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There’s yet more travel misery on the way for Londoners. Workers on the Elizabeth line have announced they will be striking too, after voting overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action. 94 percent of Lizzie line staff who work for Rail for London Infrastructure (RfLI) and are members of the Prospect union voted ‘yes’ for strikes on London’s newest line, with 92 percent also backing other forms of action.
When is the Elizabeth line strike?
The strike will take place on Thursday January 12.
What is the dispute about?
This is an ongoing dispute over pay. The union members recently rejected a 4 percent pay rise for 2022 and a 4.4 percent pay rise for the following year, which the union has said is well below the current rate of inflation.
Mike Clancy, general secretary of Prospect, said: ‘Our members have worked incredibly hard to get the Elizabeth line ready to go safely into operation yet they are being treated significantly worse than equivalent workers on the rest of London’s network.
‘The Elizabeth line itself is now bringing in large extra passenger revenue for TfL and is underspent on its budget so there really ought to be room for some movement on pay. Our members don’t want to go on strike but pay is so far behind inflation that they simply cannot manage.
‘We remain open to negotiation and it is our hope that RfLI will come back to the table with an offer sufficient to avert industrial action.’
Are there any other London train, tube and Overground strikes?
Yes. We’re currently in the midst of a series of massive rail strikes taking place over the new year. 40,000 RMT members are walking out in January, affecting the majority of Network Rail lines across the capital. The remaining strike dates are January 3, 4, 6 and 7. All the information can be found here.
There are also bus strikes on January 4, 5, 10, 12, 16, 19, 25 and 26, affecting 59 bus routes in south and west London.
All the information about the UK-wide rail strikes.
London train strikes in January: everything you need to know.