In a rapidly changing situation,senior ASLEF reps have kept in regular contact with Underground management to ensure our members concerns about Covid-19 are heard and addressed where possible. Tomorrow an emergency summit meeting will take place, at our request, for an update on the situation.
Clearly there are still concerns about the provision of hand gel and the cleaning regime and we will need clear answers from management on all the steps they are taking to reassure staff and keep them safe at work.
But we also want to talk to them about their plans for the next days and weeks. If the official projections are correct, soon many people will start to fall ill. We want to make sure staff are treated properly if they are unwell themselves or need to support family members.
Keeping public transport operating will be vital to making sure that NHS and care workers, government and council staff, supermarket, distribution and other essential people are able to get to work.
We will have little need of bankers and stock brokers in the coming weeks. But more than ever, we will need the vital public servants, including transport workers, that we all depend on.
ASLEF will work with TfL to help keep vital services operating and tomorrow we will start the discussion on what that might mean. Our approach will be to do what is right, not just in the interests of our members, but of their families and of the wider communities we all are part of.
We will report to members after the meeting tomorrow. Thank you to all of our reps and members for all you do to support each other, not just in these difficult times but throughout the year.