"Four Key Areas"? One Key Response: Fight Back!

Posted in Tubeworker's blog on ,
A cartoon of a pair of scissors cutting up a paper chain of people, indicating job cuts

A new video on Yammer from Director of Customer Operations Nick Dent, the top boss for stations and trains, reminds us that the "four key areas" LU is looking at for ways to save money (i.e., make cuts) are "vacancies and recruitment", "our ways of working", "enhanced use of technology", and "a review of our people policies".

Reviewing "vacancies and recruitment" means something very simple: cutting jobs. Reducing the headcount is a major way for LU to save money. "Our ways of working" refers to our Frameworks and other agreements giving us certain rights. LU would love to have more flexibility in terms of changing our shift times and locations, which in turn could allow it to reduce staffing levels further. "Enhanced use of technology" could mean almost anything, but we know LU is under pressure from the Tories to pursue the folly of "driverless trains". And "a review of [...] people policies", such as the Attendance At Work, is almost certain to recommend making them more punitive and restrictive.

Dent's video says LU is committed to "protecting as many jobs as possible for everyone working here today." The language is carefully chosen: LU could delete vacant positions, or schedule jobs for abolition when those currently holding them move or retire, and still claim to be "protecting jobs for everyone working here today."

We have to fight to protect the conditions of the job, and the existence of the jobs themselves, not just for ourselves but for future generations of workers.

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