The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union has called off planned strikes on the London Underground following “significant progress” in negotiations with Transport for London (TfL) over jobs and conditions. About 3,000 RMT members were due to strike on Wednesday and Friday over the dispute surrounding 600 post closures. The planned cuts form part of a savings programme required by a £1.2bn government funding deal agreed in August of this year. TfL is required to seek about £230m of savings as part of the deal.
According to a spokesperson for the RMT, progress in talks with conciliation service, Acus, means that the union has successfully “saved jobs, prevented detrimental changes to rosters and secured protection of earnings around grading changes.” However, while key elements have been settled, wider negotiations relating to the job, pensions and working agreements dispute are required.
London Underground’s director of customer operations, Nick Dent, stated that TfL was pleased that the RMT had withdrawn planned action. Dent went on to say that the resolution “is good news for London and we will continue to work closely with our trade unions as we evolve London Underground to ensure we can continue to support the capital in the most effective way.”
The RMT union was concerned about lone working and workload, while TfL said that no station would be left unstaffed and that no member of staff would lose their job. It appears that the resolution to the dispute means fewer post closures and protections for union representatives has been met. With strikes continuing to disrupt transport systems, this resolution will provide some relief for passengers. Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, expressed his gratitude for the hard work carried out by the RMT and TfL
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