Mayor of London;"Says Keep Ticket OFFICES OPEN"

To advise all that after the sucess of the distribution of postcards in many locations,and with the support of Local MP's,this Union is continuing with this campaign,and a lobby of SWT's HQ will take palce on Thursday 31st July 2008,where Bob Crow (General Secretary) will be in attendance,all the information on times locations etc is set out below. Also to note that the Mayor Of London is now involved with this issue,and this was discussed at the London Assembly,and the Mayor has agreed to write to South West Trains to urge them to think again about their proposals,an extract was in last Nights Evening Standard EXTRACT FROM EVENING STANDARD:

Mayor tells rail firm: "Keep ticket offices open" BORIS JOHNSON is calling on South West Trains to drop a plan to close ticket offices at weekends. The Mayor will write to bosses at London’s biggest rail operator, urging them to think again. South West Trains has been accused of putting profits before passengers after proposing to cut staffing levels at 114 stations. A spokesman for the Mayor said: “He does not have direct control over management of rail services and this includes the reduction of SWT staffing or closure of ticket offices, which he would oppose. “However, he intends to hold a summit with the train operating companies later this year where he will outline his expectations of them. The Mayor will write to SWT regarding these issues.” The Mayor made his promise after a question from Caroline Pidgeon, a Liberal Democrat member of the London Assembly. She welcomed his pledge but said she would watch carefully to see he acts on it. A South West Trains spokeswoman said: “We will read the letter with interest and respond accordingly” Transport for London recently dropped its plan to withdraw staff from 40 Tube ticket offices after travellers and workers protested. The Evening Standard has been campaigning for better station safety Key demands are more uniformed staff and improved CCTV KATHARINE BARNEY City Hall Reporter RMT CIRCULAR Dear Colleague Keep Ticket Offices Open - Lobby South West Trains HQ at 10.00 on Thursday 31st July ALSO PLEASE HELP WITH DISTRIBUTING POSTCARDS TO PASSENGERS AT WATERLOO STATION FROM 0800. The campaign against the cuts in South West Trains Ticket Office Hours is having a real impact. The campaign held in conjunction with the TSSA was kicked off at Waterloo station last week when activists distributed thousands of postcards which passengers could send to passenger focus. The launch received widespread media coverage. Since then RMT and TSSA activists have distributed tens of thousands of postcards around the region and in many instances have been joined by fellow trades unionists and Member of Parliament. There has been a massive demand for the cards and we have had to order several re-prints. The response of our members in supporting the campaign has been absolutely fantastic. RMT and TSSA have also written to every Trades Council, Regional TUC, MP, Local Authority and passenger group in the region asking that they formally lodge an objection with Passenger Focus. We will also be meeting Passenger Focus ourselves very shortly. The Passenger Focus consultation does not close until 5th August and it is vital that we keep getting the cards out to passengers and keeping the pressure on the company. More cards are now available from Head Office. To this end RMT and TSSA have called a joint lobby of the South West Trains Offices HQ to take place at 10.00 on Thursday 31 July at South West Trains Friars Bridge Court 41-45 Blackfriars Road London SE1 8NZ At the lobby we will be handing in a giant train ticket urging the company to keep ticket offices open. Please bring your flags and whistles! Please also note that prior to the lobby we will be handing out postcards at Waterloo Station from 0800 – 0930. We hope as many activists as possible can assist with this as well. I hope to be able to see you on 31st July. Yours sincerely Bob Crow General Secretary James Croy Political Officer RMT Unity House 39 Chalton Street London NW1 1JD Tel: 020 7529 8822 Fax: 020 7387 4123