The
London Underground workforce is rife with drink and drugs and managers are
struggling to control a ‘workforce that seemed determined to break every rule
in the safety book’.
This
is the conclusion Journalist Chris Millar who spent a month with Morson International,
one of the contractors who look after the Underground by carrying out vital
repair work during the night.
His
report follows an undercover operation by newspaper the Evening Standard, where
he found evidence of dismissals for cocaine abuse, contractors arriving for
work on track maintenance drunk, widespread absenteeism and theft of London
Underground property by staff.
The
company has a contract through the Public Private Partnership which earns it
£400,000 a month.
London
Underground policy bans drink or drug-taking at work, and those who test
positively for either will lose their job. Those found guilty of such an
offence are banned from working on the Tube for life.
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Ged
Mason, managing director of Morson said that the company took a proactive
approach to drugs testing and claimed "every precaution" was taken to
ensure it complied with all London Underground health and safety laws.
