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Boris Johnson accused of hypocrisy by Transport for London staff in row over pay
Dick Murray and Katharine Barney3 Feb 2010
Boris Johnson was accused of hypocrisy today by demonstrators including a blond-wigged lookalike outside City Hall.
Transport for London staff are embroiled in a row over pay. The Mayor ran the gauntlet on his way into a TfL board meeting where the pay issue was discussed.
The TSSA union accuse Mr Johnson of threatening to axe staff travel allowance worth up to several thousands pounds a year while he claimed nearly £5,000 on taxis last year.
The Mayor and Peter Hendy, London's transport commissioner, say they will scrap the allowance, which allows staff to claim 75 per cent of their annual season ticket, unless they accept a three-year pay deal aimed to prevent huge claims before the Olympics.
The TSSA said the Mayor's advisers claimed £17,000 in travel expenses last year while Mr Hendy was paid more than £500,000.
Manuel Cortes, TSSA deputy leader, said: It is hypocritical for Boris and Peter Hendy to claim 100 per cent of their travel expenses. They should get the Brass Neck of the Year award for this brazen piece of bullying.
A TfL spokesman said: We have offered a very fair, three-year above-inflation pay offer.
Reader views (17)
Let us pray for another Maggie Thatcher to come along
and repeat her actions of booting Livingstone and his hangers -on out of County Hall and Close the lot down
- Tim, london uk, 23/02/2010 23:41
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The Congestion Charge is just a money raising exercise.
What did all these oxygen waisting jobsworths do before they got on the TFL gravy train,? probably claiming benefits,certainly not employed by an employer who needed a proper workforce. The whole thing was promoted by Ken Livingstone to employ freeloaders like himself. London already had a Lord Mayor (and still has ) before all this bull was invented . The city ran just as well before the Mayor and TFL came into being as it does now
The whole thing exists on penalising the very people who have to go into london to actullay ''Work'' for a living so that the many Drones in the TFL hive can be paid huge sums of our hard earned money .If helping to reduce global warming is the goal of the Congestion Charge why is it not in force on Saturday and Sunday to collect from the ''visitors ''who form traffic jams on all the approach roads to London every weekend I think that there should be an enquiry by an independent body into the affairs of TFL and the Congestion Charging system and the scandelous waste of money ,chronyism , etc that exists within it N B (Protests) Why should these jobsworths get a travel allowance when the rest of us pay our way to go to proper productive days work
- Tim, London Uk, 23/02/2010 23:34
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This idea that some ES readers have that all TfL front line staff are paid loads of money is a load of tosh!.
I am a retired (2006) TfL front line (for over 20 years) person.
My wages were never more than £21,000 per year.
- Gerry, Chatham, KENT, 04/02/2010 11:37
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for goodness sake. Get real, live in the now.
How about campaigning for old people to sustain their free travel pass. Offer your passes to them, so they can be warm and social instead of lonely and cold - think of others instead of being so selfish. This is not political its just plain greed. Things change. Seniors need help you could serve them and still have a job. Most of the newly seniors would like to have a job and free travel. ..
- London Lady, london, 04/02/2010 10:13
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This isn't about amounts of money really. It's not about what money seniour management get either aside from being a media friendly slogan to draw the attention. This is about TFL bullying staff into signing up to a pay deal they don't accept by withholding benefits. The real question is why have TFL offered a 2 year deal to tube workers and 3 years to the rest? TFL won't say - not even to it's own workers.
In the absence of such information we are left to assume this is to cause a split between the tube union members and TFL union members. Thus such members are less concerned with the pay deal itself but what will follow in 2 and 3 years time.
- C, London, 04/02/2010 07:59
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T.F.L. staff are get loads of money they are rubbish and had it easy under Ken,Now they have to do some work and are upset ,Remember most of this lot are lefties as Ken only employed lefties so they dont like Boris ..dont like the job ..leave !!
- Richard, LONDON, 04/02/2010 07:56
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It is only to be expected from a Tory clown like Johnston. Why does he need taxis,whats wrong with punlic transport.
T H
- Thomas Hayes, Bradford UK, 03/02/2010 21:35
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the Labour pseuds are out in force again, shame there isn't enough to them maintain a government.
at least Barry isn't trying to be taken seriously.
- Scotty, London, 03/02/2010 18:22
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If they think things are tough now,wait until the Conservatives are in power,they will destroy all working and middle classes to fund their wealthy rich Eton buddies.Boris has alreadt stolen 20% extra from the working man with his TAX on public transport,and the servive is getting worse by the day.
- Dave, london, 03/02/2010 16:52
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Sorry, Boris said the £250 000 he gets from the spectator is a trifling amount. Rather puts the Old Etonion ex Oxford hypocryte on the back foot I would suggest.
Kieth London was an unbridled success after Ken's regime. Compare that to the 'lost' years after your girl Maggie abolished all democratic process in London, then London was a pit and in trouble!
How many of Boris's Etonian millionaire mates voted against the minimum wage? have alook it really shows just how elitist and nasty those old boys (who all inherited their wealth, something Gandhi saw as a moral sin) are, nasty and selfhish.
- Barry Bunn, London England, 03/02/2010 16:44
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I fully support these workers - they deserve free travel as they do an important job and are vital employees in the capital.
Personally, I regard them as being more deserving than Boris Johnson and his public school cronies.
Come back Ken Livingstone - all is forgiven.
- Scotty, London, 03/02/2010 16:39
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Seems outrageous that the rest of us have to fund the TSSA members' travel to the tune of 75%.
And Boris is Mayor of London, of course he shouldn't have to pay his transport expenses. He was voted in by over a million people.
- Londoner, London, 03/02/2010 15:20
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Above inflation pay deal over three years and keep your travel allowance? I would be happy to take that... many of use in the real world have had pay freezes or cuts over the last couple of years, if we still have jobs that is...
- Jon B, London, 03/02/2010 14:47
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Why is anyone suggesting that general TFL staff have an equivalent right to a travel allowance as that of the 2nd highest elected official in the land?
whether they should, or should not have an allowance is not in any way influenced by whether such an allowance is enjoyed by far more important and influential public figures.
that's just crazy entitlementism.
- Scotty, London, 03/02/2010 14:15
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People should leave Boris alone to get on with the job he was voted to do - get London out of this financial mess the previous administration left us in. If these people demonstrating don't like their jobs, sack them.
- Keith, London, 03/02/2010 13:48
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Barry Bunn = union employee.
What is the wage of the average working man? I'm pretty sure it's quite a bit less than that of the average tfl worker.
Your class hatred is ridiculous - how many of Ken Livingstone's friends worked at City Hall?
- Sarahn, London, UK, 03/02/2010 13:42
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Every day and on ever decision Londoners are finding out what a; fool, what a bully, what a hypocrite the Eton Toff Johnson is as Mayor of London.
He governs just for his wealthy friends. He claims £150 000 a year is a trifling amount for him to earn part time! And yet wants to freeze the pay of the average working man.
his idiocy and refusal to obey anything like democratic lines, does not bode well for a tory government completely made up of his mega wealthy, inherited wealthy, mega selfish, idiotic, Eton and Oxford 'educated' tory toff friends.
The 90% of you he does not like, care about, understand or even govern for need to wake up.
- Barry Bunn, London England, 03/02/2010 13:24
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