South Londoners have been told “on yer bike” by TfL, as the tram network now faces five days of strike action on top of a month-long network disruption caused by planned engineering works.
Pay point: tram services will be significantly disrupted for five weeks due to strikes and engineering works
The strike has been called by Unite after five years of negotiations have failed to resolve a discrepancy in the pay of engineers working on the trams, who are paid £10,000 per year less than their colleagues performing similar work on London Underground.
“Where possible, customers should consider walking and cycling for local journeys,” was the best that Transport for London could offer, as the capital’s regional transport authority appears to have abandoned any pretence that it can deliver a functioning public transport service to its passengers.
The tram engineers strike is due to start this Sunday, March 24, and last until Thursday, March 28.
TfL’s own planned engineering work, which is due to commence on Good Friday, March 29, will have a much longer impact on tram passengers’ travel, with the works to last for four weeks.
The strike action has been called because around around 60 tram, stores and infrastructure engineers are paid less than similarly qualified London Underground workers.
The disparity is causing Tramlink staffing shortages because workers leave as soon as a higher-paid job becomes available on the London Underground.
“For years, TfL has got away with paying Tramlink engineers substantially less than their colleagues on the London Underground,” said Sharon Graham, Unite’s General Secretary.
Time for action: Unite’s Sharon Graham
“Not any more – our members are sick of being treated as poor relations by TfL. They have Unite’s absolute support in striking for fair pay.”
The dispute has been simmering behind the scenes for more than five years, Unite says because the workers are on office worker contracts despite their technical roles. “This has negatively impacted their pay and prevented the workers from collectively negotiating pay as a distinct bargaining group,” the union says.
“TfL agreed last year to change the workers contracts but has thus far failed to implement this commitment.”
Unite regional officer Bruce Swann said: “The entire employment situation of these workers is a mess. While TfL might claim this is the fault of historic mistakes, Unite believes it is simply trying to continue to run these services on the cheap at the expense of these workers.
“TfL needs to resolve the massive pay disparity and other issues, or this dispute will continue to escalate.”
The strike will start on Sunday and roll through until the early hours of March 28. “Industrial action will escalate if the dispute is not resolved,” Unite warn.
Around 22million passengers use the Croydon Trams every year, but the strike effectively extends a significant shutdown across the network to five weeks, potentially affecting millions of journeys.
TfL’s response has been to advise passengers to expect a normal service on Sunday March 24, while between Monday March 25 and Wednesday March 27, there will be no trams running before 7am or after 6pm. “A reduced service will operate between Wimbledon and Reeves Corner, and between East Croydon and Beckenham Junction or New Addington”, TfL said.
“On Thursday March 28, services are expected to start later than normal, with possible disruption throughout the day,” they added.
After that, essential engineering works on the tracks and infrastructure will see trams only running between Wimbledon and Wellesley Road or George Street. “There will be no service on the rest of the London Trams network,” TfL said.
Inside Croydon laid out the full extent of the tram network shutdown last month.
There will be tram replacement buses between East Croydon and New Addington and between East Croydon and Beckenham Junction or Elmers End.
Read more: Expect railway disruption during engineering works at Easter
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ROTTEN BOROUGH AWARDS: In January 2024, Croydon was named among the country’s rottenest boroughs for a SEVENTH successive year in the annual round-up of civic cock-ups in Private Eye magazine
Oh another strike. Tfl are a load of shit i dont know why they all dont get the sack
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I think that the proposed tram strike is absolutely ridiculous, especially after nearly a month of disruption around East Croydon and my local tram stop of Addiscombe. Granted, they have not been on strike as much as national rail workers have, but they shouldn’t coincide this with the national rail strike around the same dates!
As regards getting £10,000 less than engineers on the Tube, I bet they’re still well paid. Anyway, I think working on thr tube is more dangerous due to often being deep underground. I don’t think the disparity should really be an issue.