Wednesday, 11th August 2010
LONDON UNDERGROUND workers have voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action over plans to cut 800 jobs, plans which unions say will compromise safety if put into effect.
"RMT members have sent a clear message in this ballot that they will not sit by while the tracks are turned into a death trap and our Tube stations and platforms are left unstaffed," said RMT leader Bob Crow.
"London Underground are burning up safety agreements almost by the day in the dash for cuts."
Tube bosses deny the 800 lost jobs would affect either staff or passenger safety.
"The RMT leadership is once again scaremongering: there will be no compulsory redundancies, our stations will continue to be staffed at all times while trains are operating and all stations with a ticket office will continue to have one," said Richard Parry, Director of Strategy at LU.
Members of the RMT union voted by a ratio of three to one for a strike in the ballot result revealed today. The union has not decided when and for how long a strike would take place, but will do so next week once the results of a similar ballot held by TSSA, another Tube union are in.
Assuming a 'yes' vote by TSSA members, any strike would have to be within the next month or so, or the strike vote would go past its legal sell by date.
Post new comment