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Does your commute involve going through London Bridge? We've got bad news for you. The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union has just announced a 24-hour strike from 10pm on May 7 to 9:59pm on May 8.
In a statement, the RMT said the dispute is over the dismissal of one staff member and the disciplinary action against two others all of whom intervened to stop a fare-dodger assaulting staff members.
RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said: ‘London Underground should do the decent thing – reinstate our member, lift the disciplinary action and send out the message that fare-dodging and violence will not be tolerated and that staff in the front line will get the support and assistance that they need.’
Brian Woodhead, Operations Director for London Underground, said: ‘We conducted a thorough investigation into this incident, including an extensive review of CCTV footage from the station. Following a full disciplinary process, the decision to dismiss this member of staff has been upheld.
‘Our investigation clearly showed that no member of staff was assaulted, nor was the incident prompted by staff defending a colleague. We take a zero tolerance approach to violence against our staff but we also expect our employees to adhere to acceptable standards of conduct and behaviour when dealing with members of the public. In this case, those standards were not met. We urge the RMT to withdraw this unjustifiable action which will only result in needless disruption to Londoners.’
A spokesperson from TfL said that London Bridge and Waterloo stations will be affected by the walkout.
Photo: Doug/Flickr.
In other news, TfL is cutting the number of buses on Oxford Street by 40 percent.