Tube strike 2016: This weekend’s RMT action would be illegal under new Trade Union Bill laws Labour candidate Sadiq Khan opposes
Conservative mayoral candidate Zac Goldsmith and his Labour opponent Sadiq Khan are trading harsh words over this weekend’s RMT strike, with both candidates saying more industrial action is likely to happen under their rival’s watch.
Goldsmith’s team said the strikes planned for this weekend would be illegal under the government’s Trade Union Bill – a measure Khan opposed.
The planned strike is based on a strike ballot held last June, and would not be allowed to go ahead under the government bill, which imposes a new four-month time limit on ballots.
Tory MP Bob Neill said: “The cost of strikes is crippling, up to £300m a day, and the cost of the Khan-Corbyn experiment is clear: by opposing new strike laws and bringing the unions into the heart of City Hall strikes would go up.
A Khan spokesperson rejected the claims, saying: “Sadiq does not support the strike this weekend and has said the RMT should call it off. Official statistics prove that Londoners who want fewer strikes should vote for a Labour mayor. The number of Tube strikes has more than doubled since Boris Johnson became mayor and it would be exactly the same under Zac Goldsmith.”