London Underground Staff Walk Out

London Underground staff on the Metropolitan Line have begun staging a 24-hour strike in a dispute over the transfer of staff.

Around 70 members of the Rail Maritime and Transport union (RMT) working on Metropolitan line stations walked out after voting in favour of industrial action.

Staff at all stations from North Harrow to Amersham, Chesham and Watford will not turn up for their 5.30am shifts on Thursday and Friday.

A statement issued by the RMT said: "RMT members returned a 13-to-one majority for action after senior London Underground Management (LUL) breached its own procedures to tell staff on permanent postings that they would have to move jobs - over-ruling a potential solution negotiated locally."

RMT General Secretary, Bob Crow commented: "LUL management has now ridden roughshod over its own procedures and told them that they will have to move, even though local reps had hammered out a potential solution which would have seen everyone's wishes catered for.

"Our members have shown that they are not prepared to tolerate this treatment of their colleagues and we hope that LUL will now sit down and work out the sensible solution that could have prevented this strike."

Transport for London said that no stations had been closed, despite the action.

A spokesman for Transport for London said the strike would "serve no purpose" and added that five members of staff were being transferred from parts of the network where there were enough employees, to stations where there were vacancies.

"Transfers were within the terms and conditions of LU employment," he said.

Of the five staff members that are being transferred, some have already moved house to be closer to their work, the union said.

(DS/JM)