Union bosses today claimed responsibility for this week’s Tube chaos — and warned of worse to come.
Seventeen stations were closed during Wednesday night’s rush hour in the “worst commute for years”.
The RMT union said the main cause was an ongoing overtime ban by 3,500 station staff in protest over job cuts and changes to staff roles.
Today the TSSA union announced an indefinite overtime ban by more than 500 of its ticket staff members starting on Thursday. They say it is in protest over a rise in verbal and physical abuse from passengers since a programme of ticket office closures started.
The unions claim so many jobs have been cut — more than 900 during the past two years — that London Underground can no longer manage to run the system, allegations which are denied by Tube bosses. A union source said: “The overtime ban could make things worse for passengers but we have to take a stand to improve conditions.”
Staff cuts followed the decision two years ago by then mayor Boris Johnson to close all ticket offices to save cash. Ticket staff instead work out on the platforms and concourses with travellers mainly relying on ticket machines.
Mayor Sadiq Khan today dismayed the unions as he ruled he would not reopen any of the closed ticket offices. The unions had predicted he would reopen up to 25 ticket offices at busy central London stations.
The Mayor instead ordered Transport for London to draw up an action plan to look at staffing levels, upgrading ticket machines, changes to uniforms to make staff more visible, and a joint working party with the unions.
