The Machinery of Negotiation and Consultation - the agreement that sets out how London Underground's trade unions and management talk to each other - states that in the event of a reorganisation of a group or a significant change in staff numbers or union membership, the number of reps may be changed.

Liverpool Street group has been reorganised, with Farringdon and Barbican stations added, increasing both the staff numbers and RMT membership numbers (from around 100 to 150). Therefore, this is a clear case for a second RMT representative on the group.

However, at the recent meeting of the Stations & Revnue Council, management flatly refused our application for a second rep, on the grounds that the Director of Employee Relations has decided that the company will only recognise an additional union representative in one location if the union gives one up somewhere else, despite there being no reference to this in the Machinery!

RMT will be asking our head office to refer the whole issue of under-representation to ACAS.