Tube fat cats | Workers' Liberty

Labour rank-and-file challenge Tory cuts and Sadiq Khan's failures

Submitted by Tubeworker on Sun, 06/01/2019 - 21:00

London Labour Party members are set to debate a resolution condemning both the Tory government's cut to TfL funding and Sadiq Khan's decision to implement rather than fight the cuts. The resolution, which has already been passed by one branch, is copied here.

TRANSPORT FOR LONDON

This conference condemns the savage cuts in funding to Transport for London by the Conservative government, which expects London Underground to be the only major metro system in the world to run without public subsidy.

74% all round?

Submitted by Tubeworker on Wed, 05/12/2018 - 01:18

It’s been revealed that senior stations boss Brian Woodhead received a 74% salary bump this year, taking his pay to nearly £300k.

While we don’t doubt for a second that Brian is worth every penny of that (after all... if he didn’t come to work, stations wouldn’t open and trains wouldn’t run... right?), but surely lower paid frontline staff deserve the same? 74% increase all round, anyone?

Despite their claims of poverty, there’s clearly still money for some things at LU.

Union busting on Yammer?

Submitted by Tubeworker on Sun, 25/03/2018 - 21:20

LU bosses tell us that corporate social media platform Yammer is a great way to have a conversation about what's going on at work. Senior managers like MD Mark Wild like to drop by to give the impression they're listening to what their workers think.

But it seems the conversation is rather one-sided: a Yammer user was recently censored for posting an RMT leaflet, which was summarily deleted.

Farewell, Steve

Submitted by Tubeworker on Thu, 30/03/2017 - 11:45

LU Managing Director Mark Wild informed staff in an Employee Bulletin this morning that Chief Operating Officer Steve Griffiths would be stepping down.

Tubeworker is pleased to publish this poem we've been sent, written to mark the occasion by E. J. Thribb, an Operational Apprentice aged 17½.

So. Farewell then,
Steve Griffiths
Whose departure as LU Chief Operating Officer was announced today.

The Inequality at the Heart of LU

Submitted by Tubeworker on Wed, 08/06/2016 - 18:24

Our long-awaited back pay has finally been paid, giving our June pay packets a bit of a boost.

We all know we're relatively well paid compared to a lot of other workers, but we also need to keep that in perspective. If you work on stations, it's likely that you're now being paid at least £6,000 less than you should be for the job you're doing, as LU has forced us all into unpaid promotions that have seen us take on the work previously done by the grade above us.

New Underground MD Coming from Down Under

Submitted by Tubeworker on Mon, 25/04/2016 - 15:36

Has there been a new Tube extension built to Australia? Maybe that’s where all the PPP cash went; anyway, we have a new managing Director on his (it’s always his) way from Australia. Mark Wild is leaving his current role as Special Advisor to the Minister and Secretary of The State Government of Victoria to take up the top job at LU.

Pay talks begin: whose belts should tighten?

Submitted by Tubeworker on Tue, 10/02/2015 - 19:17

No sooner had the preliminary discussions on a new pay deal for LU staff begun than the Chief Operating Officer got his tiny violin out and started tugging at our heartstrings about how terribly hard up the company is.

"We face a difficult financial climate ... Further pressure on our finances is inevitable ... Organisations in both the private and public sectors have seen severe pay restraint or pay freezes..."

In other words: don't get your hopes up, guys and girls. We might find you some crumbs from the table, but that'll be about your lot.

A Lunch Fit for a Fat Cat

Submitted by Tubeworker on Wed, 14/01/2015 - 11:42

The latest expenses from TfL show an expense from Transport Commissioner Peter Hendy of £450 for a "working lunch".

Tubeworker isn’t suggesting the expense is improper; although we reckon we spend, at most, £5 a day on lunch or dinner whilst at work, so £450 would buy us meals for three months. And our meal break is unpaid, despite needing to eat to have the energy to get through the day and sell our labour back to the boss.

Merry Brownmas

Submitted by Tubeworker on Mon, 08/12/2014 - 21:47

So, the company is skint, right? So skint it has to make savings in the form of closing every ticket office and cutting nearly 1,000 jobs, right?

Right, but apparently not too skint to send each of us, personally, a Christmas card from top boss Mike Brown.

Tubeworker thinks the money might be better spent elsewhere. Of course, in the new-think propaganda world of LU senior managers this is a lovely gesture; Christmas card in one hand, P45 in the other.

Farewell Phil

Submitted by Tubeworker on Mon, 15/09/2014 - 12:13

So, Farewell Phil. You weren't here very long, but you managed to announce the closure of all ticket offices and a thousand job cuts before jumping ship and boarding HMS Network Rail.

We're sure it was tough, but equally sure that you were handsomely rewarded for your efforts, and will continue to be so in your new post.