October/November 2014

rmtbakerloobranch.org.uk @bakerloormt
Threat of strikes forces concessions:
The RMTsuspended a strike
planned for 14-16 October, and our
ongoing overtime ban, after
management made signicant
concessions in talks.
These concessions do not alter the
fundamental framework of
managements Fit for the Future -
Stations cuts plans, but union
negotiators felt they were meaningful
enough to suspend the strikes while
reps and members discuss the gains
weve made.
Although the communication from
management announcing the
suspension of the strike predictably
denounced the strikes as pointless,
by listing the new commitments
management made in talks, the
company as-good-as admited that it
had been forced to change its
position because RMTthreatened
strike action.
The new
concessions:
Inclusion of medically-restricted
sta in salary and location
guarantees.
Previous industrial action had
forced management to guarantee that
any worker aected by Fit for the
Future changes would not lose
salary, and anyone facing
displacement would face no more
than 30 minutes additional travelling
time (still not ideal, but beter than
nothing).
However, this guarantee previously
did not include medically-restricted
sta. This meant that some workers
faced being relocated and regraded
into a role they were not physically
capable of performing, eectively
forcing them out of their job.
By extending the guarantee to
medically-restricted sta,
management has been forced to climb
down from its threat to force sta to
quit.
A slight reduction in job cuts, and a
commitment to reduce further.
Throughout the station-by-station
review processes, management has
been extremely reluctant to even
consider reducing the number of jobs
they want to cut. Now they have
budged slightly, reducing the gure
from 953 to 897.
This is still not good enough:RMT
remains opposed to any job cuts at all.
But budging the bosses from their
previous intransigence does represent
some progress.
Supervisors to remain within
stations negotiation/representation
structures.
As part of its proposed new stang
model, the company had wanted to
move large numbers of existing SS-
grade sta, who are covered by RMT
representation through the Stations
Function, into the managerial MATS
grade, where the union has far few
reps.
That plan has now been dropped,
meaning all operational supervisors
will remain in the Stations Function,
whereRMT can eectively represent
them.
The demand to move to
implementation has been dropped.
Management had wanted RMTto
agree that the negotiation and
consultation phase of the discussions
around Fit for the Future was over,
and that the implementation phase
had begun.
This would have meant that the
union would no longer be able to
eectively oppose the principles of job
cuts and ticket oce closures, and
would have been forced to limit
ourselves to quibbling over how cuts
were implemented.
By forcing management to drop this
demand, we keep the dispute alive
and maintain our ability to challenge
the fundamentals of the Fit for the
Future plan, not just how its
implemented.
These are all things we didnt have
before we planned to strike, which we
have now won. That should remind us
of the potential power we have, and
encourage us to ght for more.
The Fit for the Future proposals
are still nowhere near looking like
anything RMTcould accept or
support. We remain opposed to cuts
and closures that we know will make
the job harder for sta and the service
worse for passengers.
Get involved in your branch to
discuss how to take the Every Job
Maters campaign forward, and
discuss what action we can take to
push management back further.
Keep fighting to win more!
LU workers and RMT members
Alex McGuigan, Noel Roberts,
and Vicky Hayward has been
unjustly sacked by the company.
Alex, a Northern Line driver with
29 years service, failed a
breathalyser test, but management
failed to follow its own procedures
and follow up the test by testing a
urine sample for alcohol (it was
only tested for drugs). They also
failed to take into account Alexs
medical conditions, which can give
false positives for alcohol.
Noel Roberts, from East Ham,
has been medically terminated,
despite having been back at work
(after a period of sickness) for
months, and despite being declared
by everyone from his own GSM to
LUs own Occupational Health
department as being t to work.
Vicky Hayward, from Central Line
East, was sacked on the basis of
manager statements relating to
CCTVevidence they had seen,
which she and her rep were not
allowed to accessed... and which
had in fact been destroyed!
These sackings are all unjust, and
represent abuses of LUs own
procedures. Management is clearly
trying to create an atmosphere in
which summary and authoritarian
sackings and disciplinary
procedures are used to intimidate
workers into keeping our heads
down.
RMTwill not tolerate these
injustices, and is ghting for
reinstatement for Alex, Noel, and
Vicky. If management are allowed
to get away with sacking workers
in this manner, none of us are
safe.
Justice for Alex,
Noel, and Vicky!
Reinstatement
now!
Bakerloo News is a monthly
newsletter from the Bakerloo
branch of the RMT union. The
branch meets on the first
Monday of every month at 1600
at the Red Lion Pub on Kingly
Street (W1B 5PR). All members
are welcome. To submit a story
for Bakerloo News, or to contact
the branch, please email
bakerlooline@rmt.org.uk
BRANCH
UPDATES
CSA Daniel Randall has been elected
Industrial rep for the Oxford Circus
Group. Members can contact him on
07961040618.
We are looking for new Industrial
reps on the Wembley Central and
Piccadilly Circus groups; if you are
interested in standing, please email
bakerlooline@rmt.org.uk.
Octobers branch meeting passed
resolutions in support of the National
Campaign Against Fees & Cuts 19
November demonstration for free
education, and the Focus E15 mothers
campaign for social housing. For more
information, see anticuts.com and
bit.ly/focus-e15.
The branch nominated Derek
Bishop for re-election to Trains Safety
Council, Gwyn Pugh for re-election to
Trains Upgrades Council, Toyo [xxx]
for Stations Safety Council, and Sarah
Roberts and Jared Wood for election
to Stations Functional Council.