TUBE UNION RMT today confirmed 48 hours of strike action on London Underground later this month in the continuing fight against the Mayor’s onslaught on jobs, working conditions, safety and the threat to services including the wholesale closure of ticket offices.

The vast majority of RMT tube members have been instructed not to book on for any shifts between 2100 hrs on 14th October through to 2059 hrs on the 16th October. Fleet members have been instructed not to book on for any shifts between 1829 hrs on the 14th October through to 1828 hrs on the 16th October.

The latest phase of action in RMT’s “Every Job Matters” campaign follows a mass meeting of reps that took place late last week to take a report back from the on-going talks with London Underground. Although some limited progress has been made through those talks the union executive has taken the clear view that it is simply not enough after months of negotiations and that the only option is to move back in to a further round of strike action.

RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said ;

“RMT negotiators have made every effort in the long-running talks to resolve a range of issues that impact on our members jobs, their pay and working conditions and the safety of the services that they provide to the travelling public.

“The cuts, currently being bulldozed through, would de-staff whole areas of the tube system at a time of surging passenger demand and would make evacuation and other basic safety procedures a physical impossibility. The axing of ticket offices and station staffing grades would render the tube a no-go zone for many people with disabilities and for women travelling alone. The cuts ignore the realities of life that we saw when services broke down last week and the recent surveys which point to an increase in violence and sexual assaults.

“RMT will not stand back and allow Government- driven austerity cuts to hollow out the tube system and leave it as a dangerous shell. We are also fully aware that the current cuts are just part of a multi-billion pound attack that will include such lethal ideas as driverless-operation. The strike action next week is designed to force the Mayor to instruct his senior officials to back away from this toxic cuts package and engage in serious and meaningful negotiations.