Two strike actions at Transport for London have been announced today.
The RMT says its members will walk out over job cuts and ticket office closures — now might be a good time to refresh your memory about the reasons behind this dispute — for two days at 9pm on Monday 28 April, and for three days at 9pm on Monday 5 May.
Meanwhile, over 1,000 backroom staff at TfL have voted to strike over plans to freeze pay and cut final salary pensions. Manuel Cortes, the TSSA union's general secretary, said: "Needless to say, this plan does not apply to senior managers like the Commissioner Sir Peter Hendy who took home £650,000 last year".
TSSA members voted 80% in favour of strike action on a turnout of 47% — which, let's remember before politicians start talking about 50% limits again, is better than the 38.1% turnout for the 2012 London election. Strike action will be taken by supervisors and managers, so drivers and ordinary station staff will still be around to do their day-to-day jobs — unless they co-ordinate action with the RMT, which will likely mean fewer Travel Ambassadors available to fill in and run a limited service. [Edit: the TSSA says it won't do this. Damn our cynical brains.]
Photo by Alistair Beavis from the Londonist Flickr pool.
