Jubilee Line drivers are fed up with the attitude of management on the line.
Local managers are pushing harder and harder as the service is ramped up and user numbers increase. Any perceived "staff error" and they are now coming down harder on drivers presumably thinking that ‘more stick and less carrot’ will make us more amenable to their whip cracking.
However, the breaking point has been the new timetable forced on drivers which increases the number of weekends worked, ups the pressure on us and sees work-life balance issues ignored.
This timetable was 18 months in the planning, yet when it came to negotiations with reps we understand that the line manager was on holiday; clearly not concerned to hear from her worker’s representatives what drivers felt of the new plans.
The timetable was rejected with clear reasons given, yet management forcibly implemented it anyway. A ballot was put on, won, and two strike dates subsequently called. Thereafter, even small requests, previously agreed by management have been left out of the new timetable and schedules. Whether this was a petty response to drivers concerns about work-life balance, incompetence or general lack of compassion is unclear; but regardless of the cause it has made anger on the line stronger.
Now drivers need to come out in force on 6 and 14 June. We have two choices, shut the line down and show bosses we care about our work-life balance, or come in to work and give bosses free range to worsen our conditions at will.
