London Underground drivers will stage fresh strike on Budget Day

London Underground drivers will stage a fresh strike on Budget Day as a dispute over pensions and working arrangements rumbles on, the Aslef union has announced.

Hundreds of Tube drivers will walkout of their jobs for 24 hours on Wednesday, March 15, along with Test Train and Engineering train drivers, and those in management roles, as their continue to battle with Transport for London (TfL).

The union said 99 per cent of its members voted for strikes on a turnout of 77 per cent in its latest ballot, with over 1,500 voting in favour of industrial action.

On the same day 100,000 civil servants from the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union will also walkout of their jobs in their dispute with the Government over jobs, pay and pensions. 

The industrial action will take place the day before members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union strike at Network Rail and 14 train operating companies across the UK and will kick off days of chaos on the railways. 

The Aslef union has announced Tube drivers will go on strike for 24 hours on March 15. Pictured: Euston Underground Station closed during a strike in November last year

The union, led by general secretary Mick Whelan, says 99 per cent of its members voted in favour of strike action. Pictured: Mr Whelan outside The British Museum at a strike by PCS members on February 14

Aslef said the dispute is over a failure to accept that changes to working arrangements and pensions should happen by agreement.

Finn Brennan, Aslef’s full-time organiser on the Underground, said: ‘The size of these “Yes” votes, and the large turnouts, show that our members are not prepared to put up any longer with the threats to their working conditions and pensions. 

‘We understand that TfL faces financial challenges, post-pandemic, but our members are simply not prepared to pay the price for the government’s failure to properly fund London’s public transport system.

‘Cuts to safety training have already been forced through and management is open that they plan to remove all current working agreements under the guise of “modernisation” and “flexibility” and to replace the agreed attendance and discipline policies. Proposals to slash pension benefits are due to be announced in the next week.

‘We are always prepared to discuss and negotiate on changes, but our members want an unequivocal commitment from TfL that management will not continue to force through detrimental changes without agreement.

‘Unless they are prepared to work with us, and accept that changes have to come by agreement, and bring real benefits to staff, rather than just cuts and cost savings, this will be only the first day of action in a protracted dispute.’

MailOnline has contacted TfL for comment.

Around 100,000 civil servants in the Public and Commercial Services union are also planning to strike on Budget day in a long running dispute over jobs, pay and pensions.

The union said its members are ‘simply not prepared to pay the price for the government’s failure to properly fund London’s public transport system’. Pictured: Aslef members at a picket outside Euston Station on February 3

Aslef has called on TfL not to force through detrimental changes without agreement from its members. Pictured: An Aslef member stands on the picket line outside Birmingham’s New Street Station on February 3

The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union said it was escalating its campaign of industrial action by targeting March 15.

Next month’s strike could be joined by a further 33,000 PCS members working for ten more employers, including HM Revenue & Customs, whose strike ballot results are due this month.

The PCS said 100,000 of its members went on strike last week alongside teachers, university lecturers and train drivers in separate disputes.

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: ‘Rishi Sunak doesn’t seem to understand that the more he ignores our members’ demands for a pay rise to get them through the cost-of-living crisis, the more angry and more determined he makes them.

‘PCS members are suffering a completely unacceptable decline in their pay.

‘By April, one third of HMRC staff, for example, will be earning just the minimum wage, and 40,000 civil servants have used a food bank.

‘It’s an appalling way for the Government to treat its own workforce.

‘Rishi Sunak can end this dispute tomorrow if he puts more money on the table. If he refuses to do that, more action is inevitable.’

The strike will herald days of chaos on Britain’s railways, with thousands of members of Mick Lynch’s RMT union walking out of their jobs in the days after.

RMT members will strike at Network Rail and 14 rail operating companies on March 16, 18 and 30, and April 1. 

The first of these strikes will coincide with a strike by teachers which is likely to close schools in England and Wales, as well as action by university staff.

More to follow…