Many London Underground passengers are understandably frustrated about why a rail union dispute over working hours is affecting their ability to get to school or work. Tube drivers are currently undergoing their fourth strike of the year as the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) continues to pressure Transport for London (TfL) for assurances on plans to impose a voluntary compressed four-day week.
About 40 per cent of Tube drivers have not turned up for work during the walkout, leading to some lines being suspended or severely delayed. Due to this disruption, the RMT has faced calls to carry out a different kind of strike that would solely affect TfL and not the passengers themselves.
Some X, formerly Twitter, users want RMT drivers and station staff to carry out a revenue strike instead, which would see ticket barriers left open so TfL couldn’t charge passengers – but all services would still be able to run. This method is often used by rail and bus unions in Japan as a step below carrying out a full-on strike.
The union has responded to this by stating only drivers are involved in this dispute, not all London Underground workers. Under British law, revenue strikes are classed as secondary action so are not legal.
Revenue strikes are illegal in the UK -Credit:Carl Court/Getty Images
Action short of a full strike generally takes the shape of ‘working to rule’, where employees don’t accept overtime and solely perform the absolute minimum required by their employment contract.
Rival union ASLEF has already accepted TfL’s compressed four-day week offer, but the RMT continues to hold out for better terms. With drivers currently paid about £80K per year, union officials were initially pushing for a 32-hour week spread across four days – opposed to TfL’s plan of 35 hours across five days.
RMT general secretary claimed TfL’s current offer would lead to driver fatigue due to longer shifts. Both sides met for five hours on Monday, with the assistance of the conciliation service Acas, but the talks ended without any resolution.
Talks between both sides are expected to resume next week.
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