TfL to talk more with unions now Tube strike is off
TRANSPORT unions called off a 48-hour Tube strike hours before it was due to start last night, after last-ditch talks with London Underground officials produced the seeds of a compromise.
The two sides agreed to sit down for further “intensive talks” over the next two months, taking the RMT and TSSA representatives station by station through the jobs that will be cut or changed as part of TfL’s reforms.
RMT boss Bob Crow said the deal halts the 950 job losses proposed by TfL and suspends strike action for the duration of the talks. “It is unfortunate that we were forced and provoked into a dispute that we never wanted and we are now in a position to move on with the clear understanding that our action is suspended,” added Crow.
The TSSA said the planned talks could result in TfL backtracking on it plans to close all Tube ticket offices.
Mayor of London Boris Johnson said in a statement: “TfL’s negotiators have been ready since November to discuss the detail around ticket office closures and wider modernisation of the tube. It’s welcome news that the unions appear to recognise that, and will return to full and substantive discussions with TfL between now and the end of the consultation period in early April.”
Val Shawcross, Labour’s transport spokesperson in the London Assembly, said Johnson should now “show some real leadership and launch a full public consultation on his proposed cuts to ticket offices and station staffing levels”.