ommuters in London are dealing with the prospect of months of distress with a collection of strikes set to carry the Tube to its knees.
Whereas strike motion on the Night time Tube is ready to proceed this weekend, the RMT union additionally introduced on Friday that one other collection of walkouts will happen subsequent month over a separate dispute.
With the potential that the Tube shall be hit by three rounds of business motion over the approaching months, right here is all the pieces it is advisable learn about how providers shall be affected and why strikes are going down.
Night time Tube strike
The RMT union introduced in January that Tube drivers on the Central and Victoria strains would stroll out between 8:30pm and 4:29am each Friday and Saturday evening till June.
It comes following a dispute between the union and London Underground administration about adjustments to the rota for Night time Tube drivers.
RMT normal secretary Mick Lynch has mentioned the problem revolves round “defending the work/life stability” of Tube drivers and has referred to as on TfL to “finish their deafening silence” on the problem.
Mr Lynch has mentioned “there are easy and cost-free choices that may allow us to think about suspending the motion” and RMT “stands able to get talks again on”.
A spokesperson for TfL has mentioned the organisation can be “open to talks” with a view to calling off the strike however that “it’s turn out to be clear that there aren’t any new or workable proposals”.
TfL has defended the adjustments to Night time Tube driver rotas as “a constructive change for the organisation and our workers” that has concerned “no job losses”.
A TfL spokesperson mentioned: “Regardless of the strike motion, we’re operating an excellent Night time Tube service on the Victoria Line and a daily service on the Central Line, with at the least two trains per hour via central London.
“We’ve made adjustments to driver rosters to protect a near-normal Tube service whereas additionally giving drivers the chance for full-time work, new versatile part-time work and long-term job certainty.”
March strikes
On Friday morning, RMT introduced it had instructed all 10,000 of its members to not flip up for work on Tuesday March 1 and Thursday March 3.
That is along with the Night time Tube strikes.
If it goes forward, the strike is predicted to power your entire Tube community to shut.
The menace comes amid a dispute about TfL’s plans to axe between 500 and 600 jobs throughout London’s transport community in a bid to salvage its dire monetary state of affairs.
RMT normal secretary Mick Lynch has mentioned the plan is the “opening shot in a programme of jobs carnage” which might “savage jobs, security and threaten working circumstances and pensions of our members”.
TfL has mentioned there aren’t any plans to make workers redundant. Tfl mentioned the positions can be culled by not filling round 250 present vacancies and by not changing an extra 250 to 350 workers after they retire.
Andy Lord, TfL’s chief working officer, mentioned: “The devastating influence of the pandemic on TfL funds has made a programme of change urgently essential and we want the RMT to work with us, fairly than disrupting London’s restoration. We’re urging them to do the suitable factor for London, speak to us and name off this pointless motion.”
Pension strikes
As a part of the emergency funding deal supplied by the Authorities final summer time, TfL is required to hold out a evaluation of its “beneficiant” pension schemes in a bid to save lots of round £100 million a yr.
ACAS chair and former Trades Union Congress normal secretary Sir Brendan Barber was appointed to guide the impartial evaluation final autumn which TfL commissioner Andy Byford mentioned would have “no predetermined final result”.
Whereas RMT members may also be protesting potential pension cuts after they go on strike in March, different unions have additionally expressed an intention to strike over the problem.
Final yr, members of the ASLEF union voted 98.8 per cent in favour of strike motion if TfL pushed forward with adjustments to workers pension schemes with out session, although no dates have been confirmed.
