Editorial: Time to stare down the militant union jeopardising the night tube
So, we’re back to RMT unrest on the tube. It’s almost enough for us to pine for lockdown again.
The barney is thus: in the before times, the night tube relied on around two hundred part-time staff. Those posts were scrapped during the pandemic (for blindingly obvious reasons) and those staff gradually brought in to the wider tube workforce on either part or full-time contracts. Now the night tube is set to return, from 27 November on just two lines, somebody needs to drive it. Instead of re-instituting those part-time shifts, TfL is now offering drivers the chance to pitch into the wider workforce – including night shifts – or not.
The first point is that the night tube has to return. London is a global city, but our public transport infrastructure goes to bed at midnight. The shortages of black cab and minicab drivers and the paucity of night bus services has already hit the hospitality industry hard. Bringing the night tube back makes the city more livable, gives vital industries a much-needed boost, and makes the return from a night out safer. It’s a no-brainer.
The second point is that we are again faced with the basic problem that the RMT never miss an opportunity to squeeze every penny out of TfL, and therefore tube users. Other unions are onboard with TfL’S plans. The authority was at pains yesterday to say – again – that the changes made during the pandemic doesn’t mean a single driver losing their job, nor being forced to change roles if they don’t choose to do so.
The London Assembly yesterday called for the night tube to return with haste, and they’re absolutely right. London has changed in hundreds of ways during the pandemic, but one thing hasn’t: if they can’t get home, Londoners blame the unions. In a world in which we can all work from home, we’re not quite sure they’ve got the sway they might once have done.
TfL should stare them down, and set a precedent for the new normal.