Emergency travel plans unveiled as Tube strike looms
Dick Murray08.06.09
Mayor Boris Johnson this afternoon unveiled emergency measures to keep London moving in the event of the 48-hour Tube strike going ahead.
The strike is due to begin at 7pm tomorrow and will bring London Underground - used by 3.5million passengers a day - to a halt on Wednesday and Thursday.
Negotiators from the RMT union and LU this afternoon remained locked in battle with no agreement reached.
Plans by the Mayor include extra buses, access to all Greater London mainline rail services with Oyster, taxi sharing at major rail stations, escorted commuter cycle rides, additional cycle parking and a free Thames river shuttle service.
The Mayor said: "I am determined to do as much as is humanly possible to ease the journeys of millions of Londoners whose lives will be disrupted if this strike action takes place.
"The plans we are setting out call for a team effort over the next few days by everyone in this great city to ensure we keep the capital running."
London's business leaders estimate the stoppage could cost them £100million in lost production with staff arriving very late or not at all.
The Mayor said a "myriad of organisations and individuals" have agreed to lay on free services. These include volunteers to lead cycle rides, drive extra services and marshal shared taxi ranks.
He said this "exemplifies the united approach we need".
The Mayor joined forces with transport commissioner Peter Hendy to urge everyone travelling on strike days "to consider the range of travel options including walking and cycling".
On the two main strike days TfL staff will be on hand across the bus network and at Tube stations to offer travel advice on the following services:
¬All 8,000 buses operating on 700 routes.
¬Oyster pay-as-you-go accepted on all mainline rail services within Greater London.
¬From 8am to 10.30am taxis will be operating a marshalled, fixed-fare shared service for central London at Waterloo, Liverpool Street, London Bridge, Marylebone, Paddington and Euston.
¬Additional cycle parking with thousands of cycle maps distributed. The London Cycle Campaign will lead five escorted rides into central London.
All will set off at 7.45am from Finsbury Park main gate, Mile End Green Bridge, Ravenscourt Park, Brixton Road and Swiss Cottage.
Mainline rail services will run as usual, as will the Docklands Light Railway.
The principal point between the union and LU is job protection.
The Mayor says 1,000 Tube jobs must go to help save £2.4billion - cuts necessary because TfL was forced to take over 7,000 staff from Metronet.
The RMT wants a commitment of no compulsory redundancies.
Reader views (82)
Well we are on strike now so will obviously be condemned for doing so and as usual rightly or wrongly people will believe the medias' spin on things. Now its 2 workers getting reinstated that have faltered the talks - do people not realise that the unions have been talking with LU for a lot longer than 2 days regarding this strike. None of us want to lose 2 days money let alone next month when we will strike again for 2 or 3 days..for crying out loud we're not train drivers crying out for more money like the news says we're all doing a job (fixing trains, helping at stations, working in towers, cleaning, monitoring, buying, regulating) the same people following the same union that have fought for better working conditions and a better,safer working environment the last few years. The unions have made it that good; voted best European tube system...says it all. For those in awe, get your workforce to create a union, with enough people you can do it.
- David, Wembley UK
As a city worker, I am wondering what is the real cause of this strike. I am sure a 1.5% pay increase is not too much to ask for the LU worker who is quite frankly - very helpful.
There are plans coming out to alternate travel during the strike. I wonder if the same emphasis had been put on actually avoiding the strike. Add to this - the company I am working for actually expects me to come in to work as if business as usual. Are employers blind to the fact that we cant make it to work if the entire network is down. If I had the option of taking off - I would have. Dont mind loosing 2 days of my pay check.
- Vr, London
The RMT are striking for pay rises way above inflation and to secure the re-hiring of two employees one of which was sacked for theft and the other for compromising safety by opening the wrong doors on the Victoria line.
Boris - since driving a train is hardly challenging why not set up a tube driver's volunteer reserve service? I'd be up for it.
- Mike, London
You can always cycle instead.
London Cycling Campaign are running "BikeTubes", where cycling commuters can gather together to ride to the city.
- Austen, London
Cars having only a driver should offer lifts or have to travel outside of 7.30am to 10.00am and 4.30pm to 7.00pm
- Adrian Koe, Cambridge
All tube staff belonging to unions should be fired. This kind of idiotic strike just proves how incompetent people work for London Underground as they need to belong to a union. These individuals are incapable of standing for their own rights as we normal, competent employees do. This strike is ridicilous and unfair, and it makes people hate London Underground and its staff even more. After all we are paying the highest public transport rates in Europe, while tube drivers enjoy air conditioning in their cars and over average salary - but yet this is what we get in return. Shame on you!!!
- Docklands, London
It's fairly easy to pontificate from Wiltshire .. I don't think there's much reliance on the tube there. My point is why is the taxi sharing only starting at 08.00? Boris has obviously never been up at 06.00 in London ... that's when it starts to get crowded Mr Mayor!
- Paul, London
Never a one to consider strikes as I come from an entrepreneurial background, I sympathise with the strikers in this case - consistently we have seen staff numbers go down and services have never been properly invested in and that includes the people in this recession I think we need to think long term and ensure people have good working conditions so that we have a solid foundation of services in this country - more staff instead of less staff
- Sally, london
To: Abdul Hadi, London, UK
"All those uneducated, useless, jobsworths are in fact the ones who run down tunnels when trains are stuck or are bombed.
They're the ones trying to pull your loved ones out from under trains whether they are there due to accident or deliberate action.
If you think that moving about electrified track with trains moving is so easy, then go get a job doing it, suffer the vile abuse day after day and answer to a management who cost the taxpayer a high 6 figures a year in tribunal payouts because they can't obey the law."
Actually I think firstly you have a switch that cuts off the power and you are not allowed onto the tracks until this has been done (basic health & safety). Secondly no you are not the people trying to pull loved ones off the tracks. This is done by the fire brigade and medical services and for good reason that they know what they are doing when it comes to saving people.
Please stop trying to justify your strike by playing the hero it really isn't going to win you any favour when people know the reality.
- Jl, London
Give the LUL workers the job security and the money they deserve for putting up with you lot of whingers and the drunken idiots who make the life of barrier staff as misery on weekend nights.
Also what's all this worry about the 2012 Olympics, I think the 2008 Olmypics were much better as they were about 8,000 miles away from London.
For the three, soon-forgotten weeks that we have to endure with traffic jams, even more crowded trains and sky high food prices it will be a blessing in disguise when it is all over. Total waste of time and cause of misery for those caught up in it all. Bus drivers, street cleaners, LU staff, cab drivers etc should all be on double pay for the whole three weeks to put up with all the hassle.
- Pete, London
Sue from Hendon,
Ah yes, great times in the late 1970's with our lovely long strikes. At Fords we had an all-out for over 9 weeks continuous - now that was a strike and a half.
And what's more if it weren't for the unions and their members back then you would probably be working for about 50% to 60% of your present pay now.
Yes, it brought high inflation and higher interest rates but that does the general economy good afterwards because the money owed on mortgages etc becomes a smaller percentage of your income.
When Thatcher the Milk Snatcher tried to weaken the unions she didn't manage to get us all to agree to be a puppet on a string for the rest of our working lives.
For those of you who want to be a "Yes" woman or man, then get on with it and let union members fight to keep their current written agreement on "no compulsory redundancies"
Far too many employers trample all over their employees and now thousands of you are working unpaid overtime in order to try and keep off the threat of losing your job.
If your companies had a union then you wouldn't be in so much fear of this happening.
This strike is really about job security and a shorter timescale pay deal, I am sure the members are fairly happy with 1.5% this year even though CPI is over 2%, meaning it is a pay cut for them.
- Frank, London
Looks like Bob Crow and his fellow idiots at the RMT are as out of touch as the bunch in Westminster! Sack the lot of them. I am sure we could find people who would gladly replace them under the current economic climate.
- Gareth, Hampshire
My poor misguided myopic beyond belief fellow citizens all this mess we are currently embroiled in is mostly not of our doing and yet most of us collectively bear it and suffer. The truth is that the vast majority of you give a rather alarming degree of credence to what you read, are told or are fed by the zombie box.
Open your eyes. It is hard to envisage the concept of recession when the price of everything seems to be on a constant upward trend (except perhaps house prices, for now). The bottom line is that the overwhelming majority of us are worse off than a year ago and this trend is likely to continue for a while, at least while we insist upon continuing to gorge ourselves stupid on whatever media disaster is flavor of the day while steadfastly ignoring anything we could do to possibly make the situation better.
A few facts that might help you negotiate the intricacies of the strike, if it goes ahead as planned:
Approximately 80% of all Tube drivers are in ASLEF. The upshot of this is virtually all Lines will have a decent amount of trains running. The one exception to this is the Victoria Line where almost all drivers are RMT so this line is most likely to be shut. Roughly the same percentage (80%) of station staff are RMT so this is where the strike is likely to hit hardest with many stations being forced to close and efforts being concentrated on keeping the most important / busiest ones open.
Good luck getting to work!
- Chris, Willesden
David the striker - how dare you hold the London public to ransom once again.You chose to lose 2 days pay, we didn't choose to suffer another intolerable strike.
Nuff said.
- Blot, Woodford Green
Perhaps this song sums it up ![]()
Search YouTube for "London Undergound" and find the track referencing Adam Kay & Suman Biswas
- Dave, Swansea
Dave in Wembley: it is NOT 0.5%, it is RPI +0.5%, and is guaranteed not to be a cut even if RPI goes negative. do you not understand that? why are you twisting these facts? you should be embarassed
- John Stone, London
As per David's comment below. I'm unaware where this "5% pay rise for less work" idea came from. The amount of work hasn't even been raised, and 5% seems to be a random number. According to my own union rep this afternoon, the two year deal at 1% now and 0.5% in 2010 was agreed, and the argument now is about the compulsory redundancies being imposed by LUL. In all its many years not one person has been made redundant. The company has weathered all previous "economic crises" in its history and come out unscathed. If redundancies are made now, with LUL tearing up their "jobs for life" policy, then it sets a dangerous precedent within a company that has already shown a desire to drastically reduce its staffing levels to unsafe numbers. Tickets shot up again this year, and the number of travelling people has also shot up. Its about more than the current situation the fat cats got us into, its about the future, including that of the public.
- Bob, Watford, Herts
The unions are hurting the very people they were formed to protect. Their greediness knows no bounds and this city will never prosper until the railway unions are destroyed.
- Justin Smithfield, London
The unions took advantage of PPP to lever big improvements in pay and conditions as the private companies could not afford a strike. Now the party's over, until the Olympics! Boris should ramp up job losses to 2000 to pay for this stupid strike.
- Peter, London
£30-£60,000 a week,to chase a ball around,for an hour and a half !
- Derek, Huntingdon England
to Phil:
offcourse the banks did nothing wrong, no no. They only put the rest of us in debt because they were too greedy. Thats ok you know.
I like how everyone keeps saying the rmt keeps people for randsom.. How? There is still busses and other modes of transport to move around London. Its not like the snow days where nothing was moving around. There are other ways than the tubes people. See the beauty of a bus for 2 days
- Josh, London
As usual it's the commuters that have to suffer.
I suppose I or my comany will have to fork out somewhere in the region of £100 to trvel from Fenchurch Street to the Westend in cab fares or work from home. It is an utter disgrace what this capital city has to put up with which seems like a yearly saga now- I wouldn't mind if it was a great service but on a normal day we have to put up with dirty,overcrowded & late trains!!
- Adam, Upminster
Asking for pay rises and no redundancy agreements in the current climate is just mind boggling - don't these people read the news ever? Just because they have a monopoly they think they can swing their power all the time, egged on by fat cat leaders like Bob Crow who just exist to cause this sort of disruption at the travelling public's expense. And if the pay goes up and necessary redundancies aren't made, then it will be all of us footing the bill in yet more inflation busting fare increases thanks to these luddites.
So, it will be an inconvenience and a pain for a couple of days - but this one customer (note that work RMT) says to LU - stick it out and teach this lot they can't just bully to get their own way all the time.
- R Webster, London, England
I am one of the tube workers who WILL be striking and to the people who have commented above i would like to point out the following things:
the strike is not over a 5% payrise, it is about the length of the deal, which LU wanted to span 5 years...in this economic climate how can their crystal ball predict that 0.5 of a percent would be anything other than a pay cut to us that far down the line?! Also promises over compusary redundancies have been reversed and conditions for workers during the Olympics has been raised as an issue. How dare people think i want to lose 2 days money by going on strike?! Sometimes there are things bigger than yourself and showing loyalty and solidarity for me is key.
- David, Wembley UK
@ Sue, Hendon. We're not all that old, and furthermore, surely someone who's been around that long should be able to construct a proper counter-argument rather than selectively quoting and deliberately missing the point?
- D River, London
Brian in Wiltshire - somebody has a chip on their shoulder. Dont blame the banks for everything. In THIS instance it is the RMT holding London and us Londoners to ransom. I cant wait for the day when the underground is a well running company not beholden to unions or the fat cats in the unions, does Bob Crow earn that salary?
- Phil, London
If they can have Oyster PAYG on all mainline services for 2 days, why can't we have them all the time. I know I would save a lot of money each year if I could pay the zone 1-4 Oyster fare instead of the mainline fare I have to pay at the moment.
It's also very unrealistic to expect a 5% pay rise for less work. I would certainly love to do that, but in the current economic climate, most people have been lucky to get a pay rise this year. I certainly don't support these tube workers. If they don't turn up for work for 2 days, then they should get 2 written warnings and face being fired if they do it again. That's the way any other company would treat workers who don't turn up for work.
- Steve Doggett, London
Many countries I have visiited have an automated train service that is not at the mercy of striking workers. Shouldn't London be thinking about introducing an automated tube system, like the DLR?
- Nota Benne, London
It's shameful that the tube staff feel they deserve a 5% pay rise in these tough economic times. I am tired of a these people holding London to ransom and the quicker Bob Crow and his cronies can be controlled, the better.
- Pk, Harrow
This dispute is a man made mess--and there BUT there is still time to sort it-rather than wasting time with inadequate so called solutions like this.
Get these slackers back to work--and force the inadequate management to keep on talking till they do.
- William Grierson, Kimpton-UK
Why is it Londoners all whine incessantly about the tube but when there's a strike day it suddenly hits them that maybe it is a valuable service.
All those uneducated, useless, jobsworths are in fact the ones who run down tunnels when trains are stuck or are bombed.
They're the ones trying to pull your loved ones out from under trains whether they are there due to accident or deliberate action.
If you think that moving about electrified track with trains moving is so easy, then go get a job doing it, suffer the vile abuse day after day and answer to a management who cost the taxpayer a high 6 figures a year in tribunal payouts because they can't obey the law.
People join the RMT because LUL do not hesitate to throw staff to the wolves when their organizational dysfunction causes a serious, sometimes fatal error.
- Abdul Hadi, London, UK
"weren't the unions striking in order to keep there members wages up with outrageous inflation."
No - Their outrageous pay demands (coupled with terrible productivity) were driving said inflation.
- Adam, London
I'm not the world's biggest supporter of Boris, but I'm 100% behind him on this, and do hope that he doesn't cave in to the union's demands. I'm prepared to put up with a bad commute for a few weeks if it means that the unions are kicked into touch and sent back to planet earth.
- Mark Lee, Vauxhall
The fact that the strike seems to be going ahead is a good thing, in that it means that for once TFL have not immediately caved in to the dreaded RMT. There is simply no point in negotiating about anything with Crow and his mob - if it wasn't this current flimsy pretext for a strike, they'd be inventing another one. I believe Karl Marx called it "perpetual revolution". Stand fast Boris!
- Wpw, London
After having read all 40 comments currently posted and I agree I find it difficult myself to sympathise with anyone striking for a larger pay rise as I myself am working for a company that has not given me a pay rise or inflation rise or cost of living rise for the past 10 years and over the years has cut from 500 staff to just over 100. Get another job is not an option when you are tied to an old style pension that means you will get a reduced pension if you leave before finishing the allotted contribution time span and you cannot move it over to another job. I am just grateful I have a job. I cannot understand anyone getting a rise and then still striking about it.
- A Carlton, London
People that back the strike are morons. Should study the big picture. Us workers, and yes - maybe working in a bank, we work for the salary as advertised when we applied.
If I want a higher salary, I will do what it takes to allow me. Get more experience, qualifications, and work my butt off, I will be rewarded.
LU Striking, is just the same as the G20 protesters. Pointless. They do not deserve higher pay, they have great benefits, UNSKILLED. I'm sorry, but nurses should have a pay rise before these lazy fat union members get any more cash - they work hard and are very skilled.
- God, LONDON
I've got a job interview on the other side of London. They won't stop me getting there.
- Martin H. Watson, Teddington
Brilliant. Now can we please continue to be allowed to use Oyster PAYG on mainline trains? It's a pain in the backside that we're not.
- Anne Wollenberg, London
London Overground use London Underground run stations and lines between Harrow and Wealdstone and Queen's Park - will they still be running a service?
- Jon B, London
Scotty, Cambridge
Point of information: The term 'toe rag' is valid. It was used to describe dockers in the Millwall inner docks who off-loaded grain from ships . They got the name from their practise of tying sacking around their boots and up around their ankles to stop the grain getting into their boots. Now they were real workers.
- Brian, Hounslow, UK
I am just wondering what will happen during the planned 2012 Olympics (just a handful of years around the corner now) when London Transport staff can really hold their paying customers to ransom with strikes and make London public transport not just a heat wave of badly or non-air conditioned crushed cattle trucks of an inconvenience that it currently is anyway but also a laughing stock for the rest of the World to witness and suffer if they are coming in person to the Olympics.
- A Carlton, London, London
"most of the complaints from the public are born out of jealousy"....I think not, D. River! Just a long memory of the strikes in the late 70s' when the country was held to ransom by almost every union in the country.
- Sue, Hendon, Hendon
Jim , LUL seem to be ignoring the law ! agreements and contracts are bieng threatened time and time again and it is only the fact that when the trade unions and members stand up and be counted that companies listen.
Return to the 70's? wasnt that a succesion of incompetant govt's that brought the country to its knees? weren't the unions striking in order to keep there members wages up with outrageous inflation.
You also seem to forget this reccesion was caused by govt and greedy bankers who through the lack of proper regulation and self control have forced companies to there knees,again not the unions!
Always blame the unions, maybe you like thousands of others will suffer in this reccesion due to the greed of bankers , not unions,then lets see who is whining, people will lose there jobs because companies unnecesarily will exploit the situation, and only worry about maximum profit and there shareholders.
The unions will not be broken Jim thts a fact of life, automated systems are also a dim and distant dream and all they will do, maybe, is get rid of drivers, not station staff or engineers etc etc, there is more to the underground and network rail than drivers.
All parties need to lose the retoric of hate and mistrust and negotiate seriously, not try and pull strokes on each other, why was this not an offer on the table last month? why instead of talk did LUL go to the courts? then wait untill the 11th hour to talk ? the unions fault again?
- Brian, Wiltshire
There should be a more civilised way to make your point, than a strike. Although I'm sure many Tube staff have a difficult job on the frontlines, it's hard to have a lot of sympathy right now, when they are asking for an unrealistic payrise and no compulsory redundancies, at a time when many people would be happy just to keep their job - let alone think about a payrise.
For some people, the strike will mean the chance to work from home for 2 days, in a comfortable and quiet environment. But I wonder what happens to the people who can't work from home. What if they lose 2 days' pay? For many, they're probably not having much left over at the end of the month, and 2 days' wages would mean scraping to get the rent or bills paid.
And have any of the Tube workers stopped to think of the people who'll be unable to get to work? I mean REALLY thought about it. The teachers who can't get to the schools, the invigilators for those doing GCSEs, A-levels or degrees. Thousands of young people with added stress. The doctors, surgeons and nurses who can't get to work. What about the people who need daily care? What about operations that are postponed?
Some workers, on whom the public rely, should not have the luxury of striking.
So while the Tube workers enjoy 2 relaxing days at home (or maybe not, if you now have to look after your kids because school/day care is shut!), stop to think about the misery, chaos and financial stress you're causing people. Hope your payrise makes you happy.
- Helen, London
To the individual from Woodford with the sticky Caps Lock, and the rest of you who have "had enough" with the RMT; may I remind you that unions are there to represent the interests of their paid members and not to please the world and his wife.
If people in general paid a little more attention to what is going on in their own workplace rather than that of others, perhaps then you might not get stitched up with pay cuts and redundancies which have been caused by the actions of others. Just because it happens where YOU work, it doesn't mean people in other industries have to tolerate it in theirs.
Most of the complaints from the public are clearly born out of jealousy, jealousy that Tube workers have the guts to stick up for themselves. May I suggest that these people spend the strike days joining a union of their own to get something done about their own alleged hardships, instead of moaning about what other people are doing.
- D River, London
Pity it is not a GENERAL STRIKE-maybe that would wake up the PM,Mandelson and his cronies.Lord Sugarpuff could then sort it out.
- Harvey N Lawrence, London
To Bob from London. Whilst you name the few companies have given across the board pay rises, it is an undisputable fact that the vast majority of company are freezing salaries or worse making people redundant.
Secondly, you say that the RMT is only trying to safeguard members'jobs. That is all very nice and a position that is easy to relate to. That position does, however, completely ignore the brutal reality that we might be heading into one of the worst recessions in modern times and that no one, especially in organisation knows for organisational and operational waste, should consider themselves above the rest of the country's workforce.
Finally, begrudging senior and more qualified staff their higher salaries is not the way forward. It is an irrelevant way forward. Perhaps you would prefer a communist regime where everyone makes the same salary.
Your comments, unfortunately, missed the point.
- Nicholas, London, UK
Let them go on strike! Its about time we stopped being held to their ransoms time and time again.
- Jk, London
A tube train full of passengers is worth millions to the economy,why not pay the people who get them to work a good wage?
- Jimfred, London UK
They're just limbering up for the Olympics! On no account must Boris give in to Bob Crow and his bunch of loathsome thugs.
- Sue, Hendon, London
Brian - Your contract is protected, it's called the law, you don't need a union for that. What we object to is the frequent grandstanding and BLACKMAIL tactics the unions use to get ever more unreasonable demands. Yes the the union claim it's about safety but really it's about more money. You are fooling no one. If we all just walked out when there are jobs cuts companies would go under left right and centre creating huge problems pretty much like the 70s. Then you'd whine like the best of them. No this selfish union and it's representatives need to be broken so that we can have a better more efficient service tailored to the customer and not socialist agitating union members. I for one look forward to a fully automated service and the end of Bob Crow's fiefdom and bully boy tactics.
- Jim, Battersea
If the strike goes ahead, I'll have an awful journey to work and I'll miss seeing the England match because I won't be able to get to Wembley. I'll be in a vile mood but not with the RMT but with the (mis-)management of the tubes.
- Toby, Hitchin, Herts, England
Why did Metronet fail? One of the key reasons was the uneconomical way in which it was run. Why do the unions believe that we will be willing to pick up the tab. They will do this every year unless Boris says no now. The best way to live up to his promise to have a no strike agreement is by making it clear that striking will have no effect.
- Will, London, UK
What makes me laugh is the posters "Don't take it out on our staff"
How about "Don't take it out on our customers". I will treat their staff with the same amount of respect they treat their customers.
- David, London
I work for the Ministry of Justice and our pay rise is 1.5 and 0.5 percent and we have to accept. Some people salary are frozen and have to be content. Yet others are seeking 5 percent pay rise; selfish and thoughtless for the poor commuters.
- Rm, London
How do tube drivers get to work? Haha
- Dt, London
Nigel London,,Sorry, but there is no such thing or person as a toe rag.
The word is Tourag, a wild nomadic tribe of North Africa who were untameable. I think VW have named one of their cars after them.
- Scotty, Cambridge UK
This is another blackmail from the unions. It has been happening every single year. Isn't it absolutely unacceptable to be demanding 5% payrise, while employees of other business have to agree to paycuts to save their jobs? Striking, perhaps, should be banned for services like public transport. This strike may cost lives of other businesses struggling to stay afloat during this recession. It is beyond comprehension why the unions refuse to understand that. Turn up for work, or get a sack. There should be plenty of candidates from poorer countries, who'd be willing to re-settle and work for the Tube even for less than the current workforce. We should let them arrive. Then, we could even cut the ticket prices!! And run the Tube all night, maintainance work allowing!
- Krys, London, England
To Nigel, London:
Fact: People are attempting to hold an employer to the terms of a previously agreed contract. That pesky thing called a Legally-Binding Contact, eh? What IS it like? YES A CONTRACT IS LEGALLY BINDING BUT SO MANY PEOPLE WORK FOR FIRM'S THAT HAVE GONE UNDER AND THEIR CONTRACTS HAVE JUST BEEN RIPPED UP.
Fact: If made redundant, they stand little chance of getting a job - what with the worst recession for decades being in full swing.
THE CHANCES OF GETTING ANOTHER JOB ARE THERE IF YOU ACTUALLY WANT ONE. YES IT MAY TAKE A WHILE BUT I PERSONALLY KNOW ABOUT 200 PEOPLE THAT WERE MADE REDUNDANT AND THROUGH HARD WORK AND NOT GIVING UP THE VAST MAJORITY ARE NOW RE-EMPLOYED
Fact: Out of work folk cost the Public purse a lot more than in-work folk.
YES SO LET'S DEAL WITH THE TRUE SPONGERS AND STOP THE BENEFITS CULTURE
Fact: Only "I'm all right, Jack" toe rags would not feel a twinge of sympathy for the would-be strikers. I sincerely hope that the said toe rags lose their jobs and homes. Then tell us all how wrong it is to stick up for oneself.
NO I AM NOT AN "I'M ALL RIGHT JACK" TOE RAG. YES I HAVE LOST MY JOB 3 TIMES DUE TO COMPANY'S GOING INTO ADMINISTRATION. YES I HAVE HAD TO TAKE A 20% PAY CUT - IT'S CALLED THE REAL WORLD NOW AND IT'S ABOUT TIME YOU JOINED IT
- Jl, London
" Why do they use any opportunity to threaten a strike to get more money?"
Yes, where the hell do they think they are, France ?
- Dixon Kipretich, Ugley, Essex
No one has been given a pay rise, you dont see us people striking. Its pathetic that this is going on and not fair on the working people. Instead tube fares are going up, condition on the tubes are rubbish. Who do these people think they are to ask for a pay rise, they are just as bad as those MP's who claim for stupid expenses
- Fatima, London
Bob, You say "In the current economic climate many companies are giving no pay rises whatsoever"
Check this out .........
House of Commons staff: 4.5% (Not including anything from the John Lewis List or second home allowances LOL)
Barclays Bank: 5% (I wonder which industry put us all in this mess to start with)
ACAS: 3.75% (Arbitrating these Union/Employer problems is obviously an expensive business)
British Gas: 4.1% (They can afford that percentage as my gas bill has gone up by more than that!!)
The MAIN thing that the RMT are fighting for is to protect thier members jobs.
LU made a deal to NOT make people redundant ....... now they want to change that as it no longer suits them in this economic situation.
They need to save money so that the bosses can keep thier HIGH wages.
369 managers get £60k+ ... 184 managers get £70k+ ... 105 managers get £80k+ ... 63 managers get £90k+ ...
42 managers get £100k+ ... 20 managers get £110k+ ...
14 managers get £120k+ ... 8 managers get £130k+ ...
7 managers get £140k+ ... 6 managers get £150k+ ...
4 managers get £160k+ ... 4 managers get £170k+ ...
3 managers get £180k+ ... 2 managers get £190k+ ...
3 managers get £210k+ ... 2 managers get £220k+ ...
2 managers get £230k+ ... 1 manager gets £240k+ ...
1 manager gets £300k+ ... 1 manager gets £430k+ ...
1 manager gets £440k+ ... 1 manager gets £460k+ ...
1 gets £540k+
Alright for some eh???
- Allen, London
Fact: People are attempting to hold an employer to the terms of a previously agreed contract. That pesky thing called a Legally-Binding Contact, eh? What IS it like?
Fact: If made redundant, they stand little chance of getting a job - what with the worst recession for decades being in full swing.
Fact: Out of work folk cost the Public purse a lot more than in-work folk.
Fact: Only "I'm all right, Jack" toe rags would not feel a twinge of sympathy for the would-be strikers. I sincerely hope that the said toe rags lose their jobs and homes. Then tell us all how wrong it is to stick up for oneself.
- Nigel, London, UK
I would cope with a few strikes if it meant the unions did not get what they wanted. It is unreasonable to expect a payrise in a recession. Why don't LU play hard ball and tell them that if they don't accept what's on the table, after they have had their strike a smaller offer will be made. If they strike again, a smaller offer will be made again until they realise they can't blackmail the capital anymore.
- Ag, London Village
"...to discuss working arrangements for the 2012 Olympic Games". Simple...turn up and work, or get fired. What's to discuss?
Why do they use any opportunity to threaten a strike to get more money? They hold every event hostage, making the UK and the English a laughing stock. Did the same thing for the Millennium and opening of JLE.
I hate the tube, I hate the unions and I hate bob crow.
- Zaphod, zanzibar
I totally agree with those who are saying "don't give in". Yes there will be considerable disruption but I personally would prefer that to giving in to these peoples unreasonable demands. Also, why do they always seem to strike when theres an England football match on?
- A, London
It will only get worse in the run up to the Olympics. They will be striking for the audacity of being asked to turn up for work.
Why cant a few large business get together and sue the Unions for loss of earnings.
- Dave, Purley, UK
Unions havent the brains to realise the public are as sick of them as they are sick of this labour mob
- Richard Edmunds, Rayleigh Essex
How can you commit to no compulsory redundancies? It's a recession, companies are making cut backs to survive! Everyone picks on the train drivers and their salaries - Back office staff have meetings about meetings because there is not enough work - 2/3 people per "job". I look forward to needed redundancies and possible reduction of my tube fare - I don't get free travel as one of my perks
- Sukh, ilford
Boris - do not give in! And if the strike goes ahead I suggest some legal action against the unions and individuals involved to reclaim the monies lost and damages for inconvenience caused.
- Mikkiduk, Hackney, London
Egle , they have a union thts why , you dont , all you do is whinge about wht everyone else has, join a union get organised and protect your contract of employment. If you dont want to do that then dont complain when others do, and there standard of living and employment is protected.
Its people like you who allow the wealthy and the govt to walk all over them and exploit the reccesion for there personal gain.
Sorry no one helped you , did you ask for assistance?
- Brian, Wiltshire
How many payrises does this make it for LU.... they must be earning LOADS by now. What I don't understand is why on earth are they allowed to strike when something they don't like happens. LU should be fined every time there is a major distruption in service, including when they strike. Striking this often is a ridiculous way of resolving any issue.
- Sarah, Chiswick, London
"Staff belonging to other unions will refuse to cross RMT picket lines."
UNTRUE I AM IN ASLEF AND WILL BE AT WORK LIKE AS WILL ALL ASLEF DRIVERS
"Mayor Boris Johnson says 1,000 Tube jobs must go to help save £2.4 billion - cuts necessary because Transport for London was forced to take over 7,000 staff from maintenance giant Metronet, which went bust last year with debts of £2 billion."
ALREADY GONE
- Jeff, rainham essex uk
Bob Crowe is paid £80,000 per year to represent and assist the small minority of ignorant and stupid people working for the tube cause massive disruption for the rest of us.
- John Entwistle, Hertford
I hope it's on,it will make a change to my monotonous days.
- Steve, London
I hope they don't give into their demands. I can put up with the struggle to work as long as they don't. Give in and they'll be doing the same again in a few months.
- Jl, London
Don't worry rain is forecast! The RMT don't like to strike in the rain they like to save it for a nice sunny sit in the back garden day!
- Looney, UK, London
What a load of.... I did not get a payrise this year, nor did my collegues despite our great performance at work! If the strike goes to plan, i'll have to travel 2.5hrs to work one way by bus instead of 1hr on the train! And for what? These people working at the stations I use are useles!!! One day when escalator was not working @ Seven sisters station three memebers of staff were standing and chatting to each other and none of them offered me help with the pushchair!!!! I had to carry it all the way downstairs by myself!
Why do regular people have to worry about being made redundant and work their asses off to prove that company needs them, while tube workers feel untouchabe because union will stand for them and they can strike when they feel like!!!!
- Egle, London
RMT Union GET REAL! Its bad enough living through these tough times without the all too regular threat of a long tube strike. Bob Crowe, a man even greedier than our MPs
- Sue Fuller, London, England
UNION LEADERS SHOULD GET THE MESSAGE FROM TODAYS RESULTS FOR ELECTIONS.
THE PUBLIC ARE FED UP WITH GREEDY PEOPLE. THOUSANDS ARE OUT OF WORK. IF YOU DONT WANT YOUR JOB RESIGN, THOUSANDS DO. THE BBC AND OTHER CORPORATIONS, QUANGOS, ADVICE BODIES WHO ALSO PAY VAST SALARIES OR EXPENSES SHOULD ALSO GET TODAYS MESSAGE. REFORM OR BE KICKED OUT. FOR A START TO SAVE ALAN SUGAR TAKING A PEERAGE, CLOSE DOWN THE HOUSE OF LORDS, IT SERVES NO USEFUL PURPOSE.
- Alan Green, Woodford Green
To be fair - most Londoners will probably get a wage decrease this year. Think it is time for LU to tell the Unions that there perception of neverending increases of already saturated salaries for a job with no education need is unrealistic. It is probably better to take a proper fight once and for all instead of having most of London being held hostage by RMT each year ...
- Jakob, London
"1.5% in year one and the rate of inflation plus 0.5% in subsequent years"
Why? In the current economic climate many companies are giving no pay rises whatsoever, has LU suddenly started making copious amounts more money or are they doing better financially than before? No? Well give your staff performance related pay and tell them to be happy with it, if they won't accept it then replace them, in the same way that any other well run commercial company would do.
- Bob, Cheam
Morning:
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