London Tube bosses’ attempt to opportunistically seize on safety concerns raised by union members has been thwarted by the threat of industrial action. Bosses wanted to use the concerns to attack workers’ conditions.
RMT union members working for Tube Lines suspended action after bosses committed to recruiting permanent staff instead of creating a two-tier workforce of 35 new workers on two-year contracts.
The workers at the Northfields and Cockfosters Piccadilly Line workshops have won guarantees that all 35 of these workers will be made permanent.
The RMT rail workers union is to ballot its members for strikes on the Greater Anglia rail network from Monday of next week.
The union said bosses at parent company Abellio had “blatantly ignored” its concerns about the safety critical role of train guards.
It added, “This dispute could have totally been resolved if the company had guaranteed a second safety critical person on every train.” The union is urging its members to vote yes.
The ballot runs until 12 September.
A staffing crisis in the NHS
Health workers set to strike across four Manchester hospitals
Bus workers rejected an offer and came back out
