London Underground management is attacking jobs - and the most recent Stations & Revenue Council meeting revealed the extent of their attack. London Underground is:

• trying to scrap jobs "on the quiet"
• keeping posts vacant even where there are staff ready and willing to fill them
• leaving duties uncovered when staff are available to cover them

Here are some of the gory details …

• Scrapping jobs on the quiet
  • producing draft rosters which do away with posts eg. at Acton Town and Waterloo
  • reducing ticket office windows as part of refurbs eg. at Southfields station

  Reps - Keep your eye out for managers trying anything similar on your group, and contact your Stations & Revenue Council reps immediately if they do!

• Refusing to fill vacancies
  • leaving RCI posts vacant - there are 237 RCI posts, but only 225 are filled
  • leaving many station staff posts vacant too - currently 151 posts are vacant
  • leaving part-time posts vacant, while not including them on the list of posts available to people working beyond normal retirement age
  • leaving posts vacant under the pretext that the group is "over-establishment" in that grade.

  Management replied that it is their decision whether and when to fill vacancies! This is a change from previous practice, whereby vacancies have been automatically filled by the person at the top of the waiting list. This is a very significant attack on our jobs.

  Management also argued that "It is not tenable, financially, to fill vacancies and remain over-establishment". This is a silly argument, as filling vacancies is a very effective way of getting staff moving and therefore reduced "over-establishment" numbers.

• Refusing to cover uncovered duties
  This issue came up as a referral from East Ham group, where management had refused to allow staff to work duties on overtime, preferring to leave them uncovered. RMT argued that this compromises safety and customer services, and increases the workload and vulnerability of other staff on duty alongside the uncovered duty.
  However, management insisted that "It is within a GSM's remit to choose to leave a duty uncovered" even if s/he has a means available to cover it eg. overtime or higher grade working.
  This is bad enough as it is, but RMT can see where it is going - if a duty is left uncovered regularly, and nothing disastrous happens, then management will try to scrap the post.

These revelations should ring alarm bells for all station and revenue staff. Management are after your job. To defend your job - get involved in your union!