Unions seek talks with London mayor on eve of 48-hour strike on the Underground

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

Unions have accused Boris Johnson and London's transport authorities of "gambling with passenger safety" in the runup to the first of two planned 48-hour strikes on the London Underground.

Tube workers from the RMT and TSSA unions will strike on Wednesday and Thursday after talks collapsed at the conciliation service Acas over plans to cut almost 1,000 jobs and close ticket offices across London.

The union leaders appealed for face-to-face talks with the London mayor, saying that they would call off the strike and join talks if he withdrew the planned job losses. The strike is likely to cause massive disruption in the capital. Transport for London said a skeleton staff and volunteers would attempt to run some services throughout the strike.

RMT leader Bob Crow said: "It's not a dispute of our making. It's about the entire future of the London Underground."

He said that cuts made by the chancellor to TfL's funding could only come through cutting investment or staff – and the former had been ruled out.

London Underground says the dispute is about the "modernisation" of the Tube and says it is continuing to consult employees over its plans which would, it claims, see more staff in public areas of Tube stations despite the job losses. Its managing director, Mike Brown, has pledged that after the planned job cuts, every station will be visibly staffed and controlled during operating hours and there will no be compulsory redundancies for staff who are willing to change their job role.

Brown said: "Our customers and staff are at the very centre of our plans for London Underground. In future, there will be more staff in ticket halls and on platforms to help customers buy the right ticket, plan their journeys and to keep them safe and secure.

"We're committed to implement these changes without compulsory redundancies and there'll be a job for everyone at LU who wants to work for us and be flexible."

The unions have again requested a meeting with Johnson, who made a campaign promise in 2008 to halt the closure of ticket offices. Manuel Cortes, the leader of TSSA, said: "I think people will be amazed that he has never met the representatives of the people who keep the Tube running."

He said the plans showed that Tube bosses were "prepared to gamble with passenger safety" by giving supervisors responsibility for six stations instead of one. "You can't talk about people being redeployed when 953 of them are going to lose their jobs," he said.

Meanwhile, Crow rebuffed criticism of his holiday in Brazil last week. Photographs of him sunbathing appeared in the Daily Mail on Saturday but said he would have returned if needed and was in constant contact with negotiators, even though Johnson had refused to meet him for years. "I said I would be back if needed, but I have not been involved in the talks. It has made no difference whatsoever," Crow said.

TfL said that they would run limited services from 7am to 11pm on the strike days, with TfL ambassadors and volunteers on hand to provide customers with travel information and advice.

London Underground services during the strike



Bakerloo line Limited stopping service in central areas from Queen's Park to Elephant & Castle

Central line No service in central area. Some trains in west and eastern ends, between West Ruislip and White City and Epping and Leytonstone

Circle line/District line Some services between Upminster and Wimbledon, very limited between Ealing Broadway and High Street Kensington, limited stops

Hammersmith & City line Some trains between Hammersmith and Moorgate, limited stops

Jubilee line Services between Stanmore and Finchley Road, and between Waterloo and Stratford only

Metropolitan line Some trains between Harrow-on-the-Hill and Aldgate

Northern line Trains over the whole line (except Mill Hill East), limited stops

Piccadilly line No service in central area. Some trains between Acton Town and Heathrow and between Arnos Grove and Cockfosters

Victoria line Trains between Seven Sisters and Victoria only

Waterloo & City line No service

A normal service will operate on the DLR, buses, National Rail and the London Overground