Boris and union bosses fail to avoid walkouts
COMMUTERS are enduring the first day of disruption thanks to a 48-hour Tube strike that was branded “shameful” by the Prime Minister yesterday.
Transport for London is trying to run a reduced service on almost all lines and has scheduled extra buses on the busiest routes.
But the industrial action this week and next is set to cost the economy £200m, according to the London Chamber of Commerce.
RMT boss Bob Crow resorted to calling Boris Johnson’s phone-in radio show yesterday to argue his case with the mayor, after around five years of the pair not speaking. However, Johnson said throughout the day that he would not meet with the unions until they called off the strikes.
“I can’t sit down and negotiate with you, let alone negotiate on air, when you’re holding a gun to Londoners’ heads and threatening disruption in the greatest city on earth,” he told Crow.
Transport for London said it has received more than 1,000 enquiries from staff about voluntary redundancy, and 450 formal applications. This could cover the 750 posts TfL hopes to cut as part of its reforms, avoiding the risk of compulsory redundancies that the unions are protesting.