LUL All Grades Strike

[SynthD]

Going back a bit here, but they spent a fortune taking Tower Gateway down from two platforms to one a few years ago and added a passing loop on the approach, to enable a zone 1 terminus that could handle high-density three car services in the event of Bank being closed. Lo and behold, even now they still throw in the towel and terminate Lewisham services at Shadwell when Bank's closed.

There’s a power supply problem in that area.

 

[thebigcheese]

Like this one suggesting services would not return to normal until "late morning" on Wednesday and Friday?

And this one...

 

[Jimini]

There’s a power supply problem in that area.

For 15 years?

 

[Mawkie]

And this one...

Hilarious, and obviously completely missed the point (if it's actually real).

 

[endicomark69@g]

And this one...

Smith Street must have invested in a few Ubers to get their Goons out and about flyposting on the day then........or did they make the Interns use e-scooters?

 

[Mawkie]

Interesting to see the RMT is quoting the latest official report into the TfL Pension. The TfL Pension fund valuation reveals a surplus of £179 million with a funding level of 101.4%

I wonder what Grant Shapps er..I mean TfL's next move will be now the argument that the fund is unaffordable has been proven to be untrue . (TfL have also reduced their contributions after their decade long holiday to more reasonable levels.)

TfL Pension fund valuation reveals a surplus of £179 million with a funding level of 101.4%

Dear Colleague, TFL PENSION FUND - 2021 TRIENNIAL ACTUARIAL VALUATION I can advise that following 31st March 2021 triennial actuarial valuation of the TfL Pension Fund the draft results reveal a surplus of £179 million with a funding level of 101.4%. This compares to a deficit of £603m recorded...

www.rmtlondoncalling.org.uk

 

[Lewlew]

Interesting to see the RMT is quoting the latest official report into the TfL Pension. The TfL Pension fund valuation reveals a surplus of £179 million with a funding level of 101.4%

I wonder what Grant Shapps er..I mean TfL's next move will be now the argument that the fund is unaffordable has been proven to be untrue . (TfL have also reduced their contributions after their decade long holiday to more reasonable levels.)

TfL Pension fund valuation reveals a surplus of £179 million with a funding level of 101.4%

Dear Colleague, TFL PENSION FUND - 2021 TRIENNIAL ACTUARIAL VALUATION I can advise that following 31st March 2021 triennial actuarial valuation of the TfL Pension Fund the draft results reveal a surplus of £179 million with a funding level of 101.4%. This compares to a deficit of £603m recorded...

www.rmtlondoncalling.org.uk

Proof that it was never about pensions. They used that to drag everyone else in on a station staff issue. (The 500-600 job "losses")

They would never have got the mandate if they only balloted station staff.

 

[Mawkie]

Proof that it was never about pensions. They used that to drag everyone else in on a station staff issue. (The 500-600 job "losses")

They would never have got the mandate if they only balloted station staff.

If I recall correctly, Stations went on strike in 2016 over Fit for the Future - why do you think they wouldn't have voted for strike action this time?

(Again, I'm a bit hazy, but wasn't FftF a reduction of 900 station staff and when London Travelwatch complained quite vociferously, LU re-employed 600 new CSA2s?)

 

[endicomark69@g]

Proof that it was never about pensions. They used that to drag everyone else in on a station staff issue. (The 500-600 job "losses")

They would never have got the mandate if they only balloted station staff.

While The Minuteman for Transport is "Insisting" that Pensions "be part of the mix" - ie: attacked and left less gold-plated than currently on the basis of the above evidence that the fund is fine and needs no Govt tampering - of course it's about Pensions.

The Govt wants to race the TfL Fund to the bottom like they've done most other things, why should TfL staff believe otherwise?

Do keep up.

 

[Snow1964]

Just out of interest did the 2 days of strikes achieve anything, or has nothing been changed, not upgraded or downgraded.

Seems rather pointless to have a strike if it resulted in everything same.

 

[Goldfish62]

Just out of interest did the 2 days of strikes achieve anything, or has nothing been changed, not upgraded or downgraded.

Seems rather pointless to have a strike if it resulted in everything same.

It was a protest. I don't think for one moment the RMT or any staff taking part expected the action to change things. Well, apart from damaging TfL further.

 

[Mojo]

Just out of interest did the 2 days of strikes achieve anything, or has nothing been changed, not upgraded or downgraded.

Seems rather pointless to have a strike if it resulted in everything same.

The company did not and have any proposals on the table with regard to organisational change, or changes to staff pensions, therefore as above there was nothing really to change.

All that has been announced thus far is that between 500-600 CSA1 vacancies will not be filled. Now by all means this may create problems with staff possibly being made to change location and increased workloads for the remaining staff, but given it has not yet been announced what stations this affects it is not possible to actually know if this will apply to anyone.

 

[Mawkie]

Just out of interest did the 2 days of strikes achieve anything, or has nothing been changed, not upgraded or downgraded.

Seems rather pointless to have a strike if it resulted in everything same.

It would a little hopeful to think that 2 days of strike action would create a mutually agreeable solution so quickly. I think everyone involved knows this is going to be a protracted campaign.

It was a protest. I don't think for one moment the RMT or any staff taking part expected the action to change things. Well, apart from damaging TfL further.

I took part in the strike action and the 30 people on my picket line most certainly did think we will effect a change of thinking within the TfL/DfT hierarchy. Why do you suppose I chose to lose £440?

The company did not and have any proposals on the table with regard to organisational change, or changes to staff pensions, therefore as above there was nothing really to change.

All that has been announced thus far is that between 500-600 CSA1 vacancies will not be filled. Now by all means this may create problems with staff possibly being made to change location and increased workloads for the remaining staff, but given it has not yet been announced what stations this affects it is not possible to actually know if this will apply to anyone.

There is a list on the TfL Sharepoint of the stations that will be most impacted by the cuts. Obviously, this can't be made public (and isn't finalised anyway) but it is available on the Building a Sustainable Future if you are able to view it.

It is incorrect to say nothing has happened so far.

You didn't mention the changes already made to the Special Requirements Team framework agreement that has severely impacted their work/life balance. This was forced upon them after 'consultation'.

You also didn't mention the changes to the Revenue Control Team framework which have similarly created uncertainty and decimated the work/life balance of one of the more challenging roles within the organisation. Once again, forced upon them after 'consultation'.

These two matters alone would be reason to strike and are surely an indication of what's coming ahead for operational staff.

 

[Goldfish62]

I took part in the strike action and the 30 people on my picket line most certainly did think we will effect a change of thinking within the TfL/DfT hierarchy. Why do you suppose I chose to lose £440?

You really think it will change things? I'm genuinely surprised. Sorry, but I think you're being naive. A certain degree of industrial action will have certainly been factored in when considering any proposed changes.

 

[Snow1964]

You really think it will change things? I'm genuinely surprised. Sorry, but I think you're being naive. A certain degree of industrial action will have certainly been factored in when considering any proposed changes.

The papers for next weeks TfL Board meeting have been published, and it includes the full set of conditions for the funding agreement.

Under Annex A, section 8 which covers Pensions

1. TfLwilldeliverthefinalpensions review report, including a recommended approach and implementation plan.
2. TfLwillbeexpectedtoprovideregularsubstantive updates on the recommendations contained within the Review as well as, where appropriate, a detailed work plan setting out next steps.

1 is to be reported by 31st March
2 is monthly

https://board.tfl.gov.uk/documents/s17662/Finance%20Committee%20Chairs%20Actions%20Funding%20-%20February%202022.pdf

So basically the pensions part of strike was speculative because the plan and how it will be implemented doesn’t need to be out before end March.

 

[Goldfish62]

So basically the pensions part of strike was speculative because the plan and how it will be implemented doesn’t need to be out before end March.

Yes, that was always the case. Sir Brendan Barber doesn't report back with the results of his review until the end of this month.

 

[philthetube]

Interesting to see the RMT is quoting the latest official report into the TfL Pension. The TfL Pension fund valuation reveals a surplus of £179 million with a funding level of 101.4%

I wonder what Grant Shapps er..I mean TfL's next move will be now the argument that the fund is unaffordable has been proven to be untrue . (TfL have also reduced their contributions after their decade long holiday to more reasonable levels.)

TfL Pension fund valuation reveals a surplus of £179 million with a funding level of 101.4%

Dear Colleague, TFL PENSION FUND - 2021 TRIENNIAL ACTUARIAL VALUATION I can advise that following 31st March 2021 triennial actuarial valuation of the TfL Pension Fund the draft results reveal a surplus of £179 million with a funding level of 101.4%. This compares to a deficit of £603m recorded...

www.rmtlondoncalling.org.uk

I am not sure how you draw that conclusion, TFL pay in large sums into the fund every year to maintain it, that surplus would disappear in a couple of weeks with no contribution from them

 

[Snow1964]

I am not sure how you draw that conclusion, TFL pay in large sums into the fund every year to maintain it, that surplus would disappear in a couple of weeks with no contribution from them

It would also go if staff got a pay rise, or inflation is high.

Pay rises mean final salary based pensions will be higher (although not paid out until retirement). Inflation means pensioners get rises, and liability for deferred members (those who have left TfL, but not yet retired) also goes up.

You don’t need to be a maths expert, to understand if inflation is say 6%, then the pension fund needs to be 6% bigger. (Strictly it is not exactly 6% as need to adjust for those that die and new employees, and those that get promoted so salary changes more than inflation), but you will see 1.4% surplus isn’t very much. It’s not like the 1970s where many pension funds were 200-300% (at time Corporation tax was high, so paying extra into pension fund reduced it going on tax)

 

[bramling]

It would also go if staff got a pay rise, or inflation is high.

Pay rises mean final salary based pensions will be higher (although not paid out until retirement). Inflation means pensioners get rises, and liability for deferred members (those who have left TfL, but not yet retired) also goes up.

You don’t need to be a maths expert, to understand if inflation is say 6%, then the pension fund needs to be 6% bigger. (Strictly it is not exactly 6% as need to adjust for those that die and new employees, and those that get promoted so salary changes more than inflation), but you will see 1.4% surplus isn’t very much. It’s not like the 1970s where many pension funds were 200-300% (at time Corporation tax was high, so paying extra into pension fund reduced it going on tax)

The difficulty for TFL is that changing the pension scheme is going to be seriously problematic.

Do anything which is detrimental to existing members (in other words current employees) and this will - justifiably in my view - be seen as a major movement of goalposts, which to me would result in a total breakdown in trust between employer and employees. TFL’s employee relations are already bull-in-china-shop. Not great to do something which will make this several orders of magnitude worse.

To add to this, despite large numbers of applicants relative to posts, TFL is now struggling to recruit and retain quality people, to the point where they are at the point of scraping the barrel even to get people who can fulfil basic requirements in terms of communications and reading/writing. Even in basic roles (which are safety critical) this is a problem, but massively more so for the more specialised ones such as controller. I know from reliable sources that from the recent controller recruitment exercise alone, a role where there’s already significant unfilled vacancies and a tsunami of retirements approaching, a significant number of successful candidates went on to fail the training. In short, TFL is reaching the point where they are uncompetitive as an employer in respect of getting the people they need. Mess around with the pension and this problem will become *far* worse.

Changing the pension for new joiners might be feasible in the short term (albeit doesn’t help with the recruitment problem), but over time will lead to a toxified atmosphere.

Johnson is too short term and simple to appreciate these issues, and with him having his well known “punish London for voting Labour / Khan” agenda he doesn’t care anyway. It might come back to bite him if he loses Uxbridge though, again he’s probably too belligerent to have thought of that, he probably thinks they will vote him in come what may because they love Boris. My (staunch Conservative) area at home - in the south east not London - has just had a by election where there was a significant swing to the Lib Dems. This is part of a pattern seen a few times now. Johnson losing Uxbridge is a very real possibility.

 

[Goldfish62]

The difficulty for TFL is that changing the pension scheme is going to be seriously problematic.

Do anything which is detrimental to existing members (in other words current employees) and this will - justifiably in my view - be seen as a major movement of goalposts, which to me would result in a total breakdown in trust between employer and employees. TFL’s employee relations are already bull-in-china-shop. Not great to do something which will make this several orders of magnitude worse.

To add to this, despite large numbers of applicants relative to posts, TFL is now struggling to recruit and retain quality people, to the point where they are at the point of scraping the barrel even to get people who can fulfil basic requirements in terms of communications and reading/writing. Even in basic roles (which are safety critical) this is a problem, but massively more so for the more specialised ones such as controller. I know from reliable sources that from the recent controller recruitment exercise alone, a role where there’s already significant unfilled vacancies and a tsunami of retirements approaching, a significant number of successful candidates went on to fail the training. In short, TFL is reaching the point where they are uncompetitive as an employer in respect of getting the people they need. Mess around with the pension and this problem will become *far* worse.

Changing the pension for new joiners might be feasible in the short term (albeit doesn’t help with the recruitment problem), but over time will lead to a toxified atmosphere.

Johnson is too short term and simple to appreciate these issues, and with him having his well known “punish London for voting Labour / Khan” agenda he doesn’t care anyway. It might come back to bite him if he loses Uxbridge though, again he’s probably too belligerent to have thought of that, he probably thinks they will vote him in come what may because they love Boris. My (staunch Conservative) area at home - in the south east not London - has just had a by election where there was a significant swing to the Lib Dems. This is part of a pattern seen a few times now. Johnson losing Uxbridge is a very real possibility.

Completely agree with all that.

The majority of middle/lower management and admin staff haven't had a pay rise for two years and counting and for most of the previous 6-7 any pay rise has been below inflation. Meanwhile they've been expected to work longer and longer hours and concepts such as overtime and time off in lieu are non-existent. It used to be the case that hard work and busting a gut now stood you in good stead for career progression in TfL in future, but that doesn't seem to be the case now and good people have had enough and are leaving for better prospects elsewhere. Bear in mind also that some politicians (all right-wing of course) not only want the "gold-plated" pension scheme reformed, but also want other perks such as spouse and staff passes removed. What a mentality.

 

[bramling]

Completely agree with all that.

The majority of middle/lower management and admin staff haven't had a pay rise for two years and counting and for most of the previous 6-7 any pay rise has been below inflation. Meanwhile they've been expected to work longer and longer hours and concepts such as overtime and time off in lieu are non-existent. It used to be the case that hard work and busting a gut now stood you in good stead for career progression in TfL in future, but that doesn't seem to be the case now and good people have had enough and are leaving for better prospects elsewhere. Bear in mind also that some politicians (all right-wing of course) not only want the "gold-plated" pension scheme reformed, but also want other perks such as spouse and staff passes removed. What a mentality.

Absolutely, and TFL’s standards are already slipping as a consequence of all this. For example, a line was almost completely suspended for a time a few weeks ago, because no one had the right key to open the cabinet where a piece of equipment which needed to be operated was located.

TFL have also had a fair share of RAIB involvement over the last few years, which is also rather telling. Mystic Bramling would suggest we are likely to see this continue.

 

[Nym]

This happened in Engineering at LUL (Ex.Metronet) and TfL some time ago with everyone good leaving, and now it's hitting everywhere else. There is definitely a lack of competent resource within the company throughout, and not just in operations.

And with the current pay scales, non-consolidated bonus and pay rise scheme, needing to work in London, constant re-organisation and many, many other negatives, why would anyone realistically want to work there?

 

[bramling]

And with the current pay scales, non-consolidated bonus and pay rise scheme, needing to work in London, constant re-organisation and many, many other negatives, why would anyone realistically want to work there?

Exactly. Even the senior management seem to be on a revolving door, and half of them have jumped ship to Australia.

Big problems ahead for TFL.

 

[westv]

Am I correct in thinking that we won't see any further disruption this side of July?

 

[Dstock7080]

Am I correct in thinking that we won't see any further disruption this side of July?

The current Night Tube dispute runs until 19 June and RMT are re-balloting their Members to continue this action further.

 

[Drogba11CFC]

Am I correct in thinking that we won't see any further disruption this side of July?

There's talk of a strike on 3rd June (meaning I'll have to take the WLL from Clapham Junction to Willesden and double back on my way to Porthmadog.

 

[Lewlew]

There's talk of a strike on 3rd June (meaning I'll have to take the WLL from Clapham Junction to Willesden and double back on my way to Porthmadog.

It's only affecting Green Park and Euston stations. Just get off at Warren Street, King's Cross St Pancras or Euston Square for a short walk to Euston.

 

[theking]

6th June apparently

London Tube strike: RMT announce walk out after Jubilee bank holiday

About 4,000 station staff are set to walk out on 6 June in a dispute over job losses and pensions.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[duncanp]

6th June apparently

London Tube strike: RMT announce walk out after Jubilee bank holiday

About 4,000 station staff are set to walk out on 6 June in a dispute over job losses and pensions.

www.bbc.co.uk

The strike on 6th June will affect the whole network, and is in addition to the one on 3rd June which affects Green Park and Euston.

 

[Mawkie]

6th June apparently

This is a different mandate to the original 'All Grades Strike' post (which may or may not be renewed). And of course, different to the ongoing Night Tube dispute too.

Is it far to say LU staff are feeling aggrieved?