RMT members have begun a 48-hour strike after talks between the union and London Underground over wage and job cuts broke down. The strike began at 1859 tonight and will continue until 1858 on Thursday.
The union is calling for a 5% pay rise and a guarantee that there will be no compulsory redundancies.
Yesterday Boris Johnson announced extra transport services aimed at keeping the capital moving in the event that the strike went ahead. Transport for London will ensure the availability of extra buses, a free River shuttle service will also run and and passengers will be able to use Oyster pay as you go on all Greater London National Rail services.
Speaking yesterday the Mayor said he was “determined to do as much as is humanly possible to ease the journeys of the millions of Londoners whose lives may be disrupted if strike action takes place.”
Peter Hendy, London’s Transport Commissioner, said: “We urge everyone travelling in and around London during the strike to check before you travel and to consider the wide range of alternative travel options by going on-line to tfl.gov.uk as well as staggering your normal journeys where possible.”
Members of the London Assembly have condemned the strike action. Caroline Pidgeon, Liberal Democrat London Assembly Transport Spokesperson, commented: “The RMT have long been spoiling for a fight. This is a pointless strike which will inconvenience millions of people and severely damage London’s economy.”
“At a time of a deep recession and rapidly rising unemployment the RMT seem determined to just add further misery to the hundreds of thousands of people who are struggling to keep their jobs.”
Highlighting Mayor Johnson’s election promises of a no-strike deal with the Tube unions Labour’s Val Shawcross said: “A more pro-active, interested Mayor would have put his prejudices to one side, rolled up his sleeves and not let the dispute escalate to this disruptive stage. He would have worked with the unions to find a fair way forward. Instead, Boris has refused to come to the negotiating table and the no-strike deal he promised on the campaign trail is looking like a ridiculous puff of hot air.”
dear boris, please help all londoners and do not cave to the ridiculous demands of the RMT. it will only get worse for the future. be strong! we’re behind you 100%.
Janet,
The demands of the RMT are not unreasonable, or if your boss offered a pay rise, and then withdrew it later – you would be OK with that?
Basically TFL knows it’s budget will be slashed over the next few years, after loosing a fortune with the wholesale failure of PFI with the MetroNet fiasco and the impending public sector wage restrictions the Government will be applying over the next 5-10 years.
Why is this happening? – well the answer lies in the billions of pounds the Government recently handed to the finance industry to keep it afloat.
Is it right that the tube workers should have to pay for the mistakes of the Bankers and the Government? I don’t recall many tube drivers having lavish lunches over the last 10 years – dining out on the boom. I haven’t seen too many Ferarri’s about town being driven by overpaid tube drivers and there aren’t many tube workers who manipulate their domicile status to avoid paying tax. However it is the tube drivers, the doctors, the nurses and the teachers who the Government expects to have to pay for the folly of the bankers greed.
I don’t know who you refer to as ‘we’re right behind you’ – but you should certainly count me out as I do not think it’s morally right that the public sector workers pay for the private sectors losses – especially when the private sector have been awarding themselves pay rises over and above that of the public sector for the last 10 years during the boom times.
The Government may be morally corrupt and think this is acceptable (just as acceptable as moat cleaning, or duck islands are) – and you may agree, but I’m sure that most people like to think they live on a higher moral plain that that.
Even though this strike did inconvenience me – I am right behind it. Despite being a private sector worker myself I have the humility and sense to look back at what has happened over the last 10 years and recognise that it’s not the public sector workers that should pay for this crisis. We have had our bonuses and pay rises
Perhaps you should stop being so self centred and think about a little bit more than your own personal inconvenience the next time there is a strike.