London Underground workers have threatened to strike again in a dispute over jobs, wages, pensions and conditions, as millions of railway passengers have suffered a fourth consecutive day of disruption today due to the departure of the London Underground. national railway.
Members of the Railway, Maritime and Transport union have been on strike in the metro in recent weeks, including a 24-hour march on Tuesday. This added to the separate RMT strike against Network Rail and 13 train operators across the UK which took place on Tuesday and yesterday with another scheduled departure tomorrow.
By law, the RMT had to re-vote its members underground, with the union saying there was a “decisive” result in favor. More than 90% of voters supported industrial action with a turnout of 53.1%.
No new strike dates have been set, but they will be decided by the union executive in due course, increasing the threat of service disruption over the summer amid growing disputes in the sector.
It comes when another union, the Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA), notified its members ’vote in Greater England for a strike and a short strike action on pay, conditions and job security. Also today:
- Only 60 percent of the 20,000 normal weekday services were operating today after yesterday’s second day of strikes;
- Leaders of more than 100 global transportation unions are urging Grant Shapps to meet with unions to resolve the dispute;
- Traffic congestion on London’s roads during rush hour this morning has been the lowest level of the week;
- British Airways workers based at London Heathrow Airport have now voted in favor of the strike in a wage dispute;
- Brits heading abroad have once again suffered major queues at UK airports such as Heathrow and Manchester.
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch confirmed that the union “will take a break next week and take everything into account,” adding that a strike by executives involved with the TSSA could cause more workers to enter the dispute. .
Meanwhile, there was little hope today that future subway strikes could be averted – after four casualties in the past three months – after Sadiq Khan suggested he accepted the union’s demands not to cut pensions.
The mayor of London said he was “not convinced” that the “final salary” pension plan managed by Transport for London, which cost the operator £ 401 million in contributions last year, would have been to modify its benefits.
The issue of pensions is one of the main concerns of the RMT along with the salary increases and the cut of 600 jobs of the station staff. The union has already taken to the subway in recent months on March 1 and 3 and June 6, as well as on Tuesdays.
KING’S CROSS – London’s King’s Cross train station looks very quiet this morning as strikes continue to affect services
EUSTON – Euston London train station looks very quiet this morning as strikes continue to affect services
EUSTON – The Secretary-General of the Railway, Maritime and Transport Union, Mick Lynch, arrives today at his offices near London Euston
WIMBLEDON – Queues for buses at Wimbledon, south-west London, this morning after the second day of train strikes
DISTRICT LINE – A station on the London Underground line is closed today after this week’s strike
FARRINGDON: Tube services run normally at Farringdon Station in London this morning after a week of interruptions
And Mr Khan told the London Evening Standard: “I am quite clear that I am not convinced that there are reasons to change the pensions of those who work for TfL. It is up to the Government to give the case.
“I’m pretty clear on how to recognize the hard work of our transportation workers – the thousands who have kept our city running – it shouldn’t be about making unilateral changes to their terms and conditions.”
Unions around the world are writing to Grant Shapps about rail strikes
Leaders of more than 100 global transportation unions in 52 countries have written to the Transport Secretary, urging him to meet with unions to try to resolve the rail dispute.
A letter coordinated by the International Federation of Transport Workers (ITF) warned that the dispute runs the risk of undermining the UK’s credibility in labor relations.
Strikes by members of the Railway, Maritime and Transport union, Unite and Aslef have paralyzed rail and metro services this week.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the strikes were unnecessary and argued he had not taken part in talks because it would be up to employers and unions to negotiate pay, jobs and conditions.
Stephen Cotton, ITF general secretary, said: “Unions around the world are surprised that less than a year after committing to supporting dialogue with unions at COP26, the UK will impose cuts in services. and will abandon infrastructure projects at exactly the right time when public transport should be expanded and strengthened.
‘The Government injected millions to keep private companies afloat; the workers kept the system moving. Grant Shapps must realize that the UK’s international reputation in labor relations is in jeopardy.
“If you don’t even want to talk to national unions, what hopes do you think your government will have when it comes to engaging international unions as part of the ‘Global Britain’ government agenda? ‘
A Transport Department spokesman said: “It is totally false to say that the Government is blocking the negotiations. We have said from the outset that we urge unions and industry to reach an agreement that is fair to railway staff, passengers and the taxpayers ”.
But Conservative London Assembly member Keith Prince said: “It is a shame that Sadiq Khan decides that he would rather cut TfL bus and other services routes than save £ 182 million a year by reforming TfL pensions.”
It comes after TfL received a three-week extension of its current Covid bailout of the government, although Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said he wanted a “re-establishment of the relationship” with the City Council, which is in disarray. .
Speaking of the prospect of future Tube strikes and the latest vote, Mr. Lynch said: “This is a fantastic result for our members and shows that the arguments that RMT has been making are backed up by Tube workers.
“Transport for London (TfL) and the mayor of London need to seriously rethink their plans for hundreds of job cuts and try to get the hard-earned pensions of the workers who serve the people of London every day.We are well aware of the funding cuts that the Westminster government is imposing on TfL.
“However, Mayor Sadiq Khan must mount a serious campaign for the people of London, to get the capital the funding it deserves for its public transport. It should not try to sacrifice pensions and jobs. work of our members to adapt to the budgetary constraints set by (Prime Minister) Boris Johnson ”.
But Andy Lord, TfL’s chief operating officer, said: “We are disappointed that the RMT has secured a mandate for further strike action. As a result of the pandemic and its impact on TfL’s finances, we must be more efficient.
“To continue to support London and support our staff, we have worked with unions and staff over the past year to develop plans to adapt to these challenges.
“There are no proposals to change pensions or terms and conditions and our proposals will ensure that any reduction in roles is achieved through the management of vacancies, in accordance with our non-compulsory dismissal agreement. We call on the RMT to continue working with us.
The London-based TSSA as the RMT is asking for a guarantee of non-compulsory dismissals by 2022, no unagreed changes in terms and conditions and a salary increase that reflects the rising cost of living.
Voting will begin on June 29, with the result in mid-July, so the strike date as soon as possible is July 27.
The TSSA also votes its members on Network Rail, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, West Midlands Trains, Avanti West Coast, Northern, LNER, C2C, Great Western Railway (GWR) and TransPennine Express.
Greater Anglia’s services were disrupted yesterday by a 24-hour march by members of the Aslef drivers’ union and by national strikes by RMT members.
c2c: the operator will run two trains per hour tomorrow from Fenchurch Street to Shoeburyness via Laindon; two trains per hour from Fenchurch Street to Pitsea via Rainham; and there are no trains for Ockendon or Chafford Hundred
CROSSCOUNTRY: The network will run a “significantly reduced service” during tomorrow’s strike, as shown above
GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY: Tomorrow there will be a limited service between 7.30 and 18.30 on the greenways.
LNER: The operator says it will only run 38 per cent of its regular trains, with the last one from London to Edinburgh at 2pm.
SOUTH WESTERN RAILWAY: There will be no trains beyond Southampton to Weymouth; or beyond Basingstoke to Exeter
SOUTHEAST – Limited services between London, Kent and East Sussex during tomorrow’s strike
GREAT NORTHERN, GATWICK EXPRESS, SOUTHERN AND THAMESLINK: This map of Govia Thameslink Railway shows the trains that are expected to run on its network during tomorrow’s strike action, which account for a fraction of normal services.
TSSA members work in a variety of roles, including station staff and managers, drivers, driver managers, train crew managers, and platform team leaders.
British Airways workers at Heathrow vote in favor of the strike
British Airways workers based at London Heathrow Airport have voted in favor of the strike in a wage dispute.
GMB and Unite members supported industrial action. Unions said holidaymakers are facing disruptions, warning of a summer of strikes.
Workers, including registration staff, will now decide on strike dates, which the union said could be held during the maximum summer holiday period.
Nadine Houghton, GMB’s national official, said: “With serious predictability, holidaymakers are facing a massive disruption thanks to the British Airways pig’s head. BA has tried to offer our members soft table tops in the form of 10 percent …