TfL Tube strikes: Unite London Underground workers to strike on two days in July

London Underground workers will be joining their colleagues from two other unions in two coordinated days of strikes at the end of July.

Hundreds of Unite members employed by London Underground will take 24 hour strikes on Wednesday 26 and Friday July 28 in a dispute over jobs and pensions.

Aslef are due to take action on the same days and the RMT will take a series of rolling strikes between Sunday 23 July and Friday July 28.

The union is calling for guarantees that there will be no increases in employee contributions to the pension scheme, no decrease in employer contributions, and no reduction in pension fund benefits.

The union is also calling for a guarantee of no job losses in London Underground following Government funding cuts.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Unite members on the London Underground will not accept attacks on their pensions and jobs.

“The workers are rightly demanding copper bottomed guarantees from TfL. Without these solid guarantees strike action will continue and the workers have Unite’s complete support.”

Unite represents around 450 members on the London Underground including workers in engineering, maintenance and management.

Unite regional officer, Simon McCartney said: “TfL are blindly following the government’s cuts agenda. The pension scheme is financially viable and in credit, so Unite will not accept any attacks on our members’ deferred pay.

“It’s time for TfL to realise that we’re not backing down. The pension fund must remain unchanged and attacks on jobs must stop.”

Glynn Barton, TfL’s Chief Operating Officer, said: “We are disappointed that Unite has announced strike action which will coincide with the action already announced by the RMT and Aslef. We are urging both unions to reconsider this action and engage with us to discuss the issues and seek a resolution.

"There are no current proposals to change pension arrangements and, although we are discussing with union colleagues a range of proposals to improve how London Underground operates, no employee will lose their job or be asked to work additional hours.

"We are trying to create a fairer, more efficient London Underground that works for our staff and for London. All stations would remain well staffed at all times and we believe that our proposals would give an even better and more reliable service to our customers both in terms of our stations and our train services.”