London Underground RMT members working for the Metronet PPP privatisation contract are being balloted for strike action. Metronet, which is responsible for the maintenance of the majority of the Underground network, is intent on cutting jobs as a precursor to outsourcing out all its work. It is already planning to subcontract out its train maintenance work.
In the words of the RMT, "the same crazv set-un on the Northern Line would be imposed on the Bakerloo, Central, Victoria, District, Circle and Hammersmith & City Lines, with one company running trains, another responsible for overall maintenance and yet another maintaining the trains."
At the same time the government is intent on relaxing fire safety standards imposed in the wake of the Kings Cross fire in 1987.
Despite the praise heaped on the emergency services and Underground workers in the wake of the July bombings the government plans to remove regulations which set out minimum staffing levels and safety standards. RMT, ASLEF and FBU members will be demonstrating on 26 November outside Kings Cross (start 11.30) in protest.
It is important for London trade unionists to support the tube workers over safety and demand that all of the privatised maintenance be brought back in house. Northern Line debacle
The debacle on the Northern Line is a clear example of the chaos caused by privatisation. The Northern Line is one of the most intensive commuter lines in the world, with hundreds of thousands of Londoners relying on its service. But for eleven days in October the Northern Line was disrupted, or closed down altogether, as drivers were forced to exercise their rights under Health & Safety law to refuse to work in unsafe conditions.
The starting point was simple - "trip-cock" devices on every train, designed to apply the trains' brakes in an emergency, were failing to work when tested. But instead It is clear of sorting the problem out, the various companies involved all blamed each other, whilst insisting trains should still run as if everything was contractors normal.
The private sector trusted. makes £2 million a week out of the London Underground contracts, but it could not maintain a basic, and crucial, safety system.
London Underground Ltd was little better. After the first safety incident, they introduced double-crewing on the trains, then withdrew the measure after one day. Drivers refusing to work as normal were being sent home.
Only after the threat of a
strike ballot did LUL agree to lift the sanctions against its drivers and accept that safety systems had to be made to work before trains were allowed to run. On the Northern Line under the government's PPP part privatisation of the Underground, LUL runs that none the trains, Tubelines are
responsible for maintainof the
Wing tem, out Alstom private supplies the trains and
actually does the work. Alstom's PFI contract, can be first agreed in 1995 and
will anoler ten years lu run, allows them over two months to find and rectify any faults. The faulty "trip-cock" component is itself designed and built by a further sub-contractor. This whole mess was initiated by the Tories. Their PFI deal with Alstom, a 20 year deal worth £429 million, meant new trains are paid for many times over, and at the additional cost of cuts to the number of tube train maintenance work-