Rail union to strike on election day

The biggest rail union today ordered an election day strike at Transport for London in an attempt to embarrass Ken Livingstone.

RMT leaders say they will hang banners proclaiming "Livingstone is a liar" outside major TfL buildings.

They claim the Mayor states "constantly" that he treats his staff fairly, but that is not the case. An

RMT spokesman said: "Industrial relations between the union and TfL have broken down."

He said the dispute was the result of issues including redundancies, on which the union claims TfL has spent ?17.4million over two years.

Senior managers at TfL, the Mayor's transport authority, are also alleged to have changed for the worse working conditions agreements when it took over control of thousands of London Underground staff.

TfL, however, said the strike was really a recruitment drive by the RMT in areas where it is not the main union. It accused the union of deliberately "manufacturing" a dispute.

The RMT denied the charge and added that 5 May had been chosen "because it is the most effective day".

Although the buses and Tubes will not stop running, the strike will have attract huge publicity.

It will involve bus inspectors, call-centre staff operating travel information services, London Transport Museum workers and headquarters personnel.