Responding to today’s strike action by TSSA and RMT union members on the London Underground, Darren Johnson has said:
“The Mayor should step back, rethink his plans, withdraw the closure plans and allow meaningful negotiations to take place. In return, the unions should agree to call off further strikes. We also need TfL to be open and flexible about their plans station by station. The Mayor has failed to explain how the 100,000 passengers who use ticket offices every day, will be dealt with in the event of ticket office closures and the loss of 950 station staff. I’m sure many Londoners are still unclear how safety standards and the quality of the service, can be maintained with so many staff being made redundant.”
“If the Mayor hadn’t broken the pledge to keep ticket offices open then there wouldn’t be this strike. It is clearly a political choice that the Mayor has made and he is setting the terms upon which the Transport for London managers are negotiating. He should take a deep breath and stop this headlong rush into what could be a much worse and unsafe service.”