Tube Strike Expected To Cause Travel Chaos

Tube passengers are preparing to face travel chaos as the first in a series of strikes begins today.

Thousands of London Underground employees are set to strike from 5pm this evening over plans to axe 800 jobs.

Maintenance and engineering staff will begin a 24-hour strike from 5pm today, followed by station and revenue staff, operational managers, drivers and signallers, who will begin their 24-hour strike at 9pm.

Further action is planned by members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union and the Transport Salaried Staffs Association for October 3, November 2 and November 28.

An indefinite overtime ban has also begun.

The unions have argued that the job cuts could compromise passenger safety, but London Underground has denied the claim and also pledged that there would be no compulsory redundancies, that every station that currently had a ticket office would continue to have one, and that all stations would remain staffed at all times.

An extra 100 buses have been laid on to help ease the expected travel disruption, while other measures include marshalled taxi ranks, escorted bike rides and capacity for 10,000 more journeys on the river.

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said: "LU management knew very well that meaningful talks could not proceed while the threat of cuts to safety and safe staffing levels hung over our members heads - their failure to remove that threat sabotaged any prospect of making progress.

"RMT and TSSA negotiators completely demolished the LU/Tfl line that the cuts are simply about new technology and the Oyster Card. The planned cuts are part of a multi-million black hole facing the Mayor due to the costs of the failure of Tube privatisation and an attack on funding levels from the ConDem Government.

"Not only are ticket offices and ticket staff jobs threatened, but hundreds of other station staff posts are also on the line. It was the presence of those very staff that averted potential disaster in recent incidents involving fires at Euston and Oxford Circus.

"RMT and TSSA have been presented with a stark choice. We could sit back and wait for a major disaster while safety cuts are bulldozed through turning the Tube into a death trap or we can stand up and fight for passenger and staff safety. On Monday we will be making a stand on safety and safe staffing levels on behalf of all Londoners."

Commenting on the strike, Transport Commissioner Peter Hendy said: "We continue to make every effort to avoid a dispute. There is no need for any action as the changes we are introducing come with no compulsory redundancies, and mean that stations will remain staffed at all times and every station with a ticket office will continue to have one.

"We regret that Londoners will be disrupted if the strike goes ahead, however the RMT and TSSA leadership will not stop London Underground from moving with the times. Due to the success of Oyster just one journey in twenty now involves a ticket office, and some ticket offices sell fewer than ten tickets an hour."

(KMcA/GK)