Travel turmoil continues

Following disruption last month due to strikes from railway workers, a further round of strikes will take place next week (19 August) causing more chaos in the height of the summer holidays. 

Credit: The Express.

By: Sam Feierabend.

Members of the RMT Union will take part in a 24 hour walkout with up to 10,000 London Underground workers expected to be involved. Tube workers are striking over disputes about their pensions, prompted by Transport for London’s (TFL) refusal to share details of a draft government proposal for funding the transport system. The funding deal has been drafted in response to Covid-19 leaving an economic black hole in the transport industry – the union are demanding that assurances are made about jobs, no detrimental changes to pension or changes in working conditions.

The Underground strikes sit in between a further two days of National Rail strikes which are expected to cause even more disruption to a summer of travel turmoil; holidaymakers and football fans are anticipated to be worst affected by this round of strikes.

Perhaps conveniently, Transport Minister Grant Shapps has publicly said that the London is in desperate need of modernising its transport network to be more functioning like other major cities such as Paris and Madrid. This would include the use of driverless London Underground trains which some argue leads to a more efficient and reliable train service. Is this a warning to those who continue to stand up for their pension and pay, that they may not be required in the near future?

While driverless trains may bring about some benefit to the Underground service, there are obvious issues surrounding the labour market this would affect. There are approximately 4,000 drivers on the payroll for the London Underground who would inevitably have to find work elsewhere. If extended across the whole rail network then thousands more could lose their jobs.

A change such as this would be costly, likely to drive up ticket prices as well as cause mass unemployment in such a specialist sector. While the future may threaten job security of those in the industry, the present is riddled with battles about pay and the basic necessities such as comfortable working conditions.