London Underground services look set for major disruption after workers at Tube maintenance firm Metronet voted overwhelmingly for strike action to defend jobs.
Members of the RMT, Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association and Unite trade unions voted 1,369 to 70 in favour of the strikes after administrators failed to guarantee there would be no job losses at the bankrupt firm.
The unions – which only need to give seven days’ notice for industrial action – are expected to announce a date on Thursday.
RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: “Our members have said with a single, united voice that they are not prepared to be made to pay for the failure of the private-public partnership with their jobs, conditions or pensions.
“If we are to have the world-class Tube that London needs in time for the Olympics, the only sensible answer is to bring the work back into the public sector.”
The Metronet partnership was designed to boost private investment in the London Underground. But the company collapsed after claiming it had £2bn of extra costs.
