The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union has confirmed its London Underground members will strike for 48 hours from Saturday evening, in a dispute over job cuts and the closure of ticket offices.
Tube station staff will walk out from 9pm on Saturday 6 February to 9pm on Monday 8 February, although talks between the RMT and Transport for London (TfL) may take place later this week.
Silent evening: Workers prepare for weekend walk-out
RMT general secretary Mick Cash said in a message to members: ‘I urge you all to stand firm together and support the action to make sure our message is heard loud and clear by London Underground and also the travelling public, where it is already demonstrated that the majority of the public want stations staffed properly and ticket offices to remain open.’
Steve Griffiths, London Underground’s chief operating officer, said: ‘Ticket offices that customers were using in ever dwindling numbers have already closed with more staff than ever now moved into ticket halls, gate lines and platforms where they can help customers more effectively. As a result, we are seeing big increases in customer satisfaction, particularly in the helpfulness of staff.
‘The only thing a strike will do is badly hit hardworking Londoners and lose staff two days’ pay and a £500 bonus. We have delivered every commitment we made to our staff – there have been no compulsory redundancies, work life balance has been protected and there’s a job for anyone with no loss of pay.
'Around 900 station staff will be promoted or move from fixed-term contracts to permanent roles. There is clearly absolutely no basis whatsoever for this strike threat.’
The dispute is separate from an ongoing dispute over the implementation of the Night Tube. Industrial action over that issue was suspended last week after progress in talks between unions and TfL.
