Elizabeth Line: London can enjoy strike free half term as industrial action on route binned
Elizabeth Line strikes will no longer take place on 27 May, marking the end of planned half-term industrial action for London’s busiest route as it marks its first anniversary.
Eighty percent of TSSA members voted to accept the latest pay offer, which the union says addressed their main concerns.
As a result, the planned ‘Action Short of a Strike,’ – meaning workers still fulfil basic duties – will now not go ahead.
It comes following the introduction of the Elizabeth Line’s new timetable yesterday, which marked the completion of the £19bn Crossrail project and connected Shenfield to Heathrow’s Terminal 5 for the first time.
Last week, the TSSA had previously suspended strike action planned on Elizabeth Line’s anniversary this Wednesday.
TSSA interim organising director, Mel Taylor, said “our members were being paid thousands of pounds less than colleagues performing similar roles on other parts of the Transport for London (TfL) network.”
“This offer goes some way towards bringing their pay more in line with the rest of TfL. The revised offer from Elizabeth Line rewards the multi-skilled role and offers staff an opportunity for career progression.”
In January, the dispute saw a one-day stoppage by dozens of TSSA members working on the Elizabeth line, hitting commuters between Paddington and Abbey Wood.
TSSA members work in a number of key management related roles including traffic manager, service and infrastructure manager and incident response manager grades.