POWERFUL picket lines continue outside London rail depots this morning as the RMT Tube union completes this week’s first 24-hour strike at 12noon today, with another 24-hour strike commencing at 12noon tomorrow.
The union is fighting Transport for London’s (TfL’s) imposition of a longer working day on these safety-critical workers.
Speaking on the picket line at Arnos Grove Train Depot in north London, Dean O’Hanlon, RMT Branch Secretary Finsbury Park, told News Line: ‘We’re out on strike due to London Underground’s unacceptable changes to our members’ terms and conditions.
‘These changes have been overwhelmingly rejected in a referendum and latterly a ballot for industrial action.
‘London Underground have failed to engage with our members’ concerns leaving them no option but to take strike action today and through the rest of the week.
‘We’re determined to get a negotiated settlement which is acceptable to our members.’
At Seven Sisters Station picket line in Tottenham, Azhar Dar, RMT Victoria Line Rep, said: ‘We are fighting against the company, by which I mean TfL and London Underground, bringing in compressed weeks of four days, meaning that for us when we start a shift we have an earlier start and a later finishing time.
‘They want us to work the same amount of hours but with one less day, which will have a big effect on our family lives and our social lives.
‘But the main thing that we want to avoid is fatigue, which is a real danger because drivers often already feel tired having to work the number of hours over five days.
‘What the TfL management also want to bring in is that new drivers can’t change their depots which would mean for instance that someone who lives near Seven Sisters and goes into work, if they move house and are then further away from their depot, they can’t move to a depot nearer where they live.
‘This new contract means that they are locked in and can’t change their work depot. It means there could be even longer commutes before a driver even starts their shift.
‘We are determined, we are fighting, but at the same time, the leaders of the other train drivers union, Aslef, have accepted this rotten deal.
‘However, we have had Aslef drivers come down here earlier today and they told us they won’t go into work because they won’t cross a picket line. We welcome that and we appreciate that support.’
There were pickets at Elephant and Castle and Brixton underground stations in south London.
Geoff Fung, a driver and RMT member at Elephant, told News Line: ‘This strike is about working conditions. The Compressed Working Week, which they are trying to bring in, is a cloak for “Train modernisation”, which means job cuts.
‘On the Bakerloo Line alone they plan to cut 13 jobs. One of the effects is to increase the size of the pool of drivers, and they will get much less notice of when they are on duty.
‘It used to be the case that when you are on the pool you got notified of the coming week’s shifts.
‘Under the proposed system it can be as little as 24 hours notice.
‘This makes it difficult for people with childcare responsibilities or even to go out socially.
‘Drivers will also be required to do longer hours driving before getting a break.
‘So these proposals should be scrapped and working conditions improved.’
Tube driver Dave O’Brien said: ‘A lot of what we hear from the employer is subterfuge and doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.
‘They are trying to tell us these changes will favour us, but it is not true.
‘A stand needs to be made. And people respect us for making a stand.’
In Brixton, at the end of the Victoria Line, an RMT rep who didn’t want to be named, told News Line: ‘We were told: volunteer for the new duties now and we’ll give you the details later!
‘What kind of volunteering is that? If something is voluntary, then it’s optional, you can change your mind. They want us to sign up to something without knowing what it is.’
