4:10pm Wednesday 8th September 2010
By Joanna Kilvington
Commuters are bracing themselves for further disruption after union bosses threaten more strike action.
Up to 10,000 London Underground (LU) station staff, drivers and maintenance workers walked out on strike on Monday night in protest at more than 800 planned job cuts.
The District line, from Richmond to Upminster, was suspended and there was a limited service between Barking and Wimbledon, leaving passengers struggling to find alternative routes to work on Tuesday.
Lucy Ossack, of Mount Ararat Road, Richmond, spent two hours getting to South Kensington - a trip which normally takes her 40 minutes on the underground.
The 24-year-old said: “I had a bit of a nightmare getting there. It’s made me appreciate the normal service.
“I can’t say I sympathise with the workers but I’ve come to expect strikes living here.”
The 24-hour walkout was backed by the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) and Transport for Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) following the news more than 800 staff could lose their jobs under proposed cuts, with station staff set to be the worst hit.
Workers claim the cuts will hit services and passenger safety.
RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: “RMT and TSSA members have shown through their solid support for this week’s strike action, and the indefinite overtime ban, that they will not sit idly by while staffing levels are hacked to the bone and management turn the Tube system into a death trap through their dash for cuts.
“This ongoing dispute is about the long-term future of a safe and secure Tube system – these finance-driven, piecemeal cuts are a disaster waiting to happen.”
On Tuesday, 194 out of a total of 500 Tube trains were in operation, providing a service on all but one of London’s lines.
Extra buses and river services operated during the strike and there were marshalled taxi ranks and guided cycle rides to help keep the capital moving.
Mike Brown, managing director of LU, said: “The RMT and TSSA leaderships have chosen to disrupt Londoners for no good reason. The safety argument they now deploy – which has never been raised in any formal forum - is completely without foundation.
"It is simple scaremongering designed to mask their wish to strike.”
Three further 24-hour strikes are planned for October 3, November 2 and 28.
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