London Underground COO Phil Hufton said: “I am pleased that Londoners will not have to endure unnecessary strike action next week.
The RMT union had called for strike action on Monday evening, but today Hufton said he had met with the union at ACAS yesterday “and the good news is that, by providing some basic clarity, the threatened strike and the current overtime ban have now been withdrawn”.
He believed that nothing positive would be achieved through this strike action, claiming that the threat had no logic to it. “Nothing positive would be achieved through this strike action and this threat had no logic to it what so ever apart from attempting to disrupt hard working Londoners and their members losing two days pay,” he added.
The RMT confirmed that the action, which was due to start on Tuesday evening over what it claimed to be “the threat to jobs, working and conditions and services” had been suspended.
RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said, “Thanks to both the solidarity and determination of our members, and the hard work of our negotiators in the ACAS talks, RMT has been able to secure significant movement in three key areas which have allowed our executive to suspend both the action scheduled for next week and the on-going overtime ban.
“The substantial improvements we have agreed allow us to move forwards but the Union’s core opposition to the austerity-led cuts on London Underground has not shifted an inch and we remain vigilant to further developments and their impact.”
