Pay strike on Tube next week

Tube drivers have voted overwhelmingly for strike action with the first 24-hour stoppage taking place as early as next week.

The Aslef union vote to join the RMT in strike action is guaranteed to bring most of the Tube system to a halt.

The result of the drivers' ballot in the escalating row over pay and working conditions will not be officially declared until tomorrow. But senior sources at Aslef, the principal train drivers' union, are confident they will be given the mandate for a series of 24-hour strikes.

It will mean a repeat of the chaos in July when the Tube was brought to a near shutdown in what was claimed to be a strike over safety issues.

Union leaders, as they did last time, may order the new stoppage to run from 8pm to 8pm to cause maximum damage over two days with only the loss of one day's pay.

City analysts calculate the loss to businesses of a total Tube shutdown is in the region of £60 million.

A joint announcement between Aslef and the RMT, largest of the rail unions, is scheduled to take place tomorrow. The unions are required by law to give London Underground at least one week's notice of any industrial action.

RMT members, including station staff, signallers, engineers and some drivers, have already voted in favour of strikes - but the union deliberately held off announcing any dates on which the stoppages would take place until the Aslef ballot was declared. The RMT is demanding an increase of 5.7 per cent, nearly double the three per cent offer which has been resoundingly rejected.

LU today hit back at the unions, suggesting that the strike action was political. An LU spokeswoman said: "Once again this has very little to do with pay and conditions. We have given a good pay offer."

Bob Mason, the Tube's director of human resources, has made it clear that the three per cent offer is the "final" figure. LU originally increased the offer to 3.2 per cent but this was withdrawn when unions would not agree to a no-strike clause.

Mr Mason said the three per cent would take the average Tube driver's salary to more than £31,000 a year.

The pay row is further complicated by issues over working conditions and alleged abuse of disciplinary procedures. The unions want all staff on a 35-hour week.

A move by the unions to take the dispute to independent arbitration was rejected by LU on the grounds that it had already offered the maximum amount on pay.

Bob Crow, the RMT leader, said: "Mediation settled the last pay dispute and it could settle this one. LU knows that three per cent is too low. It is the lowest offer from any train-operating company this year."

? Commuters could face even more Tube stoppages, this time connected with the dispute by firefighters.

The RMT is balloting its 8,000 members over strike action, saying that the Tube will not be safe to operate on days when firefighters hold national stoppages, expected to begin late next month.

The RMT plans to coordinate any strike action with the firefighters.