17 December 2021
RMT Press Office:
RMT says action goes ahead again this weekend on the Night Tube as reps slam LU for outrageous attempt to use pandemic to bully staff.
TUBE UNION RMT has confirmed that strike action goes ahead again by tube drivers this weekend over the ripping up of existing agreements and working arrangements which the union says will wreck work life balance by bulldozing through additional night and weekend working.
In a mass meeting of reps last night LU bosses were roundly condemned for an outrageous last ditch attempt to use the pandemic to try and bully staff into accepting their plans.
In talks over the past two weeks RMT negotiators said that they could recommend suspension of the action if LU bosses agreed to step back from their current proposals, halted the demands being placed on drivers and gave the unions' cost-neutral alternative a chance to be put into practice.
The union says that LU has refused point blank this week yet again to consider this serious offer and it has become clear the drive from tube bosses is all about cutting costs regardless of the impact on staff and the services they operate. As a result the planned action continues as follows;
All train operator and instructor operators working on the Central and Victoria lines are instructed not to book on for any duty commencing:
between 20:30 on 17/12/21 and 04:29 on 18/12/21
All train operator and instructor operators working on night-tube lines (Central, Jubilee, Northern, Piccadilly & Victoria) are also instructed not to book on for any duty commencing from 04:30 on 18/12/21 to 04:29 19/12/21.
General Secretary Mick Lynch said:
"We are angry and disappointed that the tube management have refused yet again this week to move forward based on genuine and realistic proposals that could have enabled us to recommend the suspension of the planned action. As a result the strike action this weekend goes ahead.
"The anger of our members and reps has been compounded by a cynical last ditch attempt by LU managers to use the pandemic to bully and blackmail staff - the same front line tube staff who have put themselves at personal risk to keep London moving since the COVID crisis emerged nearly two years ago.
" The issue at the heart of the dispute is that the dedicated Night Tube driver grade, which was popular with women and those with caring responsibilities, and which the union fought to get written in to the original Night Tube agreement, has been ripped up with the loss of 200 posts and complete disregard for the staff themselves.
“The union remains available for further talks even at this late stage and it's time for the Mayor to stop siding with the management against the union and start using his offices to push for a resolution. “
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