Travel CHAOS as District line commuters face agony with 24-hour London tube driver STRIKE
COMMUTERS will face transport misery in London today as District line tube drivers are set to walk out in a 24-hour strike in solidarity with a driver who allegedly passed three red signals during his 11 weeks of driving.
The driver had been qualified for 18 weeks, but only drove for 11 due to sickness, retraining and compulsory removal from duty.
The unnamed employee is alleged to have passed three red signals, and two of which were reportedly passed at danger (spads) within a four-week period.
Nigel Holmes, Director of Network Operations at London Underground, said: “With so many incidents in a short space of time, despite several weeks of training and assistance, it was simply not safe for this employee to continue in a role as a driver.”
Transport for London (TfL) said that the driver was offered another role, and "mutually" agreed to return to a new position before the dispute escalated.
With so many incidents in a short space of time, it was simply not safe for this employee to continue in a role as a driver
The strike was organised by the Aslef union, which disputes the fact the driver agreed to returning to a position on the platform.
Finn Brennan, Aslef’s London Underground organiser, accused TfL chiefs of refusing to engage and threatening the driver with disciplinary action to force them to agree to being redeployed.
He said: “Sadly, some managers on the London Underground want to pick and choose which policies they apply.
“Threatening individuals with disciplinary action, refusing to talk, and leaving our members with no option than to take strike action is not the progressive approach we expect to see from Transport for London.”
Queues snake through London station during tube strike
“Instead of recognising the concerns of our members, and reps, management are refusing to acknowledge that they have failed to follow their own procedures and now refuse to talk to this union."
A TfL spokesman however refuted these claims, saying that no disciplinary action had been threatened against the driver.
He said: “A driver had a number of safety incidents in their first few months of driving and, in line with our agreed policies, was offered an alternative role on our stations which they agreed to.
“There is no cause for a dispute, and we call on the unions to continue working with us to ensure the safety of our customers and staff.”
The strike is due to begin at 12.01am on Friday, and last until 11.59pm.
The line will not face a complete shutdown, and TfL hopes to run a service at around 60 per cent capacity during the 24-hour walkout.
TfL however warn that severe disruptions are to be expected.
The District Line is the busiest on the London Underground network, and the strike is set to cause misery for over 800,000 passengers who use it daily.