of the professional staff who will deliver it,” RMT general secretary Bob Crow said. RMT supports the 2012 Olympics and for two years the union has been seeking an early settlement that takes account of the substantial additional burdens and responsibilities that transport workers will have placed upon them. “There are huge difficulties to overcome and obvious safety implications, not least around ensuring that essential maintenance work is done, and I would have thought that an essential starting point would be to approach the union that represents the majority of Tube staff,” Bob Crow said. NO AGREEMENT FOR 24-HOUR TUBE RUNNING