Elizabeth line workers vote to take strike action

[DC1989]

Elizabeth line workers vote to take strike action

Infrastructure employees working on the new line say their pay rise offer is well below inflation.

www.bbc.co.uk

Elizabeth line employees have voted overwhelmingly to take strike action over pay.
The workers, employees of Rail for London Infrastructure (RfLI) that are members of the Prospect union, rejected a 4% pay offer for 2022 and a 4.4% increase for next year.
Prospect said the offer was well below the current inflation rate.
Transport for London (TfL), which manages RfLI, urged the union to work with it to avoid disruption.
In a statutory ballot, 94% of the workers voted for strike action, with 92% backing other forms of industrial action.
The turnout for the workers, who manage the central operation system between Paddington and Abbey Wood, was well above the regulatory threshold of 50%, Prospect said.
Mike Clancy, general secretary of Prospect, added: "Our members have worked incredibly hard to get the Elizabeth Line ready to go safely into operation yet they are being treated significantly worse than equivalent workers on the rest of London's network.

"The Elizabeth Line itself is now bringing in large extra passenger revenue for TfL and is underspent on its budget so there really ought to be room for some movement on pay.
"Our members don't want to go on strike but pay is so far behind inflation that they simply cannot manage.
"We remain open to negotiation and it is our hope that RfLI will come back to the table with an offer sufficient to avert industrial action."
The exact form and dates for industrial action will be decided in consultation with members.
Howard Smith, director of the Elizabeth line for TfL, said: "Strikes are bad news for everyone, and we urge Prospect to work with us and avoid the need for industrial action."

It will be interesting to see what happens as the Elizabeth line has been shielded from the NR and LU strikes so far (At least in the central section)

 

[Horizon22]

These are not Elizabeth line / MTR staff. These are staff for RfLI (Rail for London Infrastructure), a sub-operation of TfL.

They are the signallers, maintenance and response staff for the Central Operating Section (Westbourne Park - Abbey Wood). Effectively Network Rail for this section. You can understand why though as that offer is worse than was offered to MTR and other directly employed TfL staff.

Not good news though as the Elizabeth line has constantly run throughout all the strikes - excepting some closurees to LU stations. However the pay for certain roles is below what you can get as a mid-level Network Rail signaller and a lot have jumped ship, plus other operational issues. It would probably have to run in two parts (Paddington - Reading/Heathrow & Liverpool Street - Shenfield) again should there be a strike. I imagine it would be hugely politically damaging if the strike did go ahead, so more likely a resolution comes forward here compared to elsewhere on the national network.

 

[DC1989]

These are not Elizabeth line / MTR staff. These are staff for RfLI (Rail for London Infrastructure), a sub-operation of TfL.

They are the signallers, maintenance and response staff for the Central Operating Section (Westbourne Park - Abbey Wood). Effectively Network Rail for this section. You can understand why though as that offer is worse than was offered to MTR and other directly employed TfL staff.

Not good news though as the Elizabeth line has constantly run throughout all the strikes - excepting some closurees to LU stations. However the pay for certain roles is below what you can get as a mid-level Network Rail signaller and a lot have jumped ship, plus other operational issues. It would probably have to run in two parts (Paddington - Reading/Heathrow & Liverpool Street - Shenfield) again should there be a strike. I imagine it would be hugely politically damaging if the strike did go ahead, so more likely a resolution comes forward here compared to elsewhere on the national network.

Thanks - I was wondering if this was drivers etc. Very helpful post

 

[Horizon22]

Thanks - I was wondering if this was drivers etc. Very helpful post

No problem. It wouldn't be drivers but much like the RMT signaller strikes it won't matter as trains wouldn't be able to run through that section anyway. I don't think there's any sort of 'contingency signaller' pool to fall back on either.

 

[baz962]

Thanks - I was wondering if this was drivers etc. Very helpful post

Drivers already had their payrise and was around 8-9 %

 

[TomG]

With inflation exceeding 14% and rising no company, however big and profitable, can afford to give a pay rise matching inflation. And all these strikes are doing is taking away money that could have been used to re-invest and, yes, include pay rises. The more the workers strike. The more money they lose. The more the money that might have been available decreases.

 

[43096]

With inflation exceeding 14% and rising no company, however big and profitable, can afford to give a pay rise matching inflation. And all these strikes are doing is taking away money that could have been used to re-invest and, yes, include pay rises. The more the workers strike. The more money they lose. The more the money that might have been available decreases.

Inflation was 11.1% and is now 10.7%, so that’s incorrect on both counts.

 

[Thirteen]

These are not Elizabeth line / MTR staff. These are staff for RfLI (Rail for London Infrastructure), a sub-operation of TfL.

They are the signallers, maintenance and response staff for the Central Operating Section (Westbourne Park - Abbey Wood). Effectively Network Rail for this section. You can understand why though as that offer is worse than was offered to MTR and other directly employed TfL staff.

Not good news though as the Elizabeth line has constantly run throughout all the strikes - excepting some closurees to LU stations. However the pay for certain roles is below what you can get as a mid-level Network Rail signaller and a lot have jumped ship, plus other operational issues. It would probably have to run in two parts (Paddington - Reading/Heathrow & Liverpool Street - Shenfield) again should there be a strike. I imagine it would be hugely politically damaging if the strike did go ahead, so more likely a resolution comes forward here compared to elsewhere on the national network.

I would imagine we'll probably see a RfLI offer an increase of of 6.5-7% which is what was offered to drivers at London Overground by ARL.

 

[Horizon22]

I would imagine we'll probably see a RfLI offer an increase of of 6.5-7% which is what was offered to drivers at London Overground by ARL.

MTR Elizabeth line staff got around 7.5-8%, so you can see why there might be some sore feelings.

 

[Thirteen]

MTR Elizabeth line staff got around 7.5-8%, so you can see why there might be some sore feelings.

I reckon a figure close or exactly to what MTR Elizabeth Line staff got would be enough to sort this out without strike action.

 

[Horizon22]

I reckon a figure close or exactly to what MTR Elizabeth Line staff got would be enough to sort this out without strike action.

Probably so, yes.

 

[Devonish]

It's odd why Elizabeth line traffic controllers and incident response staff are covered by the prospect union? What is the history/reason for this? (Prospect's main membership is civil service scientists/technical staff)

 

[Horizon22]

It's odd why Elizabeth line traffic controllers and incident response staff are covered by the prospect union? What is the history/reason for this? (Prospect's main membership is civil service scientists/technical staff)

Probably that there’s no history to the line - it’s all brand new in terms of the RfLI staff so no precedent unlike other TOCs and NR who can ultimately trace a line back to BR days. Perhaps people weren’t originally inclined to join a union & the ‘traditional’ unions weren’t initially interested. I think TSSA also has some representation too though.

 

[whoosh]

Thanks - I was wondering if this was drivers etc. Very helpful post

Drivers already had their payrise and was around 8-9 %

Drivers got February RPI (8.2%) for their April 2022 pay anniversary. No strings.

 

[Wolfie]

It's odd why Elizabeth line traffic controllers and incident response staff are covered by the prospect union? What is the history/reason for this? (Prospect's main membership is civil service scientists/technical staff)

Your knowledge of Prospect, my own TU, is dated. It represents vast swathes of the electricity generation industry for example.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Another strike lead by a Mike/Mick. No wonder I get confused between them all.

 

[Wolfie]

Another strike lead by a Mike/Mick. No wonder I get confused between them all.

Prospect is far from militant. It is balloting many of its civil service members though (the indicative ballot figures were 80% for strike action and 93% for action short of strikes). That's what 10 years of being treated like crap gets you...

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Prospect is far from militant. It is balloting many of its civil service members though (the indicative ballot figures were 80% for strike action and 93% for action short of strikes). That's what 10 years of being treated like crap gets you...

You’ve commented something completely unrelated to what I said, so I assume you quoted me by mistake.

 

[Devonish]

Your knowledge of Prospect, my own TU, is dated. It represents vast swathes of the electricity generation industry for example.

Yes, which is a legacy of the old nationalised Central Electricity Generating Board - all employees of which were public servants, hence why certain grades of staff in electricity sector would still be represented by prospect (which was formed from EMA and IPMS)

 

[Andrew1395]

Inflation was 11.1% and is now 10.7%, so that’s incorrect on both counts.

That’s CPI whereas RPI ( the measure of inflation used on regulated fare increases) is 14%

 

[Wolfie]

You’ve commented something completely unrelated to what I said, so I assume you quoted me by mistake.

Nope. Mike Clancy is the General Secretary of Prospect. It was your "Mick/Mike" comment that prompted the response.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Nope. Mike Clancy is the General Secretary of Prospect. It was your "Mick/Mike" comment that prompted the response.

Yes, I simply commented that it's a coincidence that three union leaders are called Mick/Mike. I didn't in any way suggest Prospect was militant or dispute the idea of them being "treated like crap." That's why I was surprised to be hit with figures

 

[Wolfie]

Ah, ok. Prospect ain't RMT lol.

Yes, I simply commented that it's a coincidence that three union leaders are called Mick/Mike. I didn't in any way suggest Prospect was militant or dispute the idea of them being "treated like crap." That's why I was surprised to be hit with figures

 

[43066]

Elizabeth line workers vote to take strike action

Infrastructure employees working on the new line say their pay rise offer is well below inflation.

www.bbc.co.uk

It will be interesting to see what happens as the Elizabeth line has been shielded from the NR and LU strikes so far (At least in the central section)

This rather gives the lie to the government’s line of “efficiencies are needed to find a rise” in other areas because, even when a line clearly outperforms budgetary expectations as the EL has done, the rise offered is still derisory when compared to the rate of inflation (and no doubt comes with strings)…

 

[JonathanH]

This rather gives the lie to the government’s line of “efficiencies are needed to find a rise” in other areas because, even when a line clearly outperforms budgetary expectations as the EL has done, the rise offered is still derisory when compared to the rate of inflation (and no doubt comes with strings)…

The relevant budget isn't just the Elizabeth Line though - it is the overall income of Transport for London, including forward looking projections. A pay increase now has to fit within future budgets as well as the current one.

 

[43066]

The relevant budget isn't just the Elizabeth Line though - it is the overall income of Transport for London, including forward looking projections. A pay increase now has to fit within future budgets as well as the current one.

Oh of course. I have no doubt the “relevant” budget will always be one scrupulously prepared to show “there’s no money”. And if money is available the excuse for denying an increase will shift to “pay rises are inflationary, and anyone striking is in cahoots with Putin” etc.

 

[Horizon22]

Strike is currently on for 12th January. No trains Paddington - Abbey Wood.

 

[mr_moo]

Whoopie. I'll be travelling Paddington - Stratford on 12th. I'll try to report back with how busy the central line was instead.

 

[Jimini]

Whoopie. I'll be travelling Paddington - Stratford on 12th. I'll try to report back with how busy the central line was instead.

As busy as it was this time a year ago, I'd wager

 

[hkstudent]

Strike is currently on for 12th January. No trains Paddington - Abbey Wood.

Which means a full loaded Southeastern is expected on North Kent Line, after frequency reduction in Dec 22 timetable, for taking tons of Abbey Wood and Woolwich passengers.