TSSA to take further day of strike action on the Elizabeth Line

Dozens of TSSA members working on the UK’s busiest railway, London's Elizabeth Line will take industrial action on Wednesday, 24 May, the one year anniversary of its opening.

 The action is due to an ongoing dispute over the pay of key operational staff who ensure that the trains run safely. TSSA says that many staff on the Elizabeth Line are paid tens of thousands of pounds less than colleagues performing similar roles on other parts of the Transport for London (TfL) network, including London Underground and DLR. This is the second strike on the Elizabeth Line, after TSSA members took action in the same dispute on Thursday 12 January.

 Action short of a strike, (essentially consisting of an overtime ban and removal of good will) will run from Saturday 27 May to Sunday 4 June.

TSSA members work in essential roles, including Traffic Managers, Service and Infrastructure, and Incident Response Manager grades. These are key hands-on operational roles essential to the running of the railway.

 TSSA Organising Director, Mel Taylor, said, “We’ve been in talks with management for almost a year now, yet the majority of our members have been offered an uplift of just over 1% to make up for the huge pay differentials.

 “Elizabeth Line staff work weekends, nights and even Christmas Day, operating the world's only fully digital railway, but many earn less than two thirds of the salary paid to other TfL staff in similar roles. Our members don’t want to have to take strike action, but they’ve had enough.”

 The Elizabeth Line is the UK's busiest railway, responsible for 1 in 6 of all journeys. 

Notes to editors

• TSSA Members working on the Elizabeth Line voted by nine to one in favour of strike action last December.
• Examples of “removal of good will” include no covering duties of other roles and grades, only working contracted hours and taking all contractual breaks, no out-of-hours communications and no taking on of contingency duties caused by strike action.
• The overtime ban will mean a refusal to work rest days and special spare shifts.