Rail workers strike disrupts Tube services
Tuesday 07 September 2010 | By Evolution InternetBack to Newsroom
by Anna Seward
Millions of passengers have faced major disruption on the London Underground today after Tube lines were affected by a rail workers strike.
The industrial action was called by the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) and the Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA), who are protesting at plans to cut 800 jobs.
The RMT said that support for strike action had been "rock solid" and that members would not sit by "while staffing levels are hacked to the bone".
Bob Crow, the union's general secretary, urged transport officials to "start meaningful talks on a safe and secure future for the London Tube system".
The RMT said that all lines had been affected and were either suspended or running a skeleton service.
But Transport for London (TfL) insisted that services were running on all but one line and that its contingency plans were allowing people to move around the capital.
A statement published at 12:30 BST revealed that 40 per cent of trains were in operation and that the "paralysis" predicted by union chiefs "has failed to materialise".
London Underground managing director Mike Brown said: "We are doing everything possible to keep as many Tube services operating today, and to keep Londoners moving by providing extra buses, river services and other alternatives."
Mr Brown also questioned the logic behind the strikes, insisting that RMT and TSSA leaders were disrupting Londoners "for no good reason".
He claimed: "Londoners will doubtless find it incredible that the two union leaderships are pursuing this action when they have been given cast-iron assurances that the staffing changes we are making come with no compulsory redundancies; that every station that currently has a ticket office will retain one; and that every station will remain staffed at all times."
London mayor Boris Johnson also criticised the "cynical" strike action, insisting that the new staffing proposals were "moderate and sensible".
