Prospect members on the Elizabeth Line vote for industrial action

Prospect members working at Rail for London Infrastructure (RfLI) have voted overwhelmingly to take industrial action over pay.

 

RfLI runs the Elizabeth Line and Prospect members carry out safety and maintenance work on the line.

Members have rejected a 4% pay offer for 2022 which is well below current inflation. London Underground workers have received 8.4% as did MTR who operate the trains on the Elizabeth Line. This means pay rates for Prospect members working for RfLI are well behind equivalent roles in LU and other rail operators.

In a statutory ballot 94% voted for strike action with 92% voting for action short of a strike on a turnout well above the regulatory threshold of 50%.

The current Elizabeth Line budget is underspent by £38m so there is money available to provide an increased pay offer.

The exact form and any dates for industrial action will be decided in consultation with members.

Mike Clancy, General Secretary of Prospect, said:

“Our members have worked incredibly hard to get the Elizabeth Line ready to go safely into operation yet they are being treated significantly worse than equivalent workers on the rest of London’s network.

“The Elizabeth Line itself is now bringing in large extra passenger revenue for TfL and is underspent on its budget so there really ought to be room for some movement on pay.

“Our members don’t want to go on strike but pay is so far behind inflation that they simply cannot manage. We remain open to negotiation and it is our hope that RfLI will come back to the table with an offer sufficient to avert industrial action.”