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Tube commuters face strike chaos
02/09/2007 23:41 - (SA)
London - Millions of tube passengers face
three days of travel chaos after unions said on Sunday a strike
over job security and pensions will go ahead.
The 72 hours of disruption will begin at 18:00 on Monday,
with repeat action planned for the following week.
The strike comes as many Londoners return to work after
their summer holiday.
It follows the collapse of Metronet, responsible for
maintenance on nine of the London Underground lines.
Transport for London had hoped that letters of reassurance
about jobs, transfers and pensions sent out to union members
would be enough to stave off the strikes.
But a spokesperson for the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers
union (RMT) - which has 2 300 Metronet members - said: "My
understanding is that we have not received the cast-iron
guarantees that were sought.
"The strike is going ahead on Monday."
He said the impact on travellers would build up over the
three days. Maintenance will not be carried out
Services will still run, but any problems with maintenance
of trains, tracks or signalling will not get repaired.
"The network will grind to a halt," the spokesperson warned.
"If anything goes wrong, it will stay wrong."
The Transport for London said in a statement on Sunday that
the RMT had received letters from their employers, the
Administrator and Metronet, as well the Mayor of London, Ken
Livingstone, assuring them that all of the concerns raised had
been met.
It said it had been informed that two other unions involved
in the dispute, the Transport Salaried Staff's Association
(TSSA) and Unite, would hold a meeting on Monday.
"We fully expect them to recognise that they have now
received all of the assurances that they have requested," it said.
Neither the TSSA nor Unite were immediately available for
comment.
Livingstone said in a statement: "It would be
incomprehensible to disrupt the lives of millions of Londoners
and lose their member's significant amounts of pay when all of
the assurances they have asked for have been given."
- Reuters
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