This poster appears at various locations around the Underground network (this one at Hainault station).

It reads Top up your Oyster when you pop to the shop - and avoid the queue at the station

It may as well read Go away and buy your Oyster top-up somewhere else - and if enough of you do that, we’ll close this station’s ticket office.

It is a graphic example of how London Underground is deliberately driving business away from its own ticket offices in order to prepare for ticket office closures. And it’s a graphic example of why staff need to get active in RMT’s fight to defend ticket offices and jobs.

Today I received a new leaflet from Steve Headley of which I have printed out around a 1000 of I will be handing these out on the trains on the way to work and slipping them inside of copies of the metro as and when i get a chance.

UPDATE: At the latest count, there are over 800 names on the petition - let's get it over 1,000!

London Underground plans to close or cut most of its ticket offices, and to reduce station staffing by over 1,000 staff. To provide customer service and safety, London Underground stations need more staff not fewer. Popular opposition stopped planned ticket office closures in 2008; now we need the same popular opposition to stop them again.

RMT has set up a petition against the job cuts on the 10 Downing Street website. It will take you just a minute or so to add your name, and give a big boost to our campaign to save jobs.

Click here to sign the petition.

The new issue of RMT Platform - our newsletter for station and revenue staff - reveals London Underground's plan to slash up to 1,200 jobs and close around half the Tube's ticket offices. It also reports the latest position for 'over-establishment' staff, the company's attempts to scrap SATS duties, and RMT's ongoing efforts to win better rights for Underground workers.

Click '1 attachment' / file name to download it. Please distribute widely around workplaces and to staff.

London Underground's plans for slashing station staffing - leaked last week by RMT - will directly affect our station staff in two major ways. Firstly, virtually all our ticket offices will close, with shedloads of jobs lost. Secondly, Barkingside group will be disbanded and its stations reallocated to Leyton and Buckhurst Hill groups.

Over the last year, London Underground has been running a trial at selected stations, where ticket sellers are supposed to refuse requests for Oyster top-ups of less than £5. RMT has objected to this trial, as we believe that it is an attack on our customers, and a move to prepare for ticket office closures and job cuts. Our objections are itemised here.

Venue: Indian YMCA, Fitzroy Square, nearest station: Warren Street - map here.

• hear the industrial action ballot result
• plan for effective action
• hear details of London Underground’s assault on jobs
• ask questions
• join the discussion

Show your support for RMT’s fight for jobs, pay and justice!

Click '1 attachment' / file name to download a notice advertising this meeting. Please distribute this widely at work.

TUBE AND TfL union RMT today released new information which exposes the full extent of the first wave of cuts under Boris Johnson’s £5 billion tube savings programme with 144 station ticket offices and 1200 jobs under threat of the axe.

In the first phase of LUL’s “Operational Services Review” – management code for the cuts machinery – savage reductions are being proposed across the tube network. Only main terminals will retain a full ticket office function, smaller central stations will have ticket offices open at peak times with the remainder – 144 stations – reduced to ticket machines only.

Here are the details of management's plans to decimate London Underground station staffing ...

STATIONS
----------------

[1] Will get rid of 45% of current TOM transactions i.e. 70,000 transactions per day. Will leave us with 144 ticket offices with POM only service. Only ticket offices with windows open selling tickets will be those in key locations. All other ticket offices will eventually close. This will mean a reduction of 60% in all window hours. Job losses will be :

Dear Colleague,

The plan is to close them all after the Olympics.

Print out or email the attached pdf to all your friends who work in tickets offices, who hope to work in ticket offices or who work on stations or train side and point out to them that the first to be seen to respond to this by the Evening Standard is the RMT Union, send it especially to those not in the RMT.

This resolution, submitted by Stratford no.1 branch, was passed unanimously by the October meeting of RMT's London Transport Regional Council. So let's get on with carrying out! Ideas and comments welcome.

1. London Underground is currently pursuing several policies which lead us to believe that the company intends to cut stations and revenue jobs within the next few years, including:
- not covering duties where rostered staff are unavailable
- not filling vacancies on stations, and in the RCI grade
- driving custom away from ticket office windows eg. £5 minimum Oyster top-up, reduction in range of tickets on sale, inducements to buy elsewhere, station refurbs excluding or reducing ticket office windows, even changing signs from "tickets" to "information"!
- the 2007 Rule Book reducing Station Supervisor duties, particularly during engineering hours
- the situation on Wembley Central group, which uses agency staff and security guards, and only has full Supervisor cover at three stations
- the use and abuse of the Special Requirements Team to substitute for resident station staff

Local union reps have sent the following referral to the Stations & Revenue Council ...

Cannon Street station is undergoing a partial refit. This is thanks to the building directly above the station (not owned by LU) being demolished and a new one being built on the site.

On 31st August, the minimum £5 Oyster top up trial came to Euston.

Local unions reps and staff were not warned. This is a new practice on the group and we should have been consulted. Your RMT rep has objected to this, but still the trial goes ahead.

Both RMT and TSSA strongly oppose this scheme.

The attachment on this article details the management's attempt to drive custom away from ticket office windows and therefore do away with ticket office jobs.

Since Sunday 1st March 2009 London Underground has been running a trial where customers are not able to top up their Oyster card for less than £5 at the ticket office window. The trial is running at London Bridge, Liverpool Street, Bond Street, South Kensington and Earl’s Court. Customers who now want to put less than £5 on their Oystercard will have to use a POM.

These are my notes for a speech I made at RMT's AGM in support of a resolution calling on the union to run a national campaign against ticket office cuts and closures. The resolution was passed unanimously.

We have been negotiating with LUL on the new New Ticket Office Procedures Handbooks for over a year now and they have been introduced without due consideration to our comments and concerns.We have real fears that the original TOPH is being watered down to make it easier to reduce ticket office hours,close ticket offices and get rid of SAMF and SS jobs.