Tube station managers are to walk out in strike action next month in a dispute over working conditions.
Unless called off, Customer Service Managers who are members of the TSSA union will be on strike on Wednesday 10th April — and will be partially on strike on Thursday 11th April, if their shift would have started on the Wednesday.
There’s also an unrelated strike by train drivers who are members of the ASLEF union on the Monday, so there could be disruptions across the London Underground from Monday 8th through to Thursday 11th April.
The TSSA union says that its members are concerned about the company’s ‘Stations Changes’ proposals, with potential changes to their terms and conditions, job roles and location. Strike action was backed by over 200 key station staff in a ballot, and the union then gave the company the requisite 14 days’ notice period ahead of the planned walkout.
Commenting, TSSA General Secretary, Maryam Eslamdoust said: “While we only take strike action as a last resort the strength of feeling among our members is clear.
“London Underground has no real justification for the threats to our members’ roles, locations, terms and conditions, which may arise from its ‘Stations Changes’ proposals. The company is unable even to explain the impact of the proposals. This is simply not good enough.
“We still hope to resolve this amicably and remain in talks, but if not then our members will ensure London Underground stations are closed across the network on 10 April.”
The strikes won’t affect the Elizabeth line and other TfL services but they will be expected to be busier than usual.
Anyone who works on stations knows there are too many Customer Service Managers – CSMs – with very little to do. The role was created during one of the many previous shake ups (“Fit For The Future”) and essentially transferred operational station supervisors into a largely office based position. And whereas prior to this, there were a team of, say, 5 managers for a group of stations, under Fit For The Future, there was now a team of 5 managers for each station. The proposed changes will see them reapply for a reduced number of CSM roles, and those who don’t secure a position, transfer back to the control room based operational role (with protected earnings). Their strike won’t have any noticeable impact – it’s unlikely their absence on the day will result in many (or any) station closures.
In which case why are they there at all?