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It's been almost two years of unrelenting train strikes in the capital, and they don't seem to be letting up any time soon. Now, tram engineers in London have announced they will be striking too. Here's everything you need to know about the London tram strikes.
RECOMMENDED: All you need to know about the train strikes across the UK.
When are the London tram strikes?
The tram strikes will take place from Sunday March 24 to Thursday March 28 2024.
Which tram lines will be affected?
The action is going to affect the Croydon Tramlink in south London, but there will also be a reduced service on the whole of the London Trams network for some of the planned strike days.
How long will the strikes last?
The Croydon tram strikes will last for five days.
Why are tram workers striking?
Tramlink engineers who are Unite members are taking industrial action over pay. The Unite union said engineers were ‘angry that their colleagues on the London Underground, who require the same qualifications and perform the same roles, are paid up to £10,000 more a year’.
The union said engineers had been put on on office worker contracts despite their technical roles, and although TfL agreed last year to change the workers contracts it had ‘failed to implement this commitment’.
Unite has urged TfL to rectify the pay disparity between the London Underground and London Trams services.
Unite's regional officer Bruce Swann said: ‘The entire employment situation of these workers is a mess. While TfL might claim this is the fault of historic mistakes, Unite believes it is simply trying to continue to run these services on the cheap at the expense of these workers.
‘TfL needs to resolve the massive pay disparity and other issues, or this dispute will continue to escalate.’
Navid Golshan, general manager for London Trams at TfL, said: ‘We urge Unite the Union to continue to work with us to find a resolution and call this strike off.
‘Customers planning to use London Trams services are urged to check before they travel, allow extra time for their journeys, and check the TfL website or the TfL Go app for the latest travel information.’
When are engineering works planned?
Network Rail is also planning massive engineering works in south London over the Easter weekend, meaning even more disruption. Bus replacement services will be in place on several routes in south London, Surrey, Kent and Sussex from Friday March 29 to Monday April 1.
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