Tube men call ballot on pay deal

Union leaders today gave London Underground official notice of a strike ballot of train drivers which could lead to 48-hour stoppages.

Seven days' notice is a legal requirement before a ballot can begin and today's move comes 24 hours before the unions meet LU in a fresh attempt to settle the dispute over pay.

The ruling executive committees of the Tube's two most powerful unions, Aslef and the RMT, say LU has "reneged" on a deal made last October to increase the pay of passenger train drivers to the rate of the engineering train drivers.

Steve Grant, Aslef district secretary for LU, said: "Talks have been productive so far and we hope they will continue to be so, but management has got to be realistic."

The two unions called off a series of strikes last year, saying LU had agreed to "phase in" increased payments for the passenger drivers. LU denies this.

The threat of 48-hour stoppages emerged last week after a joint meeting between Aslef, which controls two thirds of the Tube's 3,000 drivers, and the RMT representing the rest.

An LU spokeswoman said then: "Last October we agreed with Aslef and the RMT that we would discuss any anomalies with train operator pay in a positive and constructive way.

"We have discussed this issue in more detail and reached agreement that action needs to be taken to revise operator pay. However, we have been unable to agree on the actual level."

She said the two unions have "doggedly refused" to consider any proposal other than their demands for a 5.7per cent rise for passenger train drivers - over and above last October's four pay cent award for all 16,000 LU employees. "This is an unrealistic and unsubstantiated demand and we have said this to both unions," she added.

Aslef has accused LU of "dishonestly reneging on the peace deal agreed last October". A spokesman said: "We can deal with a tough management but not a dishonest one. LU agreed to phase in pay parity between passenger and engineering train drivers. It is now going back on that deal."

When the October strikes were called off, RMT assistant general secretary Bob Crow said the union had accepted in full the recommendation of independent mediator Professor Frank Barlow on pay and conditions. "We are pleased that LU has agreed to do the same."