Night Tube strikes look set to be called off, after staff receive new four-year pay deal
Londoners rejoice: the series of Tube strikes set to start from next week look set to be called off after Transport for London bosses put forward a new four-year pay deal to union reps yesterday.
The new deal includes a one-off bonus of £500 to all workers – not just those on the Night Tube – and an agreement that staff will work to a 36-hour four day week.
This comes with the condition that that industrial action is called off and the Night Tube is brought back on track. However, it is still not clear when the 24-hour service, which was originally scheduled to launch in September, will start running.
At one point four unions were planning to go on strike. However Unite, Aslef and TSSA have all agreed to call off their action.
The biggest transport union RMT has called a meeting on Monday to discuss the new offer. The meeting will take place between 10am and 12pm – which means we should know definitively if the final union has pulled out by early Monday afternoon.
In a letter to union members, RMT's general secretary Mick Cash said: "Further to my previous letter to you and following progress made during talks at ACAS yesterday, the National Executive Committee has taken the decision to arrange a mass meeting of your RMT Reps on Monday 25th January to discuss this matter and the revised offer received from London Underground. To protect our position, the strike action due to start from Tuesday 26th January 2016 currently remains in place.
"The fourth year of the pay deal now includes a minimum 1% to give the guarantee of a pay increase if RPI was to fall into negative figures and the £500 Night Tube payment will be paid to all members straight away, rather than only being paid to those members working on Night Tube lines.
"The National Executive Committee will consider this matter again following the Reps meeting on Monday and I will write to you again immediately following the meeting."