Londoners Magazine

700 tube cleaning staff will strike tonight in an attempt to secure higher wages and better working conditions. The strike will start at 6:50 pm tonight and will last 24 hours. There’s also a 48-hour strike scheduled for July 1. They have the support of nine London MPs.

The action by the Rail and Maritime Transport (RMT) Union is aimed at getting its members a wage that reflects the high cost of London livin’. That’ll be £7.20 per hour, rather than the measly £5.50 they are currently being paid. Experts estimate that the tube system will be at least half submerged by used Metro and London Lite rags by midnight. God knows what will happen in July when the strike lasts two days.

TfL has criticised the strike (shockingly), saying that union action is unnecessary. A spokesman said: “Following the transfer of Metronet to Transport for London, we will be working with Metronet and its sub-contractors to ensure that they pay their employees who work on the Tube the London living wage. We have already reassured all interested parties, notably the trade unions, that we are taking this commitment forward.”

But the RMT paints a less charitable picture of the treatment of Tube cleaners. On top of poor pay, union leader Bob Crow said that cleaning staff are not entitled to sick pay, travel facilities or an acceptable pension. The RMT is also trying to eliminate the firing of cleaners without a hearing or a right to appeal.

LONDONERS EDITORIAL: A lot of finger-wagging Londoners constantly get on their high horses about Tube workers going on strike, but unless you work eight hours a day scooping up vomit in an environment akin to Victorian coalmines, maybe you should shut up.