A campaign is brewing involving Night Tube station staff; RMT’s Finsbury Park branch passed a charter of issues affecting Night Tube workers, which has been submitted to LU to form the basis of a comprehensive review of Night Tube.
Although both RMT and Aslef have organised disputes involving Night Tube drivers, there are issues on both trains and stations around the integration of Night Tube workers into the wider workforce. Contact, or lack of it, with union reps can be an issue, and unions need to do more to organise amongst Night Tube staff.
The charter, which is posted below, flags up a whole raft of issues Night Tube workers have raised, including safety issues, staffing levels, and working hours. Although it’s unusual for a union to demand working hours be extended, in this case moving Night Tube staff from 15-hour contracts to 16-hour ones would have a huge impact, as 16 hours is the baseline for many benefits and tax credits.
Activists will be working hard to ensure the review is used to press for Night Tube workers’ demands. If LU doesn’t look like budging on them, let’s consider a dispute!
Night Tube policy passed by RMT Finsbury Park branch:
We note the following issues raised by our Night Tube members:
1. assaults on duty
2. harassment on duty, including sexual harassment
3. inadequate staffing levels
4. difficulty dealing with administrative matters such as leave, uniform, staff passes, etc., as these are only dealt with during 'office hours'
5. training courses, occupational health appointments, etc., not being available during their working hours
6. Night Tube station staff working 15 hours per week, and missing out on the benefits of working 16 hours as Night Tube drivers do
7. the announcement that London Overground will soon run an overnight service, with no information or apparent consideration as to the impact of this on Night Tube
8. degraded running on the Piccadilly Line Night Tube, due to management's incompetence in failing to employ enough drivers
9. Night Tube drivers not having the opportunity to apply for the 3- and 4-day drivers' posts that have just been made available
10. unreasonable barriers to Night Tube staff obtaining either promotion to higher grades or transfer to full-time posts
11. lack of facilities for food during the night
