Tube strikes: London Underground workers accept Sadiq Khan’s latest pay deal

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Transport Reporter

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Trade unions representing workers on the London Underground have accepted a pay deal which averted strikes at the eleventh hour in January.
Trade unions representing workers on the London Underground have accepted a pay deal which averted strikes at the eleventh hour in January.

Trade unions representing workers on the London Underground have accepted a pay deal, after officials offered unions millions to avert strikes at the eleventh hour in January.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan had drummed up an extra £30m for Tube unions, successfully preventing a weeks worth of walk-outs earlier in the year.

The new deal offers a basic five per cent pay increase for one year, in some cases rising up to 11 per cent. It has now been accepted by the TSSA and Unite, who followed Aslef and the RMT.

In a statement, Khan said: “I’m delighted that this pay offer has now been accepted by all four unions. This welcome news is a reminder of what can be achieved when you engage and talk with transport workers and I look forward to continuing working with TfL and the unions to deliver the world-class transport network Londoners deserve.”

The Mayor had received criticism from Tory opposition for giving power to unions and misleading Londoners over how he found the £30m cash.

Nick Dent, director of customer operations for London Underground, said: “We are pleased that, after positive and constructive discussions, our unions have accepted our pay offer. Our colleagues work hard every day to keep London moving, and this agreement is good news for London.”

The Unite Union said it had “overwhelmingly accepted” the deal, which will see pay increases of between 5.8 and 11 per cent for its workers and with those on the lowest salary seeing the largest jump.

But it warned that “significant industrial issues” remained on London’s transport network. The union is involved in several pay disputes on behalf of workers employed by Transport for London (TfL).

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “This was an important pay deal which was secured by workers standing firm and ensuring an improved offer was made.

 “Unite always prioritises the job, pay and conditions of its members and is why the union will always give its full support to other workers on London’s transport network who fully deserve a fair pay increase.”

It comes after planned strikes on the London Overground last week were cancelled late in the day.

There is currently no industrial action scheduled to hit the Tube.