ASLEF have confirmed that they are instructing their members to go on strike on Thursday 28th March in a dispute over the latest pay offer made to staff on London Tramlink. As we reported earlier this month a ballot was called over a pay offer of 3.2% for each of the next three years and following this ballot there has been an overwhelming majority of ASLEF members who are favour of taking industrial action.
Of the 127 ASLEF members who work on London Tramlink, 114 responded to the ballot (89.8%) with 113 of these voting in favour and just one against. In the latest news release from ASLEF more details have been given as to why this pay offer is considered unacceptable to members with the belief that Tramlink staff are paid “much less than those in similar roles in other TfL modes and want to see real improvements to reflect the responsible job they do.”
There have been six months of talk between the union and management at Tramlink but despite this ASLEF feel that a reasonable offer has not been made. In order to try and get a deal acceptable to their members the union have instructed their members not to sign on to work from 0001 to 2359 on Thursday 28th March.
It is not clear yet either whether this will get a reaction from Tramlink management or if not what sort of service will be able to operate during the strike.