RMT has done us a service by again leaking management plans that will lead to job cuts.
This time, our bosses' 'think tanks' (think: tanks which great big guns on them) have been working on the issue of minimum numbers. They appear to be horrified that they have documents committing them to ensuring that there are enough staff on duty on each station to keep it safe. What a shocking waste of money, they reckon. Just think: that money could be spent on plusher carpets in managers' offices, or perhaps more awaydays or overseas jaunts.
So they want to rewrite the documents, to say that, for example, Victoria station really only needs 4 staff on duty rather than the minimum of 9 (12 during the peak) that it has now. Victoria is the Tube's busiest station. If it had a fire, or a derailment, or any other serious incident, then it is simply horrifying to think of how just four staff are supposed to cope with that and the consequences if they can't. And it won't just be Victoria, but every other sub-surface station, which sees its official minimum numbers "reviewed", and what will follow that? Job cuts.
Management even think that Victoria could stay open with just two staff so long as the Victoria line is non-stopping (what they call a 'degraded service'!). This sort of ludicrous idea will lead to job cuts too, as they will use a model like this to justify cutting the number of reserves and therefore the overall number of staff.
It seems that London Underground management have a vision of a London Underground with a bare minimum of staff, carrying money from passengers' pockets to managers' bonuses and slush funds. They are trying to cull staff and bury those who remain under an almost-impossible workload and demoralised by constant pressure.
So what do we need to do?
Firstly, have confidence that we can stop this jobs massacre. We stopped the ticket office closure plan two years ago - stopped it completely, not just reduced its scale.
Secondly, get information out to everyone. Some people in union hierarchies may scoff at the importance of leaflets, newsletters and information, but they are vital: the unions will not simply be able to order everyone out on strike unless staff know the issues and the arguments: we are not a stage army.
Thirdly, we need to campaign about this now, rather than wait for the formal announcement of job cuts. LU are using various techniques to prepare for the job cuts. We should fight these now. One major example is the £5 minimum Oyster top-up: which is why it is so encouraging to see so many staff ignoring it and so frustrating that union head offices are slow off the block to make the boycott official.
Fourthly, we can and must get the public on our side.
And fifthly, we need a well-organised campaign that is democratic and led by rank-and-file workers. Yes, we need leadership from our union leaders, but we know from bitter experience that top-down campaigns and decisions made over members' heads lead to demoralisation and ineffective action. So we need organising meetings open to rank-and-file reps and activists, which organise information and action where it really counts: in the workplace.
If we do all this, then when the time comes for industrial action - which it inevitaby will - we will be ready for the sort of concerted campaign that we will need. Token walkouts won't do the job.
