ASLEF vote for Boxing Day Strike

London Underground drivers have voted by 9-1 to go on strike on Boxing Day in a management disagreement over Boxing Day pay. London Underground claim 26th December is an normal working day and a longstanding agreement has been in place with trade unions over pay and drivers would get a day off in lieu or work reduced hours.


Photo by Tom Roper
Terry Wilkinson, the EC member for District 8 from the union said: "It used to be almost guaranteed that if you worked one bank holiday, you would not work the next. But the increase in service levels (and that Boxing Day is a Sunday this year) has meant this is now no longer possible."

The union is claiming triple pay and a day off in lieu for its members for working on December 26, saying LU is refusing to offer any extra pay.

ASLEF general secretary Keith Norman said: "It is painfully obvious to any reasonable person that Boxing Day is not an ordinary working day and therefore it is no surprise that Aslef members have reacted in the way they have."

The vote was 1,025 for strike action, with 127 against, a 9-1 majority in favour of taking action on Boxing Day.

As yet there's nothing on ASLEF's site to confirm when the strike action will actually take place and no statement from London Underground on the impact this will have on the Tube service.

Update from ASLEF's site: ASLEF members employed by London Underground Ltd will be withdrawing their labour for all turns commencing between 00:01 and 23:59 on Sunday 26 December 2010.

‘I am prepared to discuss this with the company but if they want a meeting they are going to have to have something to put on the table,’ says Keith Norman.

Update from London - 16th December - a statement was issued on their site "We have a long-standing agreement which all of trade unions are signed up to and which we have published today, which covers staff working arrangements on bank holidays, and Boxing Day is included in that agreement. To tear that agreement up and seek to disrupt the festive period for Londoners in this way is just cynical.

"We have made every effort to resolve this issue with the Aslef leadership, which has refused to attend talks at ACAS to discuss its claim for triple time and a day in lieu for its members."

Update - 22nd December 2010 - TfL emailed Oyster card holders with the following today:

Note "there is likely to be significant disruption to Tube services throughout Boxing Day".