Night Tube: Aslef’s London Underground drivers vote in favour of latest TfL deal after months of negotiations
After months of negotiations Tube drivers have voted overwhelmingly in favour of accepting the latest deal offered by Transport for London.
The London Underground drivers, who are members of the union Aslef, voted with a majority of nearly nine-to-one in favour of the latest pay and conditions terms offered by TfL around the Night Tube pay deal
Aslef said: "TfL dragged its heels – taking 18 months to negotiate a deal it could have done in a month – and the suspicion remains, among industry analysts, that TfL is in no rush to bring it in."
Read more: RMT members vote in favour of new deal
It added: "Aslef, by contrast, has always believed that a world-class capital city such as London deserves a 24 hour public transport system brought in on terms and conditions that work for the staff who deliver that service, as well as for LU management and passengers. It has taken a long time for TfL to come round to this point of view."
Aslef is the the second union to approve the deal, after RMT announced last week that 84 per cent of its membership had voted in favour of it. A third union, TSSA, has recommended its members accept the deal too.
With drivers accepting the latest pay offer, the night Tube could be on track as early as this summer – almost a year later than was originally planned.
TfL said that the recent news from the unions was positive. It also said it is currently recruiting other drivers as part of the deal to current drivers was that they did not have to take up shifts on Night Tube's if they did not want to. That means, it said, while there has been good news, that there is no timescale yet on when the Night Tube will be up and running.
Read more: This alternative Tube map shows you the travel time from every station
Hitting out at TfL, Finn Brennan, Aslef's district organiser, said: "If TfL had been prepared to negotiate a fair deal from the start, then two days of strike action could have been avoided and Night Tube would have started last year. We are proud of the fact that we achieved a good deal for the hard working staff who keep London moving."
He added that the outgoing Mayor of London has failed Londoners on a number of levels during his time in office and had deliberately created an unnecessary dispute for his own political ambitions.
"It will be good to see the back of Boris in May because the difficulties he has caused have, in effect, delayed the introduction of the Night Tube by 18 months and caused problems for passengers as well as staff," Brennan said.