Unions and Tube bosses in talks ahead of London Underground strike action (From This Is Local London)

Unions and Tube bosses in talks ahead of London Underground strike action

1:30pm Thursday 2nd September 2010 in

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TALKS have begun to try to avert a London-wide strike which could bring chaos to the Tube.

Unions RMT and TSSA have sat down with London Underground bosses to flesh out a deal which would stop as many as 10,000 tube workers staging a one-day strike on Monday.

The dispute is over plans to make severe cuts to ticket office opening hours across the capital, including a disproportionate number in outer London.

The opening hours on the Piccadilly Line at Cockfosters and Oakwood are due to be cut significantly under the plans, and opening times at Bounds Green, Southgate, and Arnos Grove will also be trimmed down.

At present the strike is on, say RMT bosses, and is due to begin at 5pm for some workers and 9pm for others.

This is likely to cause serious problems for residents hoping to use public transport to commute on Tuesday morning.

Similar industrial action has also been penciled in for dates in October and November, although they too could be avoided if an agreement between the parties is reached.

Bob Crow, RMT general secretary, said the cuts to ticket offices have raised fears that passenger safety at stations would be compromised, and accused Tube bosses of stalling on talks.

He said: “After weeks of dragging their heels over talks around the issues of staffing levels and safety at the heart of this dispute, RMT is pleased that London Undergound have now recognised the importance of using the negotiating machinery to open up these urgent discussions.”

London Underground bosses have repeatedly called for the strikes to be called off, but have stuck firm so far on the cuts commitments.

They say the Oyster card system has largely replaced the need for ticket offices, and argue staff are better placed outside of the office and at the barriers where they can help passengers.

Howard Collins, chief operating officer, said: “London Underground needs to change, as it is not possible to go on with a situation where some ticket offices sell fewer than ten tickets an hour.

“We will be reiterating that these changes come with no compulsory redundancies, and that under our proposals all stations with a ticket office will continue to have one, and all stations will be staffed at all times.”