Annie Mole's, webmaster of Going Underground, daily web log (blog).
If you like this you'll LURVE One Stop Short of Barking, THE fun and informative BOOK about travelling on the London Underground.
The RMT union claim the reasons for this current dispute include "bullying of staff" and a "decline" of working conditions. TfL are meeting the RMT and Aslef later this week to discuss the issues in greater detail.
RMT has highlighted the major issues in a letter to London Underground:
• The "unfair and disproportionate" treatment of drivers in disciplinary meetings
• Many facilities on the Jubilee line being in a "very poor" and in some cases a "disgusting" state
• The "removal and threatened removal" of some benefits
• A "severe lack of support" from managers for their staff
Bob Crow said: "RMT will not sit back and allow the wilful misuse of procedures on any part of the Tube network as a means of bullying and intimidating our members."
"That is exactly what is happening at the moment to drivers working
out of Greenwich and Stratford on the Jubilee Line and we are demanding
that the practice be called to an immediate halt.
"Our members are also sick of the gradual decline in working
conditions and facilities which have been allowed to degenerate into a
disgusting state and which appears to be another petty and vindictive
way of sniping at union members on the Jubilee Line. Communication with staff and union reps has also been undermined and
support from managers for staff has been systematically stripped away.
"RMT will begin immediate preparations for a ballot for industrial
action and no one should underestimate the anger amongst Jubilee Line
staff at the moment. RMT remains available for talks aimed at resolving
this dispute."
However it appears that this isn't just a war of words about TfL's behaviour as a spokesman for the union said that drivers had also been attacked in
The O2 car park late at night due to poor lighting, and that their
Greenwich toilets were frequently broken and left uncleaned. Surprisingly this was not mentioned by Crow in the statement on the RMT website.
Surely us commuters might find these reasons a better reason to strike than Crow's continual mantra about bullying from the powers that be? One tends to hear Crow mention strikes and his emotive language about vindictiveness and think "here we go again". Yet if safety and hygiene were publicised at the forefront of the complaints there might be more sympathy - who knows?
Obviously while discussions are still taking place, there is still room for resolution, so keep an eye on the news.
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