Wednesday, 29th September 2010
LONDON UNDERGROUND will be hit by a 24 hour strike on Monday, after talks between unions and management failed to sort out the on-going dispute over the planned mass lay off of Tube station staff.
The two unions involved – the RMT and the TSSA – pin the blame for the strike on London Mayor Boris Johnson, who they accuse of reneging on a promise not to cut ticket offices.
"He was elected after opposing Ken Livingstone's plans to close 40 ticket offices and he now wants cuts at more than 250 and wonders why we are angry," said TSSA leader Gerry Doherty.
"No one likes a hypocrite and that is what Boris is being on this issue."
For the RMT, its leader Bob Crowe stressed the safety implications of leaving stations with a skeleton staff.
"[We] have been faced with a stark choice - either sit back and accept the undermining of safety and safe staffing levels and wait for a disaster, or stand up and fight on this issue in the interests of Londoners," he said.
"We have opted to stand up and fight."
London Underground say getting rid of 800 staff will have no impact on safety and argue the unions are using the issue as a cynical tactic.
But the company's stance was undermined this week by passenger group London TravelWatch.
"There is no justification for closing ticket offices where there is still obvious demand," said Sharon Grant, chair of London TravelWatch.
"We also need guarantees that there will always be staff available to help and provide information to passengers when necessary. This is what passengers expect – and deserve."
Unless there is a last minute resolution, the strike is due to start at 7pm on Sunday 3 October. When that one finishes at 7pm on Monday, a separate 24 hour walk out by Tube maintenance workers is set to kick off.
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