Another year, another strike, another quick update - this one came as
a surprise as one of the world’s largest metro systems - the London Underground is facing strikes!
From TFL press release
Station staff who are members of
the unions are currently planning to strike from 18.00 on Sunday 8 January for
24 hours. This would mean severely reduced services on Monday. TfL will try to
run as many services as possible, but customers are advised to complete their
journeys by 18.00 on Sunday, and that most Zone 1 stations are likely to be
closed throughout the action.
Although National Rail services
would not be affected by the strike there would be no Underground services from
key interchange stations such as Victoria, King's Cross, Waterloo, Paddington,
Euston, Bank and London Bridge.
Piccadilly line services would
still run between Hammersmith and Heathrow Terminals 1, 2 and 3, but there
would be no service to Terminals 4 or 5. There would be no service at all on
the Victoria or Waterloo & City lines, and all other lines would be
severely affected with limited services in outer London.
For customers travelling to
Canary Wharf from central London, Docklands Light Railway (DLR) services will
be running, however they will be busier than usual. River services will also
link central London and Canary Wharf.
Customers using the DLR are
being advised that there may be changes to services towards Bank, with trains
instead terminating at Shadwell or Tower Gateway.
Should the strike go ahead,
buses, roads and rail services are expected to be much busier than usual,
particularly those bus routes serving major interchange stations. TfL will be
deploying Travel Ambassadors in order to help customers get around the city,
over 100 extra buses will be deployed to enhance existing routes and river
services will also be enhanced.
There will be posters, digital
boards and announcements in stations to keep people informed of the latest
level of service and all customers are advised to check before they travel at
tfl.gov.uk/tube-strike and use the live update services @TfLTravelAlerts,
@TfLTrafficNews and @TfLBusAlerts on Twitter.
TfL remains in constructive
discussions with both unions in order to try to resolve the dispute, which
centres around the ticket office closure programme that was completed in early
2016.
A recent independent review of
the programme by London TravelWatch, commissioned by the Mayor of London, Sadiq
Khan, found that steps need to be taken to ensure that customers continue to
receive the service and support that they need. TfL has committed to addressing
the recommendations in the report by London Travelwatch and has started this
process, working with the unions to review the staffing model and put more
station staff roles back in where needed.
Steve Griffiths, London Underground's
Chief Operating Officer, said: `We have always committed to reviewing our new
staffing model with our trade unions during its first year, and following the
review by London TravelWatch we established a joint working group to undertake
that review and make any changes necessary.
`It is clear that some more
staff for stations are needed. We have started to recruit them and will
continue to work with the unions to implement the recommendations made in the
review. We believe that this will help us to provide a better service for our
customers and ensure that they continue to feel safe, secure and able to access
the right help while using our network.
`We encourage the trade unions
to continue working with us in order to resolve this dispute and deliver the
customer service our customers expect.'
Then we see an update from the Unions on why they are striking:
From RMT Press Office
Tube management fail to address safety issues as talks collapse.
Mick Cash said
"Despite huge efforts by
the union negotiating team London Underground have failed to come up with any
serious plans to tackle the staffing and safety crisis caused by the axing of
nearly 900 safety-critical station jobs.
"Instead of resolving the
issues tube bosses have chosen instead to ramp up the rhetoric with threats to
mobilise a strike-breaking army of "ambassadors" with severe
consequences for the current safety regime across the Tube network.
"As a result of the
management failure to face up to the current crisis the talks have collapsed
and all industrial actions remains on. It is up to London Underground to take
full responsibility for this situation and to come back to us with a serious
set of proposals. "
This leaflet from RMT shows the reasons why they are striking.
From TSSA
Tube talks update - adjourned without resolution
Talks at Acas between TSSA and
London Underground (LU) to resolve a dispute about safety and understaffing on
the Tube have adjourned tonight without resolution.
Said TSSA General Secretary, Manuel
Cortes:
"We are disappointed not to
have a solution to the dispute this evening but we await the outcome of London
Underground's final position. We'd like the offer they have made us to go far
further. Our strike will still go ahead as scheduled on Sunday evening, but our
negotiating team remain available throughout the weekend to resume talks should
LU be able to extend their offer."
“London Underground have said
that they will recruit 500 staff this year. This is to cover a turnover of 300
and outstanding vacancies of 73, leaving only 127 new roles. They have
committed to creating 150 new roles by the Autumn, but only 50 of these will be
Customer Service Assistants. This is not sufficient to improve services to
passengers, reduce the pressures on staff to work excessive hours, or to ensure
the safety of the Tube network which has 270 stations.”
Here TFL show the key points of the London Underground disruption:
From TFL Tube Strike page
Key points
- The strike is by station staff, which means many Tube stations may not open at all, particularly in Zone 1
- Those that do open are likely to open after 0700 and close by 1900 on Monday 9 January
- It will only be possible for us to run severely restricted underground services
- Other transport services, including buses, DLR and London Overground, are expected to be much busier than usual
- We will run the best service possible depending on how many employees are available
- Where services are running, we advise customers to complete Tube journeys by 1800 on both Sunday and Monday
- We expect normal services to resume by the morning of Tuesday 10 January
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