What did the union bosses say?
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said the action would “close the pipe” and “show how important these workers are”.
He said: “Transport for London’s (TfL) plans to cut 600 jobs and attack our members’ pensions are simply unacceptable.
“We are aware that the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has cut TfL’s budget. However, he must join our union and London Underground staff to push back against the Tory government, exposing their damaging agenda for a key part of London’s transport infrastructure.
Aslef’s full-time London Underground organizer said the union had joined the Underground strikes announced by the RMT because the changes would make it “impossible” for drivers to “organise their lives outside of work”.
Finn Brennan said: “We only take action when necessary. Unfortunately, the last few weeks have shown that London Underground management are determined to try to push through disastrous changes – despite union opposition – if they think they can get away with it.
“They have already announced that they intend to start training managers in August under a new on-site procedure and will implement it from January, ignoring the current agreed procedure.
“This new procedure would mean no right of representation or appeal at the first stage of the disciplinary process and the length of all warnings would be doubled from 26 to 52 weeks.
“Any illness longer than a week will be considered ‘long-term’, which means the manager can reassign a driver without an additional appointment.” After just six weeks into the deployment, the guide can be, as they put it, “terminated.”
“Management also want to push through their plans for what they call ‘train modernization.’ They want unlimited remote booking on and off, driving shifts of up to 10 hours, weeks of “flexible cover” on each list and fixed connections to be removed.
“This would make it impossible for subway drivers to organize their lives outside of work or have an efficient shift system.
“Their aim is a fully flexible workforce with all existing agreements replaced – allowing them to cut hundreds more jobs and forcing those of us who remain to work harder for longer. To protect our pensions, working conditions and agreements, our members are ready to act.
How is Transport for London responding?
Transport for London has previously insisted there are no current proposals to change its pension arrangements, although it is exploring a range of proposals to ensure no staff lose their jobs or are asked to work extra.
But on Friday the parties agreed there would be no changes to pensions before the next general election.
Glyn Barton, TfL’s chief operating officer, said: “This is good news for London and we will continue to work closely with our unions to discuss the issues and find a solution.”
The RMT said 20,000 UK rail workers will also strike in July.