The deeply regrettable Tube strike is the legacy of six years of the mayor’s antagonistic stance towards the unions. The plan to close all ticket offices, contradicting a promise made by Johnson during his first election campaign, is a typical piece of bravado that was designed to elicit confrontation.
The unions all accept that some ticket offices will have to close given the widespread use of Oyster and the fact that so few tickets are sold at some stations. However, the plan to close all ticket offices and replace them with roving staff and enquiry offices at the main stations is a deliberate throwing down of the gauntlet. As any tube user will testify, at the main central London stations there is a steady queue of people buying new Oyster cards and tickets, or seeking information. Forcing them all to use machines will cause difficulties and at rush hours, chaos.
The fact that Johnson has not met union leaders during his time as mayor is a demonstration of his hostility and desire to pick a fight. The way that the announcement was made and the fact that it was coupled with job cuts suggests it is not about saving money but about picking a fight. If Johnson wanted to save money, he could stop introducing his ridiculous new bus that requires a conductor, a post that is totally unnecessary given that fare collection on buses is about to cease.
Johnson has consistently made inflammatory statements about the Underground workforce and has pretended that it is possible to introduce driverless trains,knowing full well that this is impossible given the need to ensure trains have staff to deal with emergencies in the system’s narrow tunnels. He has therefore deliberately engineered a confrontation which he hopes will make him look good but which causes much trouble and angst for London’s Tube passengers.
Brother Bob has put up a more convincing case than Big Boris’ Bluster today 4 February.
Problem is TfL don’t think negotiation is necessary, but is this at Boris’s behest? It is surprising that TfL got away with the abolition of about 90 Guards jobs on the North london Line, leaving about 30 guards on Gospel Oak to Barking trains, which are not equipped for the OPO style operation used on LO. The 8 diesel units are not equipped with the internal CCTV that exists on the 378s.
It seems Boris’ every action is aimed at appealing to the right wing of the Tory party so he can upset the applecart if ‘Call-me-Dave’ loses the 2015 election or is forced into another coalition with the Lib-Dems clinging on, just.
Boris only has one solution; my way, and he has not been really challenged on his bizarre policies. We will be left with three disastrous legacies by this egotistical megalomaniac; the Boris Dangleway, not even an effective tourist attraction, losing money hand over fist, The Borismaster bus, which no-one seems to have forced an Audit for the cost of the platform attendants, and lastly Boris-Bikes, a good idea already in the back of Ken’s mind which also have become a drain on the transport budget.
His one saving grace, he NATIONALISED the PPP!
Indeed, although the Borismaster conductors don’t collect fares anyway, so TfL buses going cashless doesn’t have a bearing on the attendants’ (lack of) utility.