All out to save Tube jobs!

Submitted by Matthew on 5 February, 2014 - 12:44

London Underground workers began the first of two strikes this month on Tuesday 4 February, as part of their “Every Job Matters” campaign to stop job cuts and ticket office closures.

Members of the RMT and TSSA will strike from 9pm on Tuesday 4 February until 8.59pm on Thursday 6 February, with the strike expected to cause significant disruption to the Tube.

An overtime ban launched by station staff on 17 January has already begun to bite, with major stations including Finsbury Park forced to close early due to staff shortages.

The 4-6 February strike will be followed by another 48-hour walkout on 11-13 February, and supplemented by 12 hours of “revenue action”, from 9.30 to 11.30am and 6.30 to 8.30pm on 7, 10, and 14 February. The “revenue action” will involve station staff refusing to issue or check tickets and, wherever safe to do so, opening the gates to allow free travel for passengers.

The dispute aims to stop London Underground bosses’ “Fit for the Future” plan, which would see staffing levels reduced by nearly 1,000 posts, as well as closing every ticket office on the entire network. If implemented, it would also mean significant attacks on Tube workers’ terms and conditions.

Hands Off London Transport (HOLT), the public campaign to fight the cuts and support Tube workers’ action, plans a number of solidarity actions around the strikes, including picket lines support. Student supporters of HOLT plan a “party on the Tube” at 6.30pm on 7 February, coinciding with the first “revenue action”.

That kind of solidarity, which can link Tube workers’ industrial fight to a wider political battle for the future of public transport in London, will be essential to the success of the dispute.

So too will effective picketing of workplaces, and the transformation of the RMT’s existing “strike committee” into a genuinely representative body built widely amongst different branches and grades, and broadened out to involve TSSA members.

The announcement two sets of strike dates, supplemented by creative actions short of strikes, is a big step forward from a previous pattern of irregular one-day strikes. This should be built on by announcing an ongoing calendar of escalating actions.

Some RMT branches, including Central Line East, have committed to using branch reserves as hardship funds during the strikes, to make sure lower-paid workers can afford to take sustained action. Other branches should follow their lead.

The recent announcement that London Underground plans to sell space in stations to retailers like Amazon, Tesco, Asda, and Waitrose to run “pick-up points” for online shoppers gives an indication of what’s at stake in the dispute: management’s vision of a destaffed, automated Tube, run to maximise the potential for profit, versus unions’ vision of a well-funded, publicly-owned Tube run to provide a safe and efficient service for passengers.

A win for Tube unions will be a win for all working-class people in the capital and beyond.

• The rank-and-file bulletin Tubeworker is holding regular meetings throughout the dispute. For details, and for regular updates, see here

Hands Off London Transport

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