‘£60k a year is plenty’: Londoners on TFL workers rejecting a 4-day week

With the threat of a possible strike. We ask Londoners what they think about the rejected deal.

Transcript

00:00Transport for London promised a new flexible working arrangement for tube drivers offering

00:06a four-day working week starting in 2027. The deal promised the same 35-hour week and full salary,

00:13but was rejected by over 1,200 members of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport

00:19Workers. Despite acknowledging the proposal increased flexibility, the RMT determined the

00:24conditions were insufficient. The proposal included an additional day off each week

00:31while maintaining the current pay for tube operators and instructors which is currently

00:36over £60,000, along with benefits like a generous pension, free travel and discounts

00:41on National Rail tickets. However, RMT General Secretary Eddie Dempsey announced the rejection

00:48on April 1st, suggesting that TfL may now withdraw the proposal. While the RMT rejected

00:55the deal, other unions including the Aslef Union, which represents around 2,000 tube drivers,

01:01has shown support of the new deal. The deal initially proposed to prevent strikes during

01:07the holidays also includes paid meal breaks and no changes to annual leave or contractual hours.

01:15TfL claims the four-day week would improve flexibility and service reliability without

01:20extra costs. No strikes are currently scheduled, the situation is now uncertain. With tube drivers

01:26and instructors earning over £60,000 a year and rejecting a four-day work week, how do Londoners

01:31feel about unions rejecting the agreement at the cost of potential strikes? I think that employees

01:38need to consider, sorry, employers need to consider employees' opinions. Like if they've

01:42been offered a four-day week, which is lesser days for the same amount of money, then there's

01:46more reason why they've turned it down. I think they need to probably look into like, again,

01:50what the employees actually want in terms of money or other benefits. I don't know, like pension,

01:55what the other benefits at work look like. So I definitely think that there's a reason behind

02:01why they've turned it down. Like you would think, oh my gosh, same money, four days, like,

02:05you know, but there's something else going on there. Clearly they're not happy about something.

02:09Well, this has affected me in my days when I was working. Every strike action that I've

02:14ever taken place has always affected my work. And if I went on strike, then I wouldn't have

02:18got paid. So I sympathise with the fact that they want better conditions and driving, but I think

02:24£60,000 a year is plenty. Going to a four-day week, okay, but won't that affect services? I'm

02:31not entirely sure how that would affect services. Obviously there'd be safety concerns around that,

02:36I think as well, less staff on the stations, et cetera.

02:41I've had the odd delay here and there, a couple of times strikes and I've had to get the bus instead.

02:46My partner's dealt with it a lot more. He used to live a bit further outside of London, so

02:51he had plenty of strikes because he was more Cambridge side.

02:54But it's not been terrible for me so far.