London Underground faces New Year disruption as workers vote for industrial action
19 December 2023, 19:43 | Updated: 19 December 2023, 19:44
Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union have backed walkouts and other forms of industrial action, which will impact commuters early into 2024.
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The union said the votes met the legal thresholds for industrial action ballots.
Members of the RMT union voted 90.5 per cent in favour of strike action to win a better deal from Transport for London (TfL), rejecting the 5 per cent pay offer, it was revealed on Tuesday afternoon.
5,344 of 9,723 RMT members took part in the ballot. 4,827 voted yes to strike action and 505 voted no.
RMT officials will be meeting on Wednesday to discuss the next steps in the dispute.
A Transport for London spokesperson said: "We are disappointed that RMT has achieved a mandate for strike action based on our full and final pay offer.
"We have been clear throughout our productive discussions with our trade unions that this offer is the most we can afford whilst ensuring that we can operate safely, reliably and sustainably.
"We remain open for discussions and will do everything in our power to avoid disruption to Londoners."
It comes after TfL and the main Tube unions called off strikes in July and October at the 11th hour after striking deals on pensions and guarantees on station staffing.
Tube drivers currently earn a fixed salary of £63,901 and instructors £66,649 - but it is also possible to boost this pay by working overtime.
Figures from TfL show that in 2022/2023, a total of 2,648 drivers and 46 instructors received a package between £70,000 and £80,000 - that is including salary, pension, overtime, allowances and bonuses, according to the Evening Standard.
While 235 drivers and 284 instructors received between £80,000 and £90,000. A further two drivers received between £90,000 and £100,000 - and one received over £100,000.
