TSSA call for urgent talks in London Underground pay dispute

TSSA - the biggest union across Transport for London – has called for urgent talks to avoid further escalation following reports that an additional £30 million has been found to resolve the pay dispute.

TSSA announced last week that the union planned to ballot London Underground members for industrial action after rejecting a pay offer.

The offer rejected last year is a pay rise of just five per cent and a plan to freeze pay bands and salary ranges. This offer fell significantly short of the expectations of TSSA members with RPI inflation far higher than 5% last year.

TSSA remain in dispute with the company and the ballot process is set to begin shortly. However, with the announcement that additional funding is available, it is hoped that urgent talks will mean that escalation to industrial action can be avoided.

Commenting TSSA General Secretary, Maryam Eslamdoust, said: “We are still ready to ballot for industrial action - our members are ballot ready and prepared to do whatever is necessary to ensure they get a fair deal.  

“With reports this week that additional funding has been found, we are calling on London Underground to get back round the table. Only urgent talks – and a seriously improved offer which takes into account the cost-of-living crisis – will mean industrial action can be avoided.  

“It is now up to London Underground, together we can strike a deal, or we will be forced to move to sustained industrial action”.

Notes:

* Inflation - RPI in April 23 was 11.4%, RPI in Nov 23 was 5.3%.

*TSSA is the biggest trade union in Transport for London. We represent thousands of staff in TfL offices and stations, bus operations, London Underground, TfL Rail, overground and anywhere the TfL network extends to.  

We represent everyone from apprentices to senior managers. We are the only union with recognition in all parts of the business, including recognition for collective bargaining on pay and key industrial issues, including Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (ED&I). We're also the only union that is recognised for collective consultation on behalf of senior managers.