When we last met management to discuss their pay offer, ASLEF made clear that our members patience was running out.
It is more than a year since we submitted our pay and conditions claim, but they have still not made an acceptable offer.
At ACAS, and in a letter to the company we set out exactly what the outstanding issues are and invited management to meet directly with us to find a way forward. They have chosen not to do so.
That is why today, the ASLEF Executive Committee has decided to formally give notice that we intend to ballot our members on London Underground for industrial action. Ballot papers will be sent out from February 28th to be returned by March 9th.
ASLEF wants a negotiated settlement, not a strike. But these talks can not be allowed to drag on indefinitely without a conclusion.
Nor can we accept a sub-standard offer that gives our members no guarantee of a pay rise for the next two years and does nothing to reduce the working week or close the pay gap with other train operating companies.
To get a fair settlement, ASLEF members will have to show that we are prepared to fight for it.
