Bad news for Londoners

by New Worker correspondent

Putting fares up in London is a political choice – and it's the wrong one Fare Free London says.
On Sunday 1 March fares for tube, rail and DLR journeys in London will go up by six per cent and so will journeys by River Bus and the Docklands cable car across the Thames.
The Fare Free London  campaign rejects the logic of annual fare rises on public transport, which are presented as inevitable, rather than as the political choice made by the Mayor of London and the national government.
Certain public transport fares (TfL buses and National Rail fares) have been temporarily frozen, which give little comfort to public transport users – but also demonstrates that fare freezes can be implemented by the Mayor and Government at their will.
"This is a political choice. There is nothing inevitable about it", Pearl Ahrens of Fare Free London said. "And it's part of an agreement to keep pushing up fares by more than the rate of inflation. "The Mayor agreed with the government in June last year that fares in London will rise by one per cent more than the rate of inflation every year until 2030.
"This is going in completely the wrong direction. Increasing the proportion of income coming from fares has real costs for people who live in London, and it's not necessary. The transport systems in most of the world's big cities rely far less on fare income than London's does – more sustainable sources of funding can be drawn from elsewhere."
The burden of running the city's transport system is being pushed on to low-income Londoners – including the 26 per cent of households in London living below the poverty line.
Research by Fare Free London last year found that high tube fares mean that people are forced to take long journeys to work by bus, costing them more time, and they cannot take their children out at weekends.    
"The high cost of public transport has negative effects for London", Ahrens said. "Not only in depriving millions of people of leisure trips and quality time because they can't afford to make the journey, or spend too long getting home from work. Further, 62 per cent of respondents in our research said they worry about the cost of their journey 'often' or 'every time' they travel.
"Public transport in London relies more heavily on fare income than other global cities such as New York, Paris or Hong Kong. The most progressive cities are moving towards a zero-fares system, including several French cities and more than 100 municipalities in Brazil".
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, and the Secretary of State for Transport, Heidi Alexander, have both said the fare increases are a necessary part of a funding package for TfL. The package also includes grants from the government to pay for new Piccadilly line trains and other capital investments.
However, the grants, averaging £550 million a year for five years, are only about five per cent of TfL's income. Passenger income is 51 per cent of the total – and will increase to 59 per cent by 2030. 
Pearl Ahrens said "there are many levers the Mayor could use to put the burden where it belongs, on businesses who benefit from London's transport system. A payroll levy on companies in the city, and coordinated parking charges, both used in Paris, would be a start.
"But the biggest change is needed at national government level. While high fares are adding to the soaring cost of living, billions are being committed to Gatwick Airport expansion, the Lower Thames Crossing and other transport projects that will exacerbate the climate crisis.
"Think of how bus services across the country could have benefited from the more than £100 billion in revenue lost as a result of fuel duty being frozen. Why are fares going up above the rate of inflation, while fuel duty has not increased for 15 years?
"An integrated approach to transport would shift subsidies away from roads and cars towards public transport and active travel," Ahrens said.  

Tube strike solid!

by New Worker correspondent

RMT pickets get their message across in Brixton as London Underground workers shut down the network in a series of rolling strikes over pay this week. And at the TUC conference in Brighton RMT general secretary Eddie Dempsey called on Mayor Sadiq Khan to attend a summit with the union to find a resolution to the escalating dispute. At the Brighton Centre Dempsey told delegates from across the six million strong trade union movement, “I’ve got a message for the Mayor. Instead of going on social media, instead of the old tired clichés, telling trades unionists to get round the table, you’re the Mayor of London, you’re the Chair of TfL.
“Stop going on social media, invite us to the meeting, let’s have a discussion, because I want to know what is going on in London”. He warned of more strike action if there was no resolution but pointed out that members did not want to be in this position. “We take no pleasure in causing disruption but we make no apology for fighting for our members. So if the mayor has any sense, he will reach out to us”.
Moving the unanimously backed motion which means the TUC collectively calls on the summit to take place the RMT leader said “this Congress calls on the mayor, to urgently convene a summit to resolve all these disputes, improve industrial relations, end outsourcing and defend ticket offices”.

Off the Rails

by New Worker correspondent

Last week Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London announced that another 800 sub-contracted cleaners working on Transport for London sites would become entitled to free transport on TfL services. They work on MTR Crossrail and on London Overground operations. They now join 5,000 sub-contracted cleaners at TfL who have secured the same rights. These came only after long struggles.
    Given the high bus and tube fares in London, this is a major development for low paid workers who often need to live long distances from their workplaces.
    When London’s bus services were privatised in 1994-5 this move brought considerable hardship to bus drivers as many had taken advantage of free public transport offered by the then London Transport to live in John Betjeman’s Metroland and take a free tube to their central London depot. Having lost their status they had to stump for long journeys to work, a wrong that still grates.
    But to return to the present RMT general secretary Mick Lynch welcomed the move saying: “This is another step in the right direction by the Mayor of London and we’re calling on him to extend it to all TfL sub-contracted workers. Sadiq Khan’s welcome action stands in stark contrast to the Tories who earlier in the week forced legislation through the House of Commons that would remove these workers’ right to strike. Instead of attacking cleaners, the Tories should be following the Mayor’s lead and ensuring all rail cleaners have free travel”.
    He added that: “The Mayor needs to do more too. Labour nationally has committed to oversee the biggest wave of insourcing of public services for a generation when it’s elected. London’s Mayor is already in power, so we’ll be stepping up our campaign for Sadiq to tackle the scourge of outsourcing in TfL, starting by bringing London’s Underground cleaners in-house.” Such a touching faith in the Labour Party.
    RMT has launched a petition making just such demands: this can be found at: https://www.megaphone.org.uk/petitions/bring-london-s-tube-cleaners-in-house.
    This has been a long running dispute. Last June RMT denounced TfL officials for renewing a £450 million contract in March in secret using Chair’s Action between meetings. When it was belatedly discovered Mick Lynch attacked the decision which he said: “This is deeply shocking and raises serious questions about TfL officials and the functioning of the Board. Who is running TfL?” he asked: “The democratically elected Mayor who is chair of TfL or the Commissioner of TFL who the Mayor appoints? It appears to us that unelected officers are now in charge of the capital’s transport system”.
    Last Friday night maintenance workers on the new Elizabeth Line held a 24 hour strike action. Rail for London Infrastructure which employs the workers, offered four per cent but workers at MTR – the outsourced part of the Elizabeth Line – received an 8.2 per cent increase this year and Docklands Light Railway (DLR) staff got almost ten per cent. Mick said: “It cannot be right that maintenance staff doing essential work keeping the Elizabeth Line running are being short-changed. The employer must make a decent offer on pay that reflects the vital work our members perform in order to avoid future strike action.”
    However TSSA members also involved in the dispute over pay and pensions suspended striking on the same day saying “Discussions with the company have been significant and serious” but warning that: “The company should take note however, that we reserve the right to reissue our notice to take action at any time with 14 days’ notice.”

London’s transport

NSSN support on the picket line

by New Worker correspondent

One area where the class struggle will be fought out is on the railways up and down the country, and perhaps most sharply, below ground in London. Rail unions have united in condemnation of the actions of the Mayor of London and Transport for London (TfL), which they say will lead to a loss of 600 Underground station jobs.
   On the London Underground (LU) workers have already taken strike action against detrimental changes to the Night Tube driver grade.
Transport for London (TfL) wants to rip up existing agreements and force drivers to do more Night Tube shifts, which RMT points out will ruin drivers’ work–life balance.
   The action caused major disruption on one of the busiest shopping weekends of the year. Whilst workers on only five tube lines took action, delays hit other lines as well, and members of the other train drivers’ union, ASLEF, refused to cross the picket line despite their union leaders accepting TfL’s proposals. In addition, some other RMT members not directly affected by the plans also struck in solidarity.
   The plans to cut 600 station staff are based on the assumption that people all use contactless tickets, which is nonsense given the large number of visitors needing to be told how to get from Hamleys to Harrods.
   Meanwhile, there’s more trouble at the Woolwich ferry. There has been a ferry crossing at Woolwich on the lower Thames since the 14th Century, but it sometimes seems as though industrial disputes have been going on for almost as long.
   In 2019, workers went on strike seeking a pay rise and improved safety after the new operators cut staff numbers and set new shift patterns after acquiring new ships. The following year they won good deal, securing 100 per cent furlough pay from then private operator Briggs Marine Contractors.
   Now TfL run the service things have got worse rather than better. Just before Christmas seven workers, including two Unite reps, were suspended without reason.
   Despite having recently acquired new ships they were laid up over the festive season. This postponed a planned strike over pay.
   Unite’s General Secretary, Sharon Graham, demanded: “The suspension of our seven members, including two of our reps, needs to be rescinded immediately. We won’t allow TfL management to get away with ‘declaring war’ on Unite and its members. The full weight of the union will be mobilised in support of them,” accusing TfL of “a huge and unprovoked escalation.”
   Unite regional officer Onay Kasab deplored the fact that: “TfL continues to spend excessive sums on agency staff, while claiming it is in financial trouble – this is money that could go towards paying our 58 members a decent wage as the RPI rate of inflation soars to 7.1 per cent.”

Safety Battle Won

 by New Worker correspondent

London’s bus drivers have won what has almost been a year-long battle to secure an improved air conditioning system on the buses. Unite, which represents over 20,000 London bus workers, say the changes will greatly reduce the risk of drivers being exposed to the COVID-19 coronavirus whilst driving because the new air conditioning systems ensure air entering the driver’s sealed cab comes directly from the outside and does not pass through the passenger area of the bus.
    The first concerns were aired (so to speak) in February to Transport for London (TfL) and the private operators, even before the first lockdown. They were backed up by a University College London (UCL) report on the exposure of bus drivers to COVID-19.
    Initially the installation of the new air conditioning system was due to be finished on all buses in January, but it has already been completed.
    John Murphy, the union’s lead officer for London buses, said: “This is a major victory in Unite’s continuing campaign to improve the safety of London buses during the pandemic.
    “Unite highlighted its concerns about the air conditioning system when the first cases of COVID-19 began to emerge and it was instrumental in ensuring the air conditioning was turned off and a replacement system introduced.”
    But he warned that: “While this was a positive development, Unite will not rest on its laurels and is continuously ensuring that drivers’ safety is maintained and improved throughout the second wave of the pandemic.”
    London bus drivers have been greatly affected by COVID-19, with 30 drivers having tragically died of the disease during the pandemic.

On the Tube

By New Worker correspondent

Britain’s bosses and unions are increasingly at war over a possible return to work. It also seems that a considerable number of the public are eager to get their teeth into health-giving McDonald’s burgers once again. Some bosses, such as the notorious Sports Direct, were even trying to force workers furloughed at taxpayers’ expense to work one day a week in the warehouses.

      The trinity of rail unions, ASLEF, RMT and TSSA, have denounced plans to run more trains in a letter to the Prime Minister and leaders of the devolved assemblies. The unions point out that they have worked during the crisis to ensure key workers are able to get to work and to move essential medical and food supplies. They demand that company profits must not come before people’s lives however, and the lockdown should not be lifted until it is safe to do so.

In particular, they warn “that attempts by operators to increase service levels sends out a mixed message that it is okay to travel by train – despite official advice suggesting otherwise” will lead “to the public flouting the rules on travel and work”. They also note that there is no agreement on actually how services can be increased whilst protecting workers and passengers, warning: “We will not accept new working patterns that put the lives of railway workers and passengers at risk.”

A leaked report from Transport for London (TfL) shows that if social distancing were to be imposed on the London Underground system it could only carry 15 per cent of its capacity. This means that even with a 100 per cent service, only 50,000 passengers could board every 15 minutes, compared with 325,000 normally boarding every 15 minutes at rush hour peak prior to lockdown. At present, the reduced service can carry 30,000 passengers boarding every quarter of an hour.

Unsurprisingly, TfL said: “Whatever happens over the coming weeks and months, everyone who can work from home must continue to do so for some time yet. Our intention is to progressively build up service levels, but it is clear life simply won’t be returning to what it was before.”

Obviously this will apply not just to the London tube but to buses and trains across the country, meaning that few people will be able to travel any distance to work. RMT’s General Secretary Mick Cash commented: “The report leaked this morning to the BBC exposing the impact on passenger numbers of maintaining Government social distancing guidelines on the tube is a wake-up call to all those tub-thumping for a jacking up of transport services from May 18th without properly assessing the consequences.”

Also on the London tube, cleaners employed by cleaning contractor ABM are being treated as second-class citizens by being denied staff travel cards that allow travel across the TfL network despite other tube workers receiving this benefit, according to their union, RMT. It also points out that furloughed cleaners are also only receiving 80 per cent of their pay whilst other Tube staff are receiving 100 per cent.

     In addition to refusing to give the cleaners staff travel cards, TfL refers to them as “non-core”. After hearing the Mayor of London praise the cleaners to the sky, RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said: “The hypocrisy towards tube cleaners is breath-taking. On the one hand they are told by the Mayor and others they are doing an amazing job and they’re vital to the fight against coronavirus, then in the same breath they’re told you can’t have all the same basic conditions of employment as other tube staff, not even free tube travel”...

 ...and On the Buses

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has said he wants more buses running, but Unite the Union demands that should not be before certain conditions such as risk assessments are undertaken and fully applied and social distancing measures to protect drivers are preserved. In particular, Unite demands that drivers’ protective screens are sealed, seats around the driver cordoned off and non-cash payments implemented. Restrictions on overloading will need to be introduced.

Unite assistant general secretary Diana Holland said: “The increase in services must be underpinned by safety and maintaining the confidence of bus workers and passengers at all times. Unite is in regular discussions with the government on these issues.

“It must also be recognised that a considerable number of drivers cannot currently work and that this should not result in the remaining drivers being required to undertake excessive hours, which risk their health and safety.”

Unite also represents the taxi trade, so she added that: “The government should remember and fully utilise taxis in the return to work. Purpose-built hackney carriages are designed for social distancing and they should play a full role in helping workers to return to work.”

One branch of London buses where Unite unsuccessfully demanded suspension of services after the death of a driver is the Dial-a-Ride service for elderly and disabled residents who have mobility issues and who cannot otherwise use public transport. This call was made in the aftermath of the death of a driver, Patrick David, who died after 17 years service.

At present, such buses carry only one passenger per vehicle at any one time and drivers are now being provided with sufficient PPE [personal protective equipment] for each customer. But as drivers also help passengers onto vehicles, fasten them in, and help them in and out of their home, it is impossible for social distancing to be achieved at all times.

In place of the service, Unite is calling on TfL to ensure that the elderly and disabled service users are supported through the many community initiatives that deliver food and medicines to vulnerable people during this crisis.

Speaking of the suspension demand, Unite regional officer Simon McCartney said: “This was a very difficult call for our members to make as many of them have dedicated their lives to working for Dial-a-Ride and they appreciate the service is a lifeline for many of its users.

“Once the service is suspended, Unite is committed to working with TfL to introduce measures to get it up and operating again as quickly as possible.”

On the Buses

by New Worker correspondent

In London, sick pay from day one for the capital’s 20,000 bus men and women has been secured by their union, Unite.

This victory only came after intense pressure on bus operators, Transport for London (TfL), the London Mayor Sadiq Khan and the national government for better protection from COVID-19 for bus workers.

Over 21 London transport workers have died as a result of the virus, 15 of them bus workers. Some bus workers may have felt that they had to come to work when exhibiting signs of having caught the disease because of the lack of company sick pay.

Unite says that securing company sick pay from day one, regardless of length of service, means that bus workers fearful of having contracted the illness can now stay home safe in the knowledge that they will not be plunged into immediate hardship.

A regional officer for the union, John Murphy, said: “If they fall victim to this virus, bus workers need to be able to go sick from day one, to isolate themselves and to recuperate. They should not face a terrible choice between health and hardship. Keeping people at home when they are unwell has to be part of the effort to combat this virus. With this victory we can now concentrate our efforts to make people safer at work.”

He also said that the union is pressing “the best in PPE [personal protective equipment], masks and gloves to be available for bus workers and for the ending of rear door entry trials and for sealed front doors rolled out immediately across the capital’s buses”.

Across the country First South West Bus, which serves Bristol, Bath and Somerset, has come under attack from transport union RMT for what it calls the “most inept steps they have ever seen from an employer to protect their workers from COVID-19”.

After making strenuous representation to First South West Buses to fit suitable Perspex screens to their fleet of buses in order to provide a physical barrier between the driver and their passengers, all the company did was to screw what looked like a shower curtain to the ceiling of the drivers cab that hung well short of the bus wind-screen. It was so flimsy passengers could been pull it to one side in order to speak to the driver.

General Secretary Mick Cash said that: “Sainsbury’s are clearly far more concerned with the safety of their staff than you appear to be. Sainsbury's have within 24 hours sourced and fitted to multiple check outs high quality Perspex screens that give a good level of protection and they were fitted to check outs at a maximum time of 20 minutes per unit.”

The matter has been taken up with Public Health England (PHE), who are conducting a review of transport safety in relation to COVID-19.

He also noted that: “RMT also has other concerns about the bus industry including issues for engineering staff in depots and the facilities provided for employees in mess rooms. Many bus drivers on rural routes have no access to facilities to wash their hands – a key risk control measure as advised by Public Health England.”