TUBE UNION RMT confirmed today that it has reached an agreement with London Underground over Olympics recognition and reward.

After months of intensive negotiations RMT has reached an agreement that protects existing agreements and allows staff to work within the terms of their existing contracts.

There will also be additional rewards packages of up to £1000 for staff in recognition of the massive additional pressures that will be thrown at the service from the extra three million journeys a day.

However, on a separate issue, RMT remains deeply concerned at the staffing levels planned by LU and the use of untrained volunteers at a time when safety and security will be absolutely paramount. The union also repeated its demand for a full-scale, mock emergency evacuation to test the robustness of the safety procedures in operation.

RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said:

“After months of hard work by our negotiators we have been able to come to an agreement that both protects the contractual rights and existing agreements of our members and rewards them in recognition of what we all know will be the biggest transport challenge ever faced by this city.

“However, on a separate issue, RMT will continue to fight for safe staffing levels to deal with the stresses and strains on the system.

“We have seen from the repeated breakdowns over the past two weeks the impact of cuts to staffing and maintenance and it is our members who are out there fighting to hold the service together and they deserve both every penny they get and the right not to be bullied into accepting unfair and unsafe working practices.”