Night tube nightmare

Work-life balance and an inadequate pay offer are the key issues in the long-running London Underground dispute over the introduction of the ‘night tube’.

 

The 600 engineers and maintenance staff which Unite represents have accused London Underground Ltd (LUL) of ‘unreasonable, hard-line intransigence’.

 

“The sticking points are an inadequate four-year pay offer and a failure to agree over the implementation of the ‘night tube’, said Hugh Roberts, Unite acting national officer for rail.

 

“LUL bosses are also threatening to impose rosters and tear up agreements,” he added.

 

Last month, Unite London Underground reps unanimously rejected a four-year pay deal from April 1, 2015 to March 31, 2019.

 

“Unite is not against the principal of the ‘night tube’ as we can see the benefits of the nocturnal economy of one of the world’s great and diverse cities,” said Hugh.

 

“However, it should not be at the expense of our members’ work-life balance – they have families too – and they should be suitably rewarded for this work,” he added.

 

Unite is also concerned about the prospect of zero-hours contracts for drivers during this period as management try to run the night tube on the cheap.

 

“Not even world class economists can predict the level of pay deals in four years’ time and LUL proposals tie our members too closely to the retail price index (RPI) which is currently 1.6 per cent,” said Hugh.

 

“As the economy picks up, pay deals could outstrip the RPI, leaving our members with severely eroded pay packets in real terms. We won’t allow this to happen,” he added.