Singer, Pam
2013 "Singer, Pam", 2013, HistoryTalk Pam joined London Transport in 1982. She had come from Vancouver, Canada and applied to be bus driver but, at the Griffiths House Recruitment Centre she was recruited to work as station staff. She trained at the White City training centre and, after si...
| Institution: | TUC - Trade Union Congress Library |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
London
2013
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10796/B1C0CCBB-BC8A-4E13-96E3-37A532A748D4 http://hdl.handle.net/10796/5CB5609E-7603-4C9F-B2B1-1C9D9C9F7D85 |
| Summary: | 2013
"Singer, Pam", 2013, HistoryTalk
Pam joined London Transport in 1982. She had come from Vancouver, Canada and applied to be bus driver but, at the Griffiths House Recruitment Centre she was recruited to work as station staff. She trained at the White City training centre and, after six months, did the guards training and worked at Hammersmith, Baker Street and Neasden depots. She describes the training centre regime and the tasks of a guard working as part of the two- person crew on an underground train. There were a few women guards and the problems women train staff faced in a formerly male environment. Describes the world of twenty- four hour shiftwork and the rostering of staff at depots. Describes the structure of the working week and notes the changes that occurred in the 1980s with introduction of OPO trains with the loss of 2,000 guards jobs and in the 1990s. Pam qualified as a driver/ motorman and the type of training/ testing and outlines the actual job on the Metropolitan line on passenger trains as well as shunting duties in Neasden depot. Describes the relationship with passengers. Pam ceased driving due to health problems and went to Northfields depot to do a desk job. Identifies 1992 as a watershed on the underground with the abolition of seniority and changes to methods of calculating pay with a top- heavy management structure and changes to work culture. Notes the impact of the Kings Cross fire. Pam left LT in 2000 and worked as a TUC tutor.
Pam joined the NUR (National Union of Railwaymen). She had been a union member in Vancouver but now became very involved in branch and other level activities. Notes the role of women in the union. Outlines the various strikes in the eighties, both official and unofficial. Describes inter- union rivalry between ASLE&F and NUR and contrasts with North American industrial unionism. Later she worked on union policies for women.
In this clip Pam talks about her experience of sexism during examination to become a driver on the underground.
Click on the pdf icon to read the entire transcript or click on the mp3 icon to hear a clip of the interview. |
|---|---|
| Physical Description: | Photograph TEXT |