London underground

Submitted by Anon on 22 May, 2004 - 10:08
  • Chris Barrett
  • Derailment
  • Pay action

Chris Barrett

Last year tube driver Chris Barrett hit the headlines when he was sacked from London Underground after they filmed him visiting a squash court while he was off work with an ankle injury. His doctor backed him up, saying the exercise for appropriate treatment for his recovery. London Underground went ahead and dismissed him. The background to the sacking is the employer's policy of tailing and videoing one in three workers on long-term sick leave!

Chris was vilified in the press. His personnel records were leaked to the press. Ken Livingstone referred to those records when he said he was surprised that management had let him 'get away with it' for so long.

Now an employment tribunal has ruled that Chris Barrett was unfairly dismissed.

At the end of last year RMT members struck to get Chris reinstated. Their solidarity has been rewarded.

Chris now says he wants his old job back and the union is threatening to strike if the employers give in.

Derailment

On 11 May the Underground saw its fourth derailment in 16 months, this time on a Central line train at White City station while travelling at 15mph.

Investigators are looking at a set of points at the entrance to the station where maintenance work had been done by Metronet. The last derailment on the Central line train was in January 2003 at Chancery Lane. That time 32 people were injured.

The failure of bolts holding a motor to the train was found to have caused the crash, leading to the closure of the entire line for many weeks while 80 trains were modified.

The unions have said the latest accident is part of a wider problem with repair work on the Central line by the privatised contractor.

Pay action

Talks are continuing between the RMT and London Underground over this year's pay claim of £22,000 for a station assistant and a substantial rise for everyone else; a 35-hour week for station staff; and the reintroduction of privilege tickets (free tube travel for tube workers).

The word is that LUL is not prepared to offer very much. Activists must now start preparing to win a ballot and then strike action to win our claim.

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