28.11.16
Tube driver strikes confirmed on Piccadilly and Hammersmith & City lines
London Underground (LU) drivers on the Piccadilly and Hammersmith & City lines will go on strike next month, rail union RMT announced last week.
The strikes on both lines will begin at 9.30pm on 6 December and run for 24 hours.
RMT said the strike of 400 Piccadilly line drivers was over a “wholesale breakdown in industrial relations” with LU.
Mick Cash, its general secretary, said members had been left “exposed and vulnerable” by LU “ripping up” safety procedures.
The union accused LU of failing to properly administer its signal passed at danger policy, failing to respond to members’ concerns regarding the quality of training, and breaching attendance at work and harassment and bullying policy.
RMT has also alleged that cuts to station and control room staff on the Underground are putting passenger safety at risk.
The union described the separate dispute on Hammersmith & City as concerning “heavy handed and aggressive management”.
In September, it announced 24-hour strikes on Hammersmith & City and Circle, claiming that managers were timing staff’s toilet breaks.
But Steve Griffiths, LU’s chief operating officer, said: “We urge the RMT leadership to work with us constructively on the issues it has raised rather than disrupt our customers with strikes.”
He accused the union of making a “premature” announcement, arguing it had pre-arranged talks with LU to discuss concerns about Piccadilly and had submitted proposals regarding Hammersmith & City.
Have you got a story to tell? Would you like to become an RTM columnist? If so, click here.