Boris and the angry underground

The London Underground system is probably one of the finest in the world. It is certainly the oldest, commenced in 1854. It is the second longest in terms of track length, behind Shanghai and it is the third busiest in the world, behind Paris and Moscow. It has 260 stations and over 4,000 carriages, served by a staff of about 19,000. Over one billion individual journeys per year - an impressive workload.








But there in unrest amongst the workers. The impression given by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, is that there is a need for change and that old practices need to be kicked into at least the last century. 800 job losses are expected, with about 450 involving ticket office staff. There was a mention of staff behind glass reading novels and the need for change.









Some 10,000 staff in all categories from trains and stations took strike action this Monday evening with inevitable consequences for London's travellers.

Boris Johnson wants the government to introduce legislation to outlaw industrial action unless at least 50 per cent of union members in a workplace take part in a ballot. The CBI has suggested a minimum of 40 per cent should take part. The rightwing thinktank Policy Exchange called for similar laws last month.

Boris Johnson was elected mayor of London in 2008. The turnout was 45.3 per cent and he got the support of only 23.9 per cent of the participant electors . I know an election is different from a call for strike action, but under his recommendation he would have been an invalid contender for the post of mayor.

When faced with threats to their job, pay and pension rights, striking is usually the last resort, after discussions with management have failed.

Any capable management team would be wise to invest in useful discussions with representatives of their workforce, ideally to avert or at least to minimize strike action.

To demand legal constraints through parliamentary law-making rather misses the point, as the Mayor, to my understanding has never had direct involvement in discussions with the London Underground union representatives.







Boris Johnson has a problem. It's good to talk. Perhaps he may do so after the Conservative Party Conference this week in the capital of the speech impediment that is Birmingham.


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