02.05.14
Tube talks resume to avert next strike action
Talks between London Underground (LU) and the rail unions will resume today in an effort to avert next week’s planned strike action.
Negotiations, once again, are to be held at the conciliation service Acas. The talks follow strike action carried out earlier this week over LU’s plans to modernise the Tube, which rail union RMT says would lead to ticket office closures and 960 job losses.
LU says it has guaranteed no compulsory redundancies, a job for everyone who wants to continue working and no pay cuts due to the changes.
An Acas spokesman said: “We are holding talks with all the parties involved in the LU Tube dispute on 2 May at 10am.”
However, Transport for London (TfL) has set out a range of measures to help keep London moving and open for business next week, should a second set of RMT strikes go ahead.
The walk-out action is currently due to affect services from around 9.30pm on Bank Holiday Monday 5 May and throughout the whole of Tuesday 6, Wednesday 7 and Thursday 8 May, with services not returning to normal until the morning of Friday 9 May.
During this week’s strike action LU managed to run 50% of Tube services across the 48-hour action and carried up to 57% of the usual number of passengers – more than during the last strike in February.
The RMT said it would have suspended the latest strike action if LU had agreed to a public consultation over the plans which do not include any compulsory redundancies.
Phil Hufton, LU’s chief operating officer, said: “Should next week’s strike go ahead there is likely to be disruption but we will do everything we can to keep London moving and with the continuing support of our staff we hope to run more services.
“It was thanks to the hard work and dedication of transport staff and thousands of volunteers that we were able operate over 50% of Tube services across the 48 hour action earlier this week.”
TfL added that although it is not possible to say exactly what services it will be able to run next week, line-by-line information will help customers to plan journeys in advance.
To see TfL’s latest information on the potentially affected lines, click here.
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