Union officials and TfL are said to be ‘a very long way’ from a deal after talks recommencedon Wednesday, March 27. The negotiations with ASLEF aim to stop planned strike action later in the spring.
Train drivers are set to walk out on April 8 and May 4. Finn Brennan, the union’s organiser on London Underground, claims that TfL wants drivers to work longer shifts, spending up to 25 per cent more time in the cab, and to ‘remove all current working agreements in the name of flexibility and efficiency’.
But TfL has said that it has ‘no plans to impose these changes and have committed to no one losing their job as part of these changes’. The authority also said at the time of the strike announcement: “We have been in long-term discussions with our trade union colleagues on how to modernise procedures and processes on London Underground to improve the experience both for staff and customers.”
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It added: “We urge Aslef to continue discussions with us so that disruption for Londoners can be averted.”
Now, a union source has told MyLondon today that the prospect of a deal is not currently promising. They said: “We met the company yesterday […] Talks will continue next week. But we believe there is still a very long way to go before we reach a resolution.”
Mayor ‘hopeful’ of resolution
It comes after the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said on Monday (March 25) that he stands by his decision to give TfL officials more cash to avert walk outs on the Tube in January as part of the same dispute over work and conditions. This is because, he said, businesses would have lost out on more than the pot of money he provided if industrial action had gone ahead.
Hospitality alone would have lost £50 million, Mr Khan claims. The mayor expressed hope on Monday that the dispute can be sorted out.
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He said: “So look, we’ve had a number of industrial actions across the country from ASLEF. The great news in London is, by and large, we resolve these amicably.
“We were talking this time last week about potential industrial action by engineers on the trams – that was called off. Similarly, we’re speaking about the possibility of the first week in January, the first week in January, the entire network being brought to a halt.
“That was called off as well. I’m hopeful that ASLEF will sit around the table with TfL and these can also be resolved amicably.”
MyLondon understands that ASLEF views the negotiations so far to have been ‘a dance of the seven veils’ as officials demand amended wages in accordance with ‘extra work hours’ and central government has ‘squeezed’ TfL of funding. The union’s position overall remains unchanged from last week when the industrial action was announced, but, if its demands were met, there would be ‘no reason to go on strike’.
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