New tube strike possible

Dick Murray12 April 2012

The threat of more strike action on the Tube increased today as the unions rejected London Underground's revised pay offer.

Union leaders have given LU a week to increase the 2.5 per cent offer. If LU refuses, the controlling executive committee of the RMT, largest of the unions, will meet to decide further tactics.

Bob Crow, the RMT leader, said: "This offer barely improves on the two per cent offered a couple of weeks ago. It still falls way below the aspirations of our members."

The union views the current pay negotiations as the last chance to win a "proper" pay increase before large sections of the Tube are taken over by the private sector.

Earlier this year the unions won a massive 5.7 per cent pay increase for 3,000 Tube drivers using the threat of strike action. That was on top of last year's four per cent pay award for all 16,000 LU employees.

The RMT has also won a 5.7 per cent pay increase for staff on the Docklands Light Railway, and stoppages on Silverlink services have been called off after the RMT won an improved pay package.

An LU spokeswoman said the pay offer included improvements to working conditions. She said LU would now "reflect further" on what the unions had said and would make a decision next week.

Meanwhile, proposed strikes on the Croydon tramlink have been called off after the Transport and General Workers Union secured a 10 per cent pay increase for drivers, backdated to November. They receive a further five per cent plus inflation next November, lifting salaries to more than £20,000 a year.

Peter Kavanagh, T&G regional organiser, declared the deal "a tremendous result for our drivers".

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