The Ticket Collector

RMT/TSSA London Underground Strike Dates

The RMT and TSSA unions have announced a 72 hour strike from 6.30pm Sunday 6 April, until 6.30pm Wednesday 9 April 2008 after voting by five to one and four to one respectively for action.

Widespread tube chaos is expected and many lines will be closed due to no staff.

Both unions have told LUL that its plans for ticket-office closures, de-staffing, lone working, introduction of ‘mobile supervisors’, use of agency and security staff and other disputed policies amount to an unacceptable attack on safety standards and the casualisation of safety-critical work.

Police seeking Tube photographer attacker

Have you seen this person?

He is wanted by police for assaulting an amateur photographer. This picture of his attacker was taken by the amateur photographer.

PC Ben Dawson said the incident occurred on the escalators leading to the main concourse at Waterloo mainline station at around 10.17pm on Wednesday 12 December.

“It would appear the victim, an amateur photographer, who enjoys taking snaps of London street scenes, was taking shots on the escalators when a member of the public took exception to having his photo taken and asked him to delete the photo.

“The photographer told him he could not delete the shot as it was not a digital camera. The man then attempted to grab the camera and punched the victim in the face. The victim suffered cuts and bruising to his face as a result of the incident.

“We have released this photo today, which was taken by the victim prior to the incident and we are appealing to members of the public to assist us in identifying the man pictured.

“The man is described as white, 34-38 years-old and about 5 ft 9 in tall. He was wearing a dark jacket and carrying a dark rucksack.

“Anyone who may be able to assist us with our inquiries is urged to call the BTP on 0800 40 50 40 or the Witness Appeal Line on 020 7391 5275 quoting background reference B5 of 15/02/08.”

Tube workers to vote on strikes.

The Transport Salaried Staffs Association union said its 2,500 members will vote on whether to strike in a row over safety and staffing levels.

RMT and TSSA have told LUL that ticket-office closures, de-staffing, lone working, introduction of ‘mobile supervisors’, use of agency and security staff and other disputed policies amount to an unacceptable attack on safety standards and the casualisation of safety-critical work.

“Each of these issues is serious in its own right, but together they amount to a fundamental and unacceptable attack on staffing across the network which strikes at the very heart of its safe operation,” RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

“Our joint campaign against 40 ticket-office closures and massive cuts in opening times last year gave us a breathing space, but they are now back on the table, along with a raft of other plans and problems that combine to put our members’ and passengers’ safety at serious risk.”

“When LUL imposed driver-only tube trains it assured the public and its own drivers that good station staffing levels would keep the system safe, but those assurances are now being undermined.”

“The systematic denial of driving jobs and promotion to experienced Tube workers in favour of external recruitment is another serious problem that is undermining the safety culture” Bob Crow said.

“LUL has insisted on changes to its emergency plan that water down the staff required on duty and which our safety reps believe will undermine the ability to respond to emergencies and undertake safe evacuations” said TSSA general secretary Gerry Doherty.

“We now have agency staff in LUL uniforms and station staff left to work alone at night, and they have even got agency staff carrying ticket-machine cash around on trains.”

“LUL has also sought to change its policy on when and how staff can refuse to work on safety grounds, in a way that is unworkable and in breach of legislation.”

“Tube users should be as appalled as our members at the range of safety issues outstanding and I hope they will understand that LUL’s refusal to discuss these issues in the round left us with no choice but to tell the company that we are now in dispute” Gerry Doherty said.

Civil servent jailed for conning London Undergound

A civil servent working for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was jailed for 18 months for conning London Underground of £22,000 by claiming fare refunds.

Trushar Patel, 30, roped in his family to fill out thousands of forms which enabled customers to claim a fare refund if they were delayed.

Sentencing the family Judge Peter Fingret said the case showed “a high level of incompetence on the part of Transport for London [TfL] and London Underground [LU]”.

“I can only comment and hope that these sentences may deter other people from obtaining cash benefits out of public funds illegally,” he said.

Prosecutor Francis Sheridan said the scheme was a “positive idea” but “the administration of this scheme was a complete shambles of Monty Pythonesque proportions”.

“No checks were carried out on the services claimed for let alone checks on whether they were late or how many of the given tubes were delayed on any given day,” he added.

Tube starting to get back to normal

Several tube lines have started to get back to normal, following the strikes of recent days. However some lines are still closed. TfL state that they will try and have all lines back to normal towards the end of day start of tomorrow.

For the latest real-time information please go to http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/livetravelnews/realtime/tube/default.html

Tube Strike goes ahead. Services not expected back to normal till Friday Morning

Due to industrial action by RMT members of Metronet, services are not expected to return to normal until Friday morning. The Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines are scheduled to run as normal. Except on the Piccadilly Line between Acton Town and Uxbridge.

The London Underground system will be very busy and at times stations may be closed due to overcrowding. No other London Underground lines are likely to be running.

If possible, please complete your journey by using alternative routes including DLR, National Rail and bus services.

Tube strike travel chaos expected

The RMT union has said more than 2,300 members will walk out at 1800 BST on Monday 3rd September.

The RMT predicts the Tube network will “grind to a halt” as a result of the industrial action.

A spokesman said services would still run, but any problems with maintenance of trains, tracks or signalling would not be repaired.
“If anything goes wrong, it will stay wrong,” the spokesman said.

Tube managers warned that if the strike goes ahead, services on the Bakerloo, Central and Victoria lines would start being reduced from about 1630 BST Tube managers warned that if the strike goes ahead, services on the Bakerloo, Central and Victoria lines would start being reduced from about 1630 BST