London to be crippled by fresh tube strike on budget day as RMT joins Aslef walkout
Further London Underground Tube strikes are set to hit the capital on Budget Day this month.
Underground workers will walkout on March 15, when chancellor Jeremy Hunt will announce the government’s financial plans for the next year, amid a row over pensions, jobs and pay.
It comes after Tube drivers with the Aslef union announced they would strike that day, while civil servants striking numbers have escalated to around 133,000.
RMT Union boss Mick Lynch said: “Tube workers provide an essential service to the capital, making sure the city can keep moving and work long hours in demanding roles.
“In return they deserve decent pensions, job security and good working conditions and RMT will fight tooth and nail to make sure that’s what they get.”
The union says London Underground Ltd (LUL) have started to impose 600 station staff job losses and refused to rule out changes to pensions or conditions.
The Tube strikes come as civil servants represented by the PCS union, including staff at Ofsted, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and Border Force, have been calling for a 10% pay rise.
Government has insisted the union’s “unaffordable” demands would cost £2.4bn and have counter-offered a 2-3% increase.
Nick Dent, Director of Customer Operations at TfL, said: “We have not proposed changes to anyone’s pensions.
“We have been working with our trade unions to see how we can make London Underground a fairer and more sustainable place.
“We want to make London Underground a better place to work so we urge ASLEF and the RMT to call off this damaging strike and continue working with us.”