Almost 1500 maintenance and engineering Tube staff are to be balloted on strike action as part of the RMT union’s dispute with London Underground bosses over the planned Night Tube.
The service, which will run on Friday nights and the early hours of Saturday and Sunday mornings on the Northern and Victoria lines and parts of the Central, Northern and Piccadilly lines, was due to start last September.
However managers’ failure to agree terms with those du to work on the service prior to the launch date being announced led Tube drivers and other staff to hold a series of strikes.
That dispute was finally resolved when LU and unions agreed a deal which will see staff receive a one per cent pay rise backdated to April 2015, plus a £500 consolidated increase for all pay grades for 2015 as well as an RPI or one per cent, whichever is the greater, increase in 2016 and 2017 followed by an RPI plus 0.25 per cent, or one per cent, whichever is greater, rise in 2018.
However the RMT says there are “unresolved issues over Night Tube staffing arrangements” and claims a pay deal offered to Tube Lines staff is “inferior” to the one agreed with other workers.
RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: “RMT members are furious at the cynical way that Tube Lines have attempted to tie in attacks on pensions with the offer on pay and night Tube, and our reps for this group of over 1,000 safety-critical staff have unanimously thrown the whole package out.”
Steve Griffiths, chief operating officer London Underground, said: “We have made the same fair and sustainable four-year pay offer for Tube Lines maintenance staff as has been made for staff employed by London Underground.
“This will see an average 2% salary increase this year and inflation-protected rises in 2016 and 2017.
He added: “Pension arrangements for Tube Lines maintenance staff have been the subject of separate ongoing discussions.”