Member Article

Tube strike to go ahead as unions reject latest Night Tube offer

RMT has confirmed that it has rejected the re-packaged offer from London Underground over the Night Tube dispute in a meeting as ACAS on Monday afternoon.

The strike action scheduled to begin on Wednesday afternoon will go ahead as planned across all grades and all lines.

The union has accused Transport for London (TfL) of “re-hashing” a previous offer in an attempt to deliver the Mayor’s “ill-conceived Night Tube vanity project.”

RMT has also said that it will now be embarking on a renewed campaign to inform the public of the “heavy price” of the Night Tube, which will launch next month.

Other tube unions TSSA, Unite and Aslef unions have also rejected the latest pay offer.

RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said:

“Our members have made it clear that the latest offer from London Underground is merely a rehash of the previous package and does nothing to tackle the core issue which revolves around staff being at the beck and call of management to be hauled in during their free time to try and plug the staffing gaps which riddle the Mayor’s Night Tube vanity project.

“RMT is also deeply concerned that the talks are being conducted by people who have no background on the tube and no understanding of how processes and logistics work. That is deeply worrying and a major departure from when the combine was managed by people with a deep-seated knowledge of the railway. That is a major barrier to progress in the talks and one that we hope can now be cleared.

“The Night Tube plan has been botched from the off. The basics haven’t been done and those who will pay for this shambles will not only be our members but the London daily travelling public who cough up a fortune and who will find their safety and the reliability of the service compromised from 12th September onwards.

“The action goes ahead and RMT remains available for talks regardless of the point we have reached in the dispute which is perfectly normal.”

Steve Griffiths, chief operating officer for London Underground, said: “After listening to the unions, we put forward an extremely fair revised offer, which addresses their concerns over work life balance and rewards our people for the hard work they do in keeping London working and growing.

“Despite this, the new offer has been rejected outright by the union leadership, again without consulting their members. We continue to urge them to put the new offer to their members and not subject Londoners to further unnecessary disruption. We remain available for talks at any time.”

The second network-wide strike in a matter of weeks, tomorrow’s action will affect thousands of workers in the Capital. Regus, the global workspace provider, is offering free workspace to workers affected by the tube strikes.

Those who cannot work in their normal location this week will be given free access to the business lounge within any Regus centre, providing professional workspace, wifi and complementary refreshments.

“Working from home is not convenient for everyone,” says Richard Morris, UK CEO at Regus. “Most people prefer to leave the house and work in a more productive environment.”

“The Tube strikes don’t have to mean lost productivity, but they are a wake-up call for employers who haven’t adopted flexible working and addressed the practical challenges.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellen Forster .