TfL and London Underground workers to strike this week over pensions, pay and jobs

Strikes will hit the capital’s transport network on Thursday (10 November) as Unite members at Transport for London (TfL) and London Underground (LU) take action to defend their pensions, pay and jobs. Due to shift patterns, services could also be hit on 11 November.

More than 1,000 Unite members will walk out in protest at plans to slash the value of their pensions and close the existing final salary scheme. The workers are also angry over TfL’s failure to make an acceptable pay offer to members for either 2021 or 2022, and there are concerns that TfL refuses to guarantee there will be no job cuts.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “TfL is needlessly attacking our members’ pay and pensions, which Unite simply can’t accept. The workers have the full support of their union in fighting these attacks. TfL must stop behaving like a race-to-the-bottom employer and put forward an offer that is acceptable to our members.”

The strike action involves over 1,000 members of Unite who are employed at London Underground, Compliance, Policing, Operations & Security (CPOS), Victoria Coach Station, Network Management Control Centre (NMCC), Croydon Trams engineering, Dial-A-Ride and Surface Operations.

In addition to engineering and maintenance roles, Unite members are responsible for keeping London transport moving.

Unite regional officer Simon McCartney said: “There is absolutely no need for TfL to press ahead with these attacks. The pension scheme is financially viable and in credit and the savings TfL were forced to make have already been found elsewhere. It is high time London’s Labour mayor Sadiq Khan intervened.”