RMT member Raj Nathvani, a driver with eight-and-a-half years' experience who had never previously passed a signal at danger or been involved in any safety-related incident, was dismissed after reporting that he had overrun a signal.

"When Raj over-ran a signal he reported it to his controller and proceeded at caution. Ahead of him were green signals and no points, but he was sacked without mercy because he didn't follow procedure exactly," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

"Other drivers who have made similar genuine errors have learned from such mistakes and are still driving today, and some managers who have made errors have not been disciplined at all.

"LUL have breached their own procedures by refusing Raj a union rep until the actual disciplinary was heard, and by collecting evidence against him in casual emails from other staff members.

"Jubilee Line managers are once more going way over the top and, to make matters worse, the RMT branch secretary and Wembley Park rep has now also been put on a gross disciplinary charge for a minor incident while he was driving an empty train.

"Les Bruty is being disciplined for a procedure used by Jubliee Line drivers every day, and without which no train would ever leave the depot.

"Instead of dealing with it locally, the matter was referred to a company disciplinary interview, where Les, despite promises to the contrary, was told he faced a gross misconduct charge and potential dismissal.

"The blatantly unfair dismissal of Raj and the victimisation of his union rep are the latest examples of the regime of fear that is being imposed on our members and the re-emergence of the dangerous blame culture we spent years trying to eliminate," Bob Crow said.