October Industrial action for Greater Anglia, Southern and Tube services

UPDATE - 4th October 2017

The industrial action for the London Underground is now cancelled.

The planned strike due to take place on Thursday 5th October has been cancelled. Services will be running as normal.

— Transport for London (@TfL) October 3, 2017

Original article starts below

Not a good start to the month of October 2017 as Greater Anglia, Southern and London Underground services will be disrupted due to industrial action.

London Underground services will be disrupted for one day while Greater Anglia and Southern services are disrupted for two days. I’m aware that Northern Rail and Merseyrail will be striking on the same days as Greater Anglia and Southern but I will concentrate on the disruptions that are happening in London.

Starting off with the press release from TfL

Action would cause substantial disruption across the Underground network

Transport for London (TfL) is advising customers that the whole Tube network will be substantially disrupted on Thursday, 5 October, should planned strike action by ASLEF members go ahead.

All other TfL services will be unaffected but many will be busier than usual as customers seek alternative routes. Bus services are likely to be exceptionally busy across the Capital, so customers who are able to walk are encouraged to do so. Information on walking times between Tube stations can be found at tfl.gov.uk/walking. Road journeys could also take significantly longer than usual, so customers are advised to drive through central London only if absolutely necessary.

Extra buses and Santander Cycle hubs will be provided should the strike go ahead and TfL is currently exploring options to help get supporters to England’s football match against Slovenia at Wembley Stadium on Thursday evening.

Customers are advised to check before they travel at tfl.gov.uk/tube-strike and use TfLs journey planner to make alternative travel plans for the duration of the industrial action. In addition, TfLs live update services @TfLTravelAlerts, @TfLTrafficNews and @TfLBusAlerts will provide information throughout the day. If possible, TfL advises customers to travel outside of peak times.

This dispute is about the progress of joint initiatives set up last year between TfL and the unions to improve the work life balance of Tube drivers.

As part of those discussions, TfL and the unions agreed to explore ways of providing more choice for staff to improve work-life balance, including:

· trialling a four-day, 36-hour working week on the Jubilee line for Tube drivers. This concluded recently and TfL and the trade unions are already working together to analyse how successful it has been

· looking at ways to maintain the level of weekend working as the service expands, potentially through additional part time opportunities

· introducing pro-rata working arrangements, such as job sharing, which would mean that drivers could reduce the number of days they work

TfL has met its commitments and has been in constructive discussions with ASLEF at the conciliatory service ACAS in order to resolve this dispute. Further talks are scheduled early next week.

Nigel Holness, Director of Network Operations for London Underground, said:

'Should the planned strike action go ahead there will be substantial disruption. We will do everything possible to ensure customers can get around on alternative transport services and have the right information to help them do this. We are committed to ensuring that our employees are able to maintain a good balance between their work and personal lives and we have been working closely with the unions on new ways to achieve this. I encourage the ASLEF leadership to continue working with us constructively rather than moving towards unnecessary strike action.'

From Greater Anglia

Greater Anglia train services

· Tuesday 3rd October and Thursday 5th October 2017

· Normal timetable planned to operate on both days

· You may be aware that the RMT has called two 24-hour strikes by conductors working for Greater Anglia, on Tuesday 3 October and Thursday 5 October.

We’d like to re-assure you that Greater Anglia is planning to run a full, normal service on both of these days, with no service alterations.

About 60 per cent of our services do not have conductors – these are commuter trains to London Liverpool Street from Essex, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire and Ipswich. For the remaining 40% of services which do have conductors (intercity and regional services and on a couple of other routes in Essex - see below for a full list), we have trained extra staff to safely cover for conductors who choose to take part in the strike action.

Greater Anglia is keeping conductors on its trains.

We highly value our conductors. We know customers agree that they do a great job providing them with help and assistance on our trains. That is why we are keeping conductors on our trains and guaranteeing their jobs right through to the end of our franchise in October 2025. There will be no erosion of their pay or terms and conditions. They will still be safety trained and continue to have to pass key safety, competence and medical tests to carry out the conductor’s role.

We want our conductors to be able to provide even more help to our customers, so when we get new trains, from 2019, we’d like drivers to open and close the train doors, which would mean conductors can spend more time with customers (as they wouldn’t have to break off from helping customers to go and open and close the doors at every station).

Drivers already safely open and close doors on 60 per cent of our trains, and have done so for 30 years. Independent safety reports by the Railway and Safety Standards Board and the Office of Rail and Road conclude that, as long as correct procedures are followed, it is at least as safe for drivers to open and close doors.

So, our proposals are all about giving a better and safer service to our customers, by guaranteeing our conductors’ jobs, but changing their roles slightly - so that they can spend more time with customers, using a safe method of operation where drivers open and close the train doors (a system which already works well across much of our network).

We remain keen to talk with the RMT to try to avert strike action. We will keep you updated on the situation via the Greater Anglia website and social media.

These are the routes where we have conductors:

· Norwich to London, Cambridge, Lowestoft, Great Yarmouth, Sheringham

· Ipswich to Cambridge, Lowestoft, Felixstowe, Peterborough

· Marks Tey to Sudbury

· Manningtree to Harwich

· Clacton/Walton-on-the-Naze to Colchester

From Southern Railway

Southern is planning to run a normal service on most of its routes during the RMT’s strike on Tuesday 3 October and Thursday 5 October, with a limited service on the West London Line, although the train operator is asking passengers to check before they travel for updates on the day.

Passenger Services Director Angie Doll said: “We are aiming for business as usual on most of our routes during the RMT strikes next week.

“The RMT is striking about changes we made almost a year ago as part of our modernisation programme. Nobody has lost their job over this, in fact we employ more on-board staff to help passengers than we did before, and we are providing a better service with fewer cancelled trains.

“We are operating on the busiest part of the network so it’s essential that we use modern technology to keep trains running for the benefit of our passengers – not cancel them as the RMT insists.

“We’ve spent 18 months negotiating with the RMT and met for 25 days. We’ve made four good offers to resolve this dispute yet the RMT has rejected them all without even putting them to their members for a vote.”

On Board Supervisors are just one part of the programme to modernise the railway including substantial investment to address rising passenger demand and provide greater journey opportunities. The other key elements include the upgrade and expansion of London Bridge, Blackfriars and Farringdon, and longer platforms for new trains. Passengers will also benefit from greater track capacity and signalling for a more reliable journey.

Southern and Gatwick Express run over 2,200 services on a non-RMT strike day and most services will operate to the normal timetable.

Gatwick Express will operate a full service between London Victoria and Gatwick Airport / Brighton. Thameslink will also run a full service between London Blackfriars / London Bridge and Brighton.

A full Southern service will run except for the following:

· Only a limited West London line service will operate

· A number of services on other routes (predominantly Coastway services) will not operate

· Some peak hour services between Ashford International and Hastings will not run

· The four trains a day that run in each direction between Leatherhead and Guildford will not run

Full details of service changes can be found at www.southernrailway.com/strike

Now we take a look at the other side of the issue with industrial actions.

The trade union RMT has published a press release in regards to the October railway strikes.

From RMT

Preparations well under way for strike action in four separate disputes over rail safety.

RAIL UNION RMT said that preparations are well under way for strike action in four separate disputes over the threat to guards and safety as private train operators press ‎ahead with plans to extend Driver Only Operation - putting private profits before public safety.

The strike action will take place on Tuesday 3rd October and Thursday 5th October in disputes on Southern, Northern, Merseyrail and Greater Anglia. The balloting process is also underway in a further dispute on South Western Railway.

Pickets will be out in force in all of the disputes and will be taking the message to the public that the axing of the guards is part of a co-ordinated strategy driven by the Government as they push for a faceless railway dominated by a lethal combination of staffing cuts and private profiteering.

RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said:

"These strikes are about safety. They are about putting the safety and security of the travelling public before the profits of private companies, profits that in the most part are shipped overseas to subsidise transport services in Europe and China. That is a national scandal.

"It is disgraceful that we have been unable to get serious and meaningful talks going in any of these five disputes and that points clearly to the dead-hand of the Government driving the faceless railway policy on purely ideological grounds and demanding that their contractors fall in line.

"RMT will not stand back while the guards, front-line staff when it ‎comes to safety, security and access, are thrown off Britain's trains for political and financial reasons."

RMT has also published another press release in response to Greater Anglia claims.

RMT responds to Greater Anglia claims that an unsafe, scab army will allow them to run services next week

General Secretary Mick Cash said:

“RMT is aware of plans Greater Anglia are putting in place to minimise the effect of RMT industrial action during our current dispute. This includes providing a rushed and compressed training to non-safety critical staff in a desperate attempt to carry on running business as usual. We believe these contingency plans include provision for persons utilised as guards (PUGS). This is effectively a scab army of poorly trained managers, with corners cut and safety compromised.

“RMT has already been alerted to an incident on 20th September 2017 on 2D76 the 11:17 Ipswich to Lowestoft service. The manager in training released the train doors before the train was stationary at Halesworth Station. This is exactly the kind of danger Greater Anglia is flirting with as it puts strike breaking before passenger safety.

“RMT would suggest that the company’s time and effort would be more productively utilised in reaching an agreeable solution to the dispute rather than this botched and potentially lethal attempt to weaken the effect of our industrial action. RMT will be closely monitoring the situation and we would remind Jamie Burles and the senior managers at Abellio Greater Anglia that responsibility for any safety failures as a result of their actions will lay firmly at their door.”

Another trade union ASLEF has issued their press release about the Tube Strike.

From ASLEF

ASLEF members on London Underground have voted overwhelmingly for strike action in an industrial dispute with the company. In a ballot conducted by Electoral Reform Services drivers were asked two questions:

Are you prepared to take part in a strike?

Yes: 88.4%

No: 11.6%

Are you prepared to take part in industrial action short of a strike?

Yes: 93.5%

No: 6.5%

Turnout was 53.1%

ASLEF’s executive committee, meeting today, has called a 24 hour strike on Thursday 5 October.

Finn Brennan, ASLEF’s organiser on London Underground, said: ‘ASLEF members have voted by an 88% margin to take strike action in our dispute over the failure of LU to deliver on the commitments they made to improve work life balance as part of the 2015 pay settlement.

‘As part of the settlement of the dispute over the introduction of Night Tube, LU agreed to introduce a mechanism to allow drivers to reduce the number of shifts they work, on a pro-rata basis, and “new ways of working” to reduce the percentage of weekend shifts worked by July this year. They have repeatedly refused to make any detailed proposals to do so.

‘For more than 18 months management have prevaricated, stalled and delayed. Deadlines have repeatedly been missed and promises broken while our detailed proposals to resolve these issues have been ignored.

‘Our members’ patience has finally been exhausted and our executive committee has announced strike action. As always, we are ready to meet at any time to try to find a solution, but it is long past time that LU management started to act to resolve this long running dispute.’

The reason why I’ve published the press releases from RMT and ASLEF is to balance the issue in regards to the industrial actions.

I invite you to follow me on Twitter and Google Plus by searching for @CLondoner92