Livingstone will not condemn strike

Mayor Ken Livingstone has refused to condemn the 48-hour strikes on South West Trains which has resulted in travel misery for hundreds of thousands of commuters.

He sidestepped the question, saying he wanted to see the resumption of peace talks between SWT and the RMT, largest of the rail unions.

An aide said: "The Mayor is not in control of the rail network. He simply wants to see all parties around a table sorting this out so there is no further disruption in service."

Commuters returned to more-orless normal service on SWT today following the strike which caused widespread disruption on local and long-distance routes into mainline Waterloo and throughout the South-West. Only 650 of the usual 1,700 trains ran because of the action by train guards and station staff.

A fourth 48-hour stoppage is set for 12 and 13 February.

SWT management and the union remain at loggerheads and cannot even agree on conditions for peace talks to start. Two disputes are running concurrently. On pay, the RMT demands parity for 2,100 SWT staff with the train drivers - members of rival union Aslef - who received a 7.6 per cent increase last year in an 18-month deal. The Stagecoach-owned company is now " forcing" the increase into pay packets.

The RMT, however, says that because the increase is staggered it is only worth just over four per cent for the period in question. The union also claims abuse of the disciplinary procedure by SWT in dealing with its officials employed by the company. SWT managers believe this is the "real" reason behind the strikes which are costing London businesses an estimated £12 million a day in lost output.

Greg Tucker, an RMT activist and secretary of the union's Waterloo branch, was demoted from driver to ticket inspector for alleged speeding incidents. An industrial tribunal will take place in March.

Acas, the conciliation service, is trying to get the two sides back together. The union is insisting that both the pay and disciplinary disputes be discussed at the same time.

SWT says the pay award has already been settled and it won't budge on that. It offers, instead, to talk about pay negotiations for the future. The company also refuses point-blank to discuss disciplinary matters, saying safety is not up for debate. The company has begun a war of attrition with the union and is using white collar managers to take the place of strikers.

It says during the next strike it will run more than 800 trains, nearly half the normal service. For any further strikes after that there will be 1,000 trains and the full schedule will eventually operate.

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