RMT on TfL cuts carnage

18 November 2021

RMT Press Office:

RMT slams Government for provoking industrial warfare across London transport as scale of TFL cuts carnage emerges.

LONON TRANSPORT UNION RMT today called on the Mayor Sadiq Khan to stand up and fight for the Capital's transport services as the full scale of the cuts being demanded by the Government begins to emerge.

The union has also accused the Government of deliberately engineering and provoking a fight with unions over jobs, services and pensions and of cynically using the COVID pandemic as a cover to unleash the most savage cuts package in modern times.

Unions expect to be briefed on the scale of the cuts assault on London this morning ‎but they are reported to total £1.3 billion with tube budgets slashed by 9% and a period of "managed decline" if the Government don't provide a support lifeline. Capital expenditure on upgrades and maintenance would also be decimated raising fears over passenger safety.

General Secretary Mick Lynch said;

"We are expecting to get the full detail this morning but it's clear from what we know that the Government-driven wrecking ball would reduce transport in London to rubble. We will fight that assault with every tool at our disposal if ministers don't wake up and see sense.

"We are calling on the Mayor and the people of London to stand with the transport work‎force in a campaign to secure the funding our services need. It would be a scandal if COVID was used as a cover to drive through an unprecedented cuts package when we need to be building back for the future. "