Monday went to timetable, a refreshing change and a reminder that lates seem to suffer far less agro than earlies. You may or may not be aware that ASLEF has balloted us for a strike on Boxing Day, the votes we due in next Monday (13 Dec) so we should get the result early next week.

ASLEF are asking for some sort of compensation as in the past we worked a reduced service on Dec 26 regardless of what day it fell on and it coped perfectly with demand. The duty sheets are up and apart from opening about an hour late it looks like a full Sunday service. If memory serves less than 30 TOps booked on at my depot in the past, this year it's 42.

Obviously what we really want is a return to the previous agreements so that some of us could enjoy Boxing Day like normal people but that is highly unlikely as LUL have all those leaflets printed up telling passengers that we'll be running a normal Sunday service and it would far too late and expensive to replace them. We won’t be getting a day off in lieu as it’s not a bank holiday so a little financial compensation for depriving us of what little social life we have would be appreciated. Fat chance.

The only alternative is to stick two fingers up at our magnificent, munificent management, lose a day’s pay and stay at home with our friends and families (or go watch West Ham away at Fulham). I somehow doubt if there will be any ASLEF picket lines as that would defeat the point of the strike. Perhaps we should just all phone in sick like the Spanish air traffic controllers.