Today's problem with the Bakerloo

RMT and ASLEF have told their drivers to walk down each train and check each car individually for passengers when detraining. I believe this is a dispute over the removal of distpatch staff at Queens Pk, Harrow and Stonbridge.

I travelled on the Bakerloo Line today and all passengers were advised to change at Queens Park.

I also saw Mr Crow at work outside St James's station, in relation to another dispute

XF

Believe that is to do with agency staff being made redundant after LUL has stopped using a contract with an agency to staff Gunnersbury, Kew Gardens and all LUL managed stations Queens Park - Harrow

"Operational issues" according to LUL.

The ability for LU to introduce staff at a location at short notice to assist is not at issue. LU have the SRT who could be drafted in within minutes if not a few hours to staff those stations and thus give a normal service. There is a bigger picture I just wonder if the fare paying public can see it. I doubt it.

Platform man at Hammersmith was tonight announcing delays due to "Operational Reasons"

I had the misfortune of having to use the Bakerloo yesterday after staying at a friends in Queens Park.

I was waiting for quite a while before a train finally moved out of one of the roads up the line. A terminating train was standing in the platform for a long time as a driver checked all the carriages etc. This in turn caused at least 2 trains to be backed up as they came in in quick sucession after the first one departed.

I hate the fact that LU are continually held to ransom by the unions. There are hundreds of people that would love to be given the opportunity to work for LU either as a driver or station staff member yet many (NOT ALL!!!) employees think nothing of striking, working to rule etc at the drop of a hat - causing severe disruption to the fare paying members of the public.

I only hope this current situation can be resolved sooner rather than later.

How is this industrial acton affecting other lines, what about detraining at Wembley Park on the Jubilee line, Harrow on the hill on the Metropolitan line, Barking on the District line.

De-training does not just occur on the Bakerloo line

Pointless, spoonfed waffle - Ah ha ok (A nice, polite response there :. I suppose I am not allowed any form of an opinion on what I experience and feel?

So you disagree that the unions hold an extremely high level of power over LU? Or that the people that use the service on a daily basis are inconvenienced on a far too regular basis due to various different strikes/work to rule agreements?

I am all for upholding safety standards - who wouldnt be? But it always seems to me that the minute the unions do not get their own way the toys get thrown out of the pram and they strike or cause some form of delay/inconvenience.

While there are hundreds of people who would love to work for LUL until one is in the job all most really know is experience as a member of the travelling public and the idyllic schoolboy dream.

When it comes to any job at the sharp end of LU, duty responsibilities and H&S are key and must be considered above all else. While it is annoying for passengers to be delayed one must see such delay from the wider angle, as I mentioned before politics has much to do with the issues in question.
I'll never condone strike action, which seldom if ever produces a 100% satisfactory result for either side of a dispute and usually upsets the 'customers'. However, I would back to the hilt any member of LU staff following the rules, regulations and procedures to the letter of the law and not just the spirit no matter what impact that has upon services where duty responsibilities and health and safety are concerned. Some might see it as 'Jobsworth' at work but believe it when I suggest that, like it or not, it sometimes has to be that way to protect both the customers and the staff who are at the mercy of the politics of the organisation.
When it comes down to brass tacks it's all about proper and effective management from the top management echelon to the very bottom management echelon of the company and sometimes the two are not in sync. There is usually some leeway between the letter and the spirit of any rule, regulation or procedure but sometimes there can be none due to management intransigence which might threaten the livelihood and career of an employee by instructing her/him to do one thing while expecting her/him to do another and that is the crux of many a dispute at LUL.

On this particular issue blame LUL rather than the unions unless there is a strike in which it would be fair to be upset with both sides.

Seems to be a bit more meat needed on the bones here.....

Removal of detrainment staff is half the issue - the other half of the issue is the removal of the requirement to physically check trains and that is where ASLEF has an issue.

Drivers are now expected to flash the lights on & off, make several PA's then close the doors and proceed into the siding.

The issue then is what happens if & when the driver comes across somebody whilst changing ends. There is a risk of assault, and being on board a train, there is no way of avoiding any such confrontation. That's ASLEF's issue, which they did raise with LU before Christmas.

I do hope that an agreement is reached - BUT - has there been a change in the risk of assault since drivers stopped doing this 10? years ago?

Part of this is NUMBERS of staff on the platform and train, as Colin himself has found out to his intense personal cost......


Perhaps because of a direct issue relating to the procedure - i.e. staff being REASONABLE and not making a fuss - only to find a t/op in trouble. So then the only alternative is to works the rules precisely. And don't forget staff are beginning to be sacked for 'unsafe procedures' brought about by working to 'custom and practice' to keep the service going. D*mned if you do, and d*mned if you don't - no wonder unions are telling their members to stick to the written-down rules at all costs these days.

Working to rule is, without fail, caused by rules being written (or inherited) where there is no possiblity of running a proper service if they are adhered to - not only on LU, but buses, the PO, most building sites and so on. Hence (as stated upthread) why it is such an effective 'wakeup' call when it is applied. No possible chance of disciplinary action because in these cases the rules ARE being followed - to the letter!!

Detraining at Harrow (and Stonebridge Park at least) involved one member of platform staff working from the back forwards, and the driver working from the front backwards along the train, meeting in the middle. So, sure there will be another member of staff nearby, if someone is attacked, but not generally in exactly the same place. So are the risks of an attack really so much lower when detraining in a platform, rather than when walking through a train which is reversing in a siding?



I quite agree that the rules need to be updated when the procedures change, but what happens when there are contradictory rules in place. Of course, this shouldn't happen but that doesn't stop such occurrences.