Unite the Union members employed as engineers on London Trams will not be going on strike later this month after all with the union agreeing to suspend the planned action after Transport for London “agreed to engage in meaningful talks”.
As we reported a couple of days ago the dispute is over the level of pay given to engineers on London Trams. The contracts they are under are at the same level as office staff and as such the engineers earn up to £10,000 less than comparable roles on London Underground and partly owing to this staff retention is difficult on the trams as they often leave for the more attractive package on the Underground.
It has now been agreed that the planned strike action from 2000 on Sunday 24th March until 0600 on Thursday 28th March will be suspended to allow further talks to take place.
The strikes which were announced at the same time for May and June remain planned and if the talks do not result in an offer that meets the expectations of the engineers then the industrial action will then take place.
Bruce Swann, Unite regional officer, said: “As a sign of good faith, our members have agreed to suspend strike action after TfL said it would meaningfully negotiate with Unite over pay disparities. Strike action will occur during May and July, however, if a satisfactory outcome is not reached during the talks.”
A normal London Trams service will now run between Sunday 24th and Thursday 28th March ahead of engineering works taking place from Friday 29th March (and lasting until Wednesday 24th April) impacting services beyond Wellesley Road/George Street.