London commuters will suffer due to a series of strikes by London Underground employees, including drivers, next month in protest over wages.
On November 7 and Tuesday, November 12, trade union Aslef, representing thousands of Tube drivers who make at least £63,000 annually, has called for 24-hour walkouts.
In response to a “wholly inadequate” compensation offer, the RMT union has also announced that large portions of maintenance and emergency personnel will go on strike between November 1 and November 8.
Planned strikes will likely shut down the entire Tube network for at least two days, with other actions likely to limit the number of services that can run and could lead to stations being closed at short notice.
Reps claim Transport for London (TfL) bosses are refusing to get around the table, but London’s transport boss says he has made a ‘fair’ offer that sees an average pay rise of 4.6 per cent across the board.
Shop stewards and TfL management are reportedly in the midst of crunch negotiations to put an end to the strikes.
After discussions over driver welfare, training, and working conditions, Aslef called off strikes in April. However, the union claims it is dissatisfied with the salary package that was offered.
It claims TfL is unwilling to equalise working conditions with drivers on the Overground or Elizabeth Line, which are run by external companies.
Finn Brennan, Aslef organiser on the London Underground (LU), said: ‘We don’t want to go on strike. We don’t want to make travelling in and around the capital more difficult for passengers and we don’t want to lose a day’s pay.
‘But we have been forced into this position because LU management won’t sit down properly and negotiate with us.’
Industrial action extends in part to other Aslef-affiliated members of Underground staff within TfL.
On November 7 and November 12, management employees will go on strike. Additionally, from November 3 to November 16, there will be no overtime allowed.
Along with a 24-hour strike from Friday, November 1 into Saturday, November 2, engineering drivers will also not be allowed to work overtime from November 1 through November 8.
According to a TfL freedom of information answer, the average wage of a Tube driver was £63,901 as of November of last year. However, hundreds of drivers make more than £70,000.
TfL said on average the pay rise offer for TfL workers was 4.6 percent, but Mr Brennan said the offer for Tube drivers was lower at 3.8 percent and did not include paid meal breaks enjoyed by drivers on the Elizabeth Line and Overground.
Surprise, surprise. Those poor underworked, overpaid tube drivers want yet another pay rise. Who would have thought? Maybe they would also like a slice of people’s state pension as well to help them out, and these pay rises just mean increased fares for those on a living wage.
This isn’t the winter of discontent; it’s more like a decade of discontent!
Now, every union will be lining up to demand enormous raises—so much for Labour putting an end to the strikes. This occurred in the 1970s, and it completely collapsed our nation.
The refugees won’t be impacted by any strikes, even though our nation is bankrupt and crippled. No, the refugees will be kept warm and fed!
In the brief period that Labour has been in power, it appears that they have outdone themselves, and now, just in time for winter, the striking brigade arrives.
I could never understand why strikes were allowed to happen, as they’re effectively a form of blackmail. If you don’t like what you get paid, then leave and get another job elsewhere.
It now appears that Labour will give in to the unions’ demands without seeking anything in return, such as increased production, and the unions know that Labour will give them what they want, no matter how outrageous the demand is. Both Starmer and Reeves claimed to have stopped the strikes—funny that, more are now starting!
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 