Employees of the London Underground station are to be balloted for strike action regarding recent plans to cut 750 jobs, as well as to shut down ticket offices. About 1,300 members will be balloted by the Transport Salaried Staff’s Association over industrial action and this might start as of February 3, 2014.
It has been reported that Transport for London wants to have workers on platforms and in ticket halls instead in offices. Reports say that the plan might help in saving about £50m on a yearly basis. Meanwhile, members of the Rail Maritime and Transport Union have been balloted already over the possibility of industrial action.
The result is set to be announced on January 10, 2014. London Underground (LU) also said that it will try to avoid mandatory redundancies. The public metro system is intending to introduce 24-hour services on five different lines in 2015. LU also stated that sales at ticket offices accounted for just 3% of all journeys, following the announcement that employees would be switched to station concourses.
Recently, a campaign was launched to turn the council elections in London in May 2014 into a referendum on plans to close all ticket offices by 2015.
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