Join the campaign against job losses on London Underground

The RMT and TSSA unions representing London Underground station and ticket office staff and some drivers have voted to take strike action. They are resisting the proposed cutting of 800 jobs - cuts that will lead to ticket office closures and a worse service for the travelling public.

Inevitably, the press will go into overdrive berating these workers for not going gently (accepting job cuts) and for defending the quality of the public service that keeps this city running. Don't the people that write these reports ever use public transport?

The first in a series of one-day strikes starts at 9pm on Monday night, 6 September. The unions are inviting people who support them to visit picket lines - early on Tuesday morning, 7 September, from 5.30am (yes, Tube workers start work that early) till 10am, and again from 12noon till 5pm. And if you don't want to support them, but want to go and harangue them, I'm sure they are tough enough to take that as well. They are used to dealing with the public!

Picket lines in Barnet will be at High Barnet, East Finchley, and Archway stations. Email info@barnettuc.org.uk if you would like more details.

Support the Tubeworkers to support your Tube service

So the RMT Tube workers have voted for strike action against job losses - 800 planned across the network, particularly affecting ticket offices and leading to many closures.

As a friend of mine said to me last night, prepare for a wave of anti-Tubeworker bigotry in the press. The point lost on papers such as the Evening Standard is that fewer Tubeworkers means a worse service. When Tubeworkers go on strike to defend their jobs, they should have the support of the public.

If the public were to contact TfL or their local MPs, or the Mayor of London, or the government to protest against the planned job cuts, perhaps they would not go ahead. Perhaps the government would find other ways to save money, and preserve the service.

It's a service that the whole of London, business particularly, benefits from. Why can't we unite to make it better? Answer: we can.

To find out some more background, and hear the Tubeworkers' case, visit the Staff Our Stations website of the RMT union, and prepare to back the Tubeworkers. The RMT - it's not just Bob Crow, you know (although it is partly Bob Crow!).