Tube Lines boss
Terry Morgan should stop throwing petty insults around and get around the table
to negotiate a solution to the current pay and conditions dispute, London
Underground’s biggest union says today.
Some 1,000
RMT members are set to down tools from noon on Wednesday in the first of two
72-hour strikes called after the company tabled a pay and conditions offer
substantially below that agreed by Metronet for people doing identical work.
In a press
interview published today Morgan accused RMT of mounting a ‘political’ strike.
“We gave
Tube Lines notice of our strike action last Wednesday, and we have heard
nothing from the company since,” RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.
“If Terry
Morgan wants to avoid a strike he should get around the table with us to
negotiate a pay and conditions package that our members will find acceptable.
“It is no
good burying his head in the sand and claiming it’s all political, because that
won’t make our members’ grievances go away.
“The reality
is that Tube Lines already pays rates lower than Metronet and offers inferior
pensions and travel facilities, and the reason our members voted by a margin of
more than three to one to strike is because what is on the table will widen
that gap..
“If Terry
Morgan doubts that this is an industrial dispute he should try putting some
more money and better conditions on the table,” Bob Crow said.
