Tubeworker's blog

Suicide prevention situations are often very tricky - but as a recent incident at Wood Green shows, heavy-handed policing does not help.

A video of the incident has gone viral on social media. A passenger had made it known that they wanted to end their life, and staff and bystanders went into...

The Department for Transport (DfT) has given Transport for London (TfL) another funding bailout, which guarantees its operations for the next six months. The bailout is the latest in a series of similar packages negotiated throughout the pandemic, all of which have been an opportunity for the...

RMT is balloting driver members across LU for industrial action to win reinstatement for unjustly sacked rep Gary “Gash” Carney.

The ballot opens on 28 May and runs until 29 June. Tubeworker encouragres all RMT driver readers to vote yes, and drivers in Aslef to respect prospective RMT picket...

Since Mitie took over the TfL/LU security contract from Interserve, there’s been a spike in overbearing and disciplinarian management practises.

Security workers are getting organised via RMT. The union must ensure they are supported and empowered to fight back against this culture of management...

Floor markers indicating a tiny “staff only” square, of 1m by 1m, have started to appear on platforms.

This is clearly in preparation for the return of SATS, platform duties for station staff. Presumably this is LU’s way of helping us maintain distancing from passengers.

Expecting staff to...

London Underground has unilaterally incorporated Night Tube train operator duties into full-time train operators' rosters, consolidating the former TO23 (Night Tube) and TO21 (full-time) T/Op grades into a single grade.

This will mean fewer train operator jobs, increased night and weekend working...

The government has extended TfL's funding to 28 May. Negotiations between TfL, City Hall, and the Department for Transport continue.

The current pattern of short-term funding bailouts is unsustainable. It suits the Tories, as every round of negotiations is another opportunity to attempt to attach...

Central Line drivers will strike from 21:00 on 5 May to 20:59 on 6 May, as the campaign to win reinstatement for unjustly sacked RMT rep Gary Carney steps up.

Gary was sacked for allegedly “avoiding” a Drugs and Alcohol test, despite having booked off sick before he was even informed about the...

Management have decided that from 16 May, station staff can resolve passengers' journeys on POMs.

This was suspended at the start of the pandemic, to minimise close contact between staff and passengers. So, why resume it so soon? On 16 May, plenty of lockdown restrictions will still be in place...

With Andy Byford confirming that Night Tube will not return before 2022, there seems to be separate arrangements taking place between stations and Trains. Both Aslef and RMT have argued that night tube drivers should be allowed to go full time rather than the punishing secondments many have been...

Sadiq Khan's manifesto for the 6 May London mayoral elections contains a great deal about transport. Tubeworker will comment further on other aspects of it in the future: we want to pick up on just one here.

The manifesto goes further than Khan has gone previously towards indicating the in...

As we prepare for the reopening of non-essential shops, and some bars and restaurants, on 12 April, we're seeing a push on some stations to water down Covid safety arrangements. We need to push back.

We need sufficient staff on stations to operate them safely. But as long as we can do that with...

RMT drivers at Queen's Park depot have voted by a 99% majority for strikes to stop job cuts, after an active campaign to get the vote out.

LU bosses want to cut the workforce by around 10%. Although RMT reps have already won a guarantee that no driver will be displaced, the union is rightly...

Central Line drivers in RMT are balloting for industrial action to win reinstatement for unjustly sacked rep Gary Carney.

Gary was sacked for allegedly avoiding a Drugs & Alcohol test he was never informed about. The ballot opened on 15 March, and closes on 13 April.

Tubeworker encourages all...

Hammersmith Service Control staff are forced to work in a building that’s unfit for purpose.

On top of which, they’re battling short staffing, unworkable rosters, and LU’s use of temporary staff on zero-hours contracts.

RMT has rightly declared a dispute. Any goodwill towards the company has...

The murder of Sarah Everard has drawn public attention and protests against the violence and harassment endured by women.

Over two hundred women are killed each year in Britain. Unlike Sarah, most are killed by men they know, and many of them – perhaps especially those who are not white...

Drivers in RMT at Queen's Park depot have commenced their ballot for industrial action to stop job cuts. LU wants to slash the workforce at the depot by more than 10%.

LU claims the cuts are necessary due to a service reduction. But local union reps have continually pressed the company to "open...

District line drivers were due to start industrial action this weekend, as the company ploughs ahead with its imposition of ATO (SMA3) without adequate support or training.

But RMT has called off the action after the company threatened to seek a court injunction against it. Tubeworker understands...

LUL management seem determined to impose automatic train operation (ATO) even in teh largest and most complex depots and sidings.

Every Tube worker knows that depots and sidings contain extra hazards. Unpredictable train movements, people walking across the track, cleaning and maintenance work...

We've previously reported on LU's plan to slash around 10% of the driver workforce at Queen's Park depot.

Negotiations over the issue have hit the wall, and RMT's Bakerloo branch has now declared a ballot of Queen's Park drivers for action to resist the cuts.

The ballot runs from 25 March to 8...

Aslef drivers across LU have voted by a thumping 97.3% majority for industrial action to protect terms and conditions. The union is yet to name any action, but it's a resounding vote that will send a clear message to the bosses.

With LU's financial future in doubt, the bosses have our terms and...

TfL is currently participating in a trial whereby rapid antigen Covid tests are made available to directly-employed staff and some external staff, such as the British Transport Police. Several testing centres have been set up around London.

The trial must be expanded to be accessible to...

Strikes by Tube cleaners in 2007-8 won an agreement that cleaners’ wages, regardless of which company held the outsourced cleaning contract, would be pegged to the London Living Wage. The 2019/20 LLW calculation was £10.75. That’s due to rise to £10.85 in April 2021.

But that 10p/hour increase...

Gary Carney booked off sick after vomiting at work. For most people, this would be a cause for compassion. For LUL management, it's a reason to sack him.

The company's pretext is that he avoided a Drugs and Alcohol test - but as we all know, when you are summoned to your manager's office for a...

RMT and the TUC in London and the South East have teamed up produced an extremely useful briefing, setting out the case for Tube cleaning to be brought in house.

The contract, currently held by ABM, is up for renewal next year. RMT is pressuring Sadiq Khan’s Labour administration to bring the...

District Line drivers in RMT have voted by an overwhelming majority to take action over LU's failure to provide adequate training before its imposition of the SMA3 automatic operation system on a section of the line. They'll take action from 6 March, by refusing to drive in automatic mode on the...

If you are an RMT member, you will soon be receiving a voting paper for the election of a new General Secretary (GS).

You have the choice of four candidates, and Tubeworker recommends that you vote for John Leach, who is currently our Regional Organiser and has been nominated by seven of our...

With the government announcement that every adult should be vaccinated by July, there is more jockeying for position among different groups of workers over who gets the vaccine first. Tubeworker knows that our readers probably have different views on this. But we think where we can agree, is that...

Area Managers are finally going round speaking to night tube station staff about what happens while there is no Night Tube service. Tubeworker has had reports that a number of them are a bit frustrated so many staff want to just stick to their Night Tube hours. Our heart bleeds. Where moves to cover...

Staff at Redbridge and other stations on the cover group have been running around on cover weeks to keep stations open. Management are now making desperate calls to cover shifts on overtime in order to keep this up. With so much OT already being exhausted, and more staff due to shield under the...