RMT warns of looming disaster and calls for above-inflation pay rise and assurances on staffing levels when new weekend service launches

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

London Underground workers are to start voting on whether to take strike action in a dispute about pay and the new all-night tube service.



Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union will decide by 30 June if they back a campaign of industrial action.

The union is seeking an above-inflation pay rise, assurances on safe staffing levels when the new weekend service comes into operation in September, and no enforced night or weekend work.

The RMT general secretary, Mick Cash, said: “The industrial relations situation on the tube has sunk to an almost unprecedented low with unions united and balloting for action over the looming disaster for staff and passengers alike, which is due to be ushered in under the guise of the mayor’s vanity project in just 12 weeks’ time.

“Nobody should be under any illusions, the night running plan has been cobbled together on the hoof and will rip up the safety rule book. Monday mornings will be absolute chaos as the network struggles to get back into gear after running flat out, round the clock through the weekend.”

Manuel Cortes, the general secretary of the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association, whose members are also voting for strikes, said: “[London mayor] Boris Johnson is not going to get a first-class night tube up and running by September if he makes a second-class pay offer to the staff who will be expected to deliver it on time.”

The drivers’ union Aslef is also holding a strike ballot.

Transport for London has rejected any safety fears and says it has made a fair pay offer to staff of a two-year deal and extra for the night tube.