Two More Days of Tube Strikes Announced

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RMT escalating industrial action in advance of night tube introduction

Tube Union RMT has today confirmed two more twenty four hour strikes in the Night Tube and station jobs disputes.

The industrial action will take place for 24 hours from 9pm Tuesday 25 August and 9pm Thursday 27 August. This means that the tube will be affected for four days during the week.

RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said: “Our members the length and breadth of London Underground have made it clear that they are determined to protect their work/life balance and not fall into a trap where they will be forced to wreck their home lives in order to comply with the “rosters from hell” which have been drawn up to plug the staffing gaps in the Night Tube plans.

“Staff are angry that their grievances are being ignored and dismissed by both the Mayor and his officials and that there has been no substantial move as of today from London Underground to make progress towards a negotiated settlement. That is why we have no option but to strike again. It is ridiculous that the job cuts programme for fleet, engineering and station staff is also still being bulldozed through against this background."

Steve Griffiths, London Underground's Chief Operating Officer, said, 'Yesterday, however, and having previously argued that it was "not about money", the RMT leadership made further demands for unaffordable pay rises and the hiring of even more staff - including the reversal of the modernisation of customer service in LU stations. They expect our customers to pick up a bill running into hundreds of millions of pounds for this through higher fares or by forcing us to cut back investment to improve Tube services in a rapidly growing city. No responsible management can give in to such demands.'

He added that management remain committed show flexibility and that the current offer guarantees staff the same number of weekends off as they have at the moment as well as not requiring anybody to work nights who doesn't want to after a short transition period. Mr Griffiths claims staff will still be able to swap shifts around so that they can work at the times which best suit them.

It is not known at this stage if other unions plan to join the RMT in taking industrial action on these days.

Mick Whelan, general secretary of the drivers' union, Aslef, said: " We are not against the night tube if it’s run in a reasonable and adequate manner.” But he added he did not believe it could be introduced by 12 September.

August 11, 2015