Mayor of London Ken Livingstone has issued a statement on negotiations with Tube unions to implement later Tube services on Friday and Saturday nights.
The full text of the Mayor’s statement reads:
“Almost a year ago I asked Tim O’Toole to secure a multi-year deal that would provide Tube employees with certainty about their future pay increases and that would provide the Underground with a period of stability as it is rebuilt.”
As part of this I also asked Tim to implement later Tube services on Friday and Saturday nights and to negotiate any changes necessary to achieve this. I believe that later running is something that Londoners want.
We put a fair deal forward. We proposed a settlement with three days extra holiday in exchange for the half hour later working on Fridays and Saturdays.
Two of the unions, TSSA and the British Transport Operators’ Guild, put the proposed deal to their members who have overwhelmingly accepted it. TSSA members backed the deal with over 80 per cent of their members in favour.
The overall deal involves a four per cent increase in the first year and then above inflation increases in the second and third years. We are ready to pay this but RMT and ASLEF have still not put the deal to their members.
ASLEF negotiators have rejected the offer we have made, including the three days’ extra holiday, without putting it to their members. ASLEF are asking for more pay in return for working half an hour later.
The extra holiday offered to drivers to compensate for the unsocial hours caused by later running on Fridays and Saturdays is an extremely reasonable offer. I believe that if ASLEF and the RMT were to put this offer to their members there would be considerable support for it.
The cost of increasing pay further in return for late running of the Tube is prohibitive. I am therefore forced to suspend at the present time the introduction of later running on Fridays and Saturdays.
We want to introduce late running and I remain committed to it but we cannot do it at any price for Londoners. If the price is too high it is better to suspend it for the present.
It is not possible to introduce late running at a cost that Londoners would rightly regard as excessive.
Of course the offer of three days extra holiday as part of a package to guarantee late running remains if the trade unions decide to take it up. They are welcome to do so. If they did so Londoners would benefit from later running and tube workers would benefit from the reasonable package that we have offered.
The multi-year pay offer remains and I now hope that RMT and ASLEF to follow TSSA and BTOG and put it to their members.“
