The RMT says that members will be taking strike action next month because of a lack of assurances on jobs, pensions and working conditions “in the midst of an on-going financial crisis driven by central Government”.
The announcement of the strike on Tuesday, March 1 and Thursday, March 3, comes in the wake of a recent ballot of over ten thousand members across all grades of London Underground staff with 94 per cent of members voted to strike.
It comes as Transport for London (TfL) is looking to make savings of just over £500 million for London Underground by April 2023, as part of the most recent funding agreement between TfL and the government.
In response to the RMT, Andy Lord, Transport for London’s (TfL) Chief Operating Officer says “it is disappointed as no proposals have been tabled on pensions or terms and conditions, and nobody has or will lose their jobs as a result of the proposals we have set out”.
TfL says it remains open to talks.
RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch said: “Our members will be taking strike action next month because a financial crisis at LUL has been deliberately engineered by the Government to drive a cuts’ agenda which would savage jobs, services, safety and threaten their working conditions and pensions.
“These are the very same transport staff praised as heroes for carrying London through COVID for nearly two years, often at serious personal risk, who now have no option but to strike to defend their livelihoods.
“The politicians need to wake up to the fact that transport staff will not pay the price for this cynically engineered crisis. In addition to the strike action RMT is coordinating a campaign of resistance with colleagues from other unions impacted by this threat.
“The union remains available for talks aimed at resolving the dispute.”
TfL says fewer than 50 per cent of RMT members voted in favour of industrial action, and that the organisation is open to talks with the union.
Sir Brendan Barber, with the support of pensions expert Joanne Segars, is leading and facilitating an independent review of TfL’s pension arrangements, which is a condition of the 1 June Government funding agreement. TfL says this is just a review and there are no plans for change and that it remains ongoing and no recommendations have yet been made.
In regards to jobs, TfL says it needs to bring staffing levels in line with customer need while protecting as many jobs as possible for the people who work for it today. It proposes not recruiting into around 250 customer services vacancies that are currently unfilled, as well as placing controls on future recruitment, with the aim of reducing posts by a further 250-350 as people retire or move on from TfL.
This would mean a reduction of around 500-600 posts compared to pre-pandemic staffing levels – although the precise number will depend on discussions with its people and Trade Unions.
TfL aims to achieve this reduction in posts by holding current vacancies and controlling future recruitment. It says it is committed to protecting as many jobs as possible for people who work here today, seeking to make any changes through not backfilling vacancies wherever possible.
Andy Lord, TfL’s Chief Operating Officer, said: “It is extremely disappointing that the RMT has today announced strike action, as no proposals have been tabled on pensions or terms and conditions, and nobody has or will lose their jobs as a result of the proposals we have set out.
“The devastating impact of the pandemic on TfL finances has made a programme of change urgently necessary and we need the RMT to work with us, rather than disrupting London’s recovery. We’re urging them to do the right thing for London, talk to us and call off this unnecessary action.”
The Department for Transport says this year’s Spending Review settlement for London provided over a billion pounds of capital investment per year, in line with previous funding and with other regions of the country. This is also at time of significant pressure on the national finances.
A DfT spokesperson said: “The Government has already pledged over £4.5 billion to keep London’s transport network running, enabling businesses to operate and key workers to continue their critical work in the capital.
“But the Mayor has a responsibility to get TfL back onto a sustainable financial footing in a way that is fair to taxpayers, rather than continuing to push for bailouts from the state.
“We will continue to discuss further funding requirements with TfL and the Mayor.”
Photo credit: Transport for London
