With thanks to the RMT Service Control website
The first locations to feel the impact of the 4LM upgrade will be Baker Street SCC, with staff from there to be moved to HSCC. The company are proposing to move six people, which exceeds what previous management had agreed to. At the same time staff from Whitechapel cabin will be relocated to Barking and Upminster.
The next workplace to be affected will be Earls Court, looking at the first stages of closure with staff from there being displaced to either the District and Met cabins. How these relocations are decided is presently unknown, but it may be career conversations, date entered grade, or testing could be used to decide what happens.
Not all of Earls Court may be facing the chopping block right away though, the cancellation of SMAs 10, 11, and 12 may lead to the possibility of Earls Court remaining open for a period longer; in the long term plans are that these areas will be run under legacy signalling within HSCC.
The next wave of closures will be on the east end of the District, with Barking and Upminster being taken over by CBTC. It is expected at this point the Met cabins will be fully staffed and East end District signallers not moving to HSCC will be facing forced displacement from service control.
CBTC then takes over the remainder of BSCCs areas of control leading to it’s closure and it’s remaining staff moving to HSCC.
The cabins at the North end of the Met will then begin to become absorbed by HSCC and staff without positions at HSCC will too face displacement from service control.
The company now has now changed its agreement of offering permanency to secondees, with secondees only being given rolling 3 month contracts or face a return to their substantive role. Little thought has been given on how displacement will work, with the only option being offered at this time as Train Operator. RMT demands all other roles be considered to what suit staff needs and career developments, including stations, fleet, maintenance, and other vacancies in Service Control.
Agreements made at ACAS in 2012 are also being reneged upon. No provision has been made for how displaced staff will be given a priority return to Service Control, and LU is refusing to guarantee protection of earnings for staff displaced from their grade.
There is no more space at HSCC with not enough lockers, toilets or facilities for the staff that are due to move over. A list of empty promised have been made with no set dates on any works being started.
The SCAC positions will also be cut back from 5 to just 2 at HSCC with any that do move over being backfilled with temporary secondments. The DSCM role at Earls Court will also be ended at SMA3 with all Earls Court staff management being moved over to HSCC
RMT will lose at least 6 reps with cabin and control room closures with LU currently not offering any rep positions to look after colleagues at HSCC which will have over 100 staff.
With the rollout of CBTC signalling the SSR will face 50-80 service control staff forcefully displaced with the ACAS agreement for protection of earnings not being honoured. HSCC has a waiting list of 120 people, but only 45 positions for SCL1!
