Tube strike warning after RMT passes new walkout mandate in row over four-day week for driversThere is a threat of further strike action on London Underground
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Nicholas Cecil, Chief Reporter @nicholascecil2 minutes ago
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The RMT union was warned against “crippling” London after it passed a fresh mandate for strikes on the Tube.
Shadow Transport Secretary Richard Holden condemned the walkouts which have hit the Underground this year.
The industrial dispute is over a four-day week for Underground train drivers who earn around £74,000 a year.
Mr Holden told The Standard: “At every turn it appears like the RMT, which funds Labour MPs across London, is out to cripple the capital.
“With our capital city vital to the growth of the whole UK, more strikes would cripple that.”
Shadow Transport Secretary Richard Holden strongly criticised the RMT strikes on the TubePA Archive
He warned London Mayor Lord Sadiq Khan against making concessions to the RMT, arguing the union would just “keep striking for more, despite having some of the best paid, pensioned, and secure jobs in the country”.
He spoke out after the RMT passed a new strike mandate earlier in the summer to carry on its industrial action.
Out of 1,050 ballots cast by RMT members, 937 voted for strike action, with 112 against and one spoiled or invalid response.
The result in favour of walkouts was weaker than in the strike mandate vote in February.
The latest figure was 89% per cent of those who voted backing going ahead with more walkouts, compared to 91% at the start of the year.
Tube strikes earlier this year caused disuption on most linesGetty
The overall number of drivers who sent back ballots was 134 lower than in February when 1,801 were eligible to vote compared to 1,719 in the most recent mandate renewal.
On taking industrial action short of strikes, 978 drivers backed the move, or 93% of the 1,050 who took part in the August ballot, with 71 against.
The RMT said: “Both of the above results exceed the required thresholds and the National Executive Committee has wholeheartedly congratulated members on delivering a ballot mandate for strike action and action short of a strike.”
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The union recently set a deadline for Transport for London to respond to demands for “specific assurances” over a series of questions in ongoing talks to try to resolve the dispute.
London Underground has repeatedly stressed that the new four-day week would be voluntary for drivers.
But the RMT has branded the changes as a “fake” four-day week, arguing it was compressing five days of work into four.
It has cited concerns over the impact on drivers who do not want to accept the new arrangements, as well as on driver fatigue and late notice of shifts.
It has also objected to the roll-out of iPads to train drivers.
Stacked Tube trains at Upminster rail depot during the RMT walkout in AprilGetty
But the RMT’s position has been hugely undermined by the Aslef train drivers’ union fully backing the reforms and praising the four-day week as the “biggest improvement in working conditions for Underground train drivers in decades”.
Aslef stressed Tube drivers would get “working conditions that are as good as, or better than, those on any mainline train company”, including an extra 35 days away from work a year, average weekly rostered hours reducing to 34 from a current average of 36, and a third rest day every week so more time at home and less time travelling to and from work.
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RMTTransport For LondonSadiq KhanstrikesStrike ActionThe Standard