THE MAYOR OF London, Sadiq Khan, has condemned today’s London Tube strike as “totally unnecessary”, claiming that the dispute should have been solved “amicably”. The Labour Mayor had promised commuters there would be no more strikes on the Tube in his election manifesto, but has fallen short of taking the necessary action to keep his promise.
Khan’s comments come as London Underground (LU) claimed it was running a “good” service on the District and Metropolitan lines, with only the Victoria and Waterloo & City lines totally shut down. By mid morning LU was calculating that 114 Tube stations were completely closed, with trains not stopping at 75 other stations (which is pretty much the same as “shut”.
While many commuters have tweeted solidarity with the strike, others have claimed the strike is being mounted by “greedy” trade unions. The strike is being held in protest at austerity measures taken by former London Mayor Boris Johnson, who closed down ticket offices before he left his post to concentrate on his parliamentary career. Open ticket offices provided travellers with a defined place where they could find members of staff who could deal with ticketing and travelling problems. Striking to re-open the offices seems to be inspired more by altruism than greed. Union members will not benefit from the strike – except by knowing that, if it is successful, the Underground will be a safer place.
Eight hundred jobs were lost when Boris shut the ticket offices. Khan claims that he has responded to union demands that the jobs are reinstated and offices re-opened by ordering an independent review. He intends to carry out its recommendations by creating 600 jobs to replace the 800 jobs lost. Why so little so late?
The unions wanted Boris Johnson’s austerity cut overturned. Khan could easily have agreed, in which case the Tube would have been working today, offering a safe and comprehensive service to passengers and with happy workers who knew they were valued. Instead, Khan is quibbling. His Londonwide budget probably includes funding for job creation and education and training to get people into work, but at the same time he is insisting on cutting at least some jobs.
Khan probably wants to look resolute to the London commuters who want a better service. Ever since the 1980s, when Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was branded “determined” while Labour politicians were deemed “weak”, Labour representatives have done all they can to take “difficult decisions” and show they can govern in a dictatorial manner on behalf of the few rather than the many. Khan’s voters won’t thank him for trying to save face rather than try to save jobs and deliver a safe Tube service.
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