LONDONERS HELD TO RANSOM BY LIVINGSTONE'S MATE CROW YET AGAIN

1.03.49pm UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 2nd Jun 2004

Simon warns that Tube strikes will be bad for Londoners

Following the decision by RMT workers on London Underground to strike, Liberal Democrat London Mayoral candidate, Simon Hughes, today renewed his calls for Bob Crow to be removed from the Transport for London Board.

Mr Hughes plans to remove the RMT union representative from the Transport for London Board and replace him with a representative from the TGWU, the union which represents London's bus drivers if elected on 10th June.

Simon Hughes said:-

"This sort of industrial action does nobody in London any good. It is no good for passengers, no good for London Underground and no good for the unions.

"Of course employees are justified in raising concerns over any number of issues with their employers, but to threaten strike action every time they are dissatisfied with negotiations is bad for business, bad for the traveling public and bad for London. The right to strike is a sound principle when used correctly, but the RMT threat to strike at the drop of a hat abuses this right.

"If anything, the TGWU bus drivers have a far greater right to be on the Board rather then the RMT. Bus drivers have been instrumental in improving London's transport, while the RMT have done very little to help London and Londoners.

"If elected as Mayor, I will remove the RMT from the board of Transport for London and appoint people who owe their allegiance to Londoners rather than the unions, so we can get on with making the transport system work for the capital, and stop Londoners from yet again being held to ransom."

ENDS

According to the BBC website, over the last 3 years, the RMT has threatened strikes over toilets and tea making equipment, the PPP, safety issues, beer cans in the workplace, the sacking of a union official, in support of firecrews, over pay, over conditions, over job security, over compulsory redundancies and changes to working practices, over back dated pay and over pensions and shortening their hours.