A major rail union has criticised plans to cut hundreds of cleaners’ jobs on London Underground.
The Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT) union warned that one in four workers at Tube Lines contractor ISS face being laid off in the next few months.
It called on London mayor Ken Livingstone and London Underground management to step in and halt the 200 planned job losses.
RMT general secretary Bob Crow said workers were “stunned and furious” when they were told their jobs may be axed.
“There is no way that levels of station and train cleanliness can be maintained on the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines with a loss of 27% of the cleaning workforce,” he said.
The union has received support from Livingstone. He said: “”I do not see how they can maintain standards of cleanliness by cutting staff.
“Given the profits that the infrastructure companies enjoy, there is no case for reducing these cleaning posts.”
Tube Lines said it was “refocusing resources” for station cleaning.
