48 hour walkouts on the underground take step closer to fruition
Key station supervisors have voted by 4 to 1 to strike in the safety row at London Underground, the TSSA (Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association) announced today.
It said there was an 81.2% vote in favour of industrial action among its 3,000 members in the ongoing dispute over a raft of safety issues which includes the closure of some ticket offices and the use of agency and security staff.
“The size of the vote clearly demonstrates what our members feel about what they perceive as an attack on safety standards and the casualisation of safety criticial work,” said union general secretary Gerry Doherty.
“We hope that London Underground now recognise that feeling and will reach a sensible agreement with us which ensures that London has the safest Tube system in the world in the run up to the Olympic Games in four years time.”
ends
The threat of a strike ballot was first made last month when the RMT and TSSA told London Underground that ticket-office closures, de-staffing, lone working, introduction of 'mobile supervisors', use of agency and security staff and other disputed policies amounted to an unacceptable attack on safety standards.
"Each of these issues is serious in its own right, but together they amount to a fundamental and unacceptable attack on staffing across the network which strikes at the very heart of its safe operation," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said.
The RMT Union also plans to ballot its members on the use of agency staff and the closure of ticket offices.
March 12, 2008