London Mayor Boris Johnson was yesterday accused of ‘gross hypocrisy’ by rail union TSSA after tube staff were told they will not be paid if they failed to turn up for work last Monday when the capital was snowbound.
They must claim last Monday as unpaid leave or a day out of their annual holidays, unless they can prove they did some ‘meaningful work’ from home.
TSSA assistant general secretary Manuel Cortes said: ‘We think this is gross hypocrisy on the Mayor’s part.
‘He cancels all the buses and most of the tube and urges Londoners not to risk trying to get to work in the worst snow storm for a generation.
‘So our members could not get in because Boris had effectively halted all public transport because the main line trains weren’t running either.
‘And yet here he is wanting to penalise them because of his own actions. It is unfair and he should tell Transport for London (TfL) to stop being so mean to its loyal staff.
‘We understand that Gerry Duffy, London Underground HR Director, was working from home last Monday because of the weather.
‘I think it is safe to assume he will not be losing a day’s pay because he could not get into his office.
‘If it is right to pay Mr Duffy, it must be right to pay our members.’
Fellow tube union RMT slammed the move as ‘unfair, illogical and discriminatory’.
RMT general secretary Bob Crow said yesterday: ‘The decision smacks of double standards, but it clearly discriminates against people who live a distance from a Tube station or who rely on other modes of transport, like buses, to get to work.
‘How a signaller who might live in a snow-bound town outside the capital can be expected to do some meaningful work from home is beyond me.
‘The fact that a large number of Tube workers got in to work speaks volumes for their commitment, but that is no reason to discriminate against those who could not.
‘Losing a day’s pay is no laughing matter for the victims, and we will be looking very closely at every case, but the most sensible thing TfL can do is accept that it has made a mistake and reverse it.’
Meanwhile, union members working in retail grades for rail company C2C are to strike for 24 hours next Monday, February 16, in a dispute over the company’s refusal to shift on its ‘abysmal’ holiday policy – which includes paying staff only for bank holidays they work.
Some 130 RMT and TSSA members at the company voted overwhelmingly for strike action after the company failed to increase leave entitlement of 22 days – despite new regulations that stipulate a minimum entitlement of 28 days’ paid leave from April.
Strike action will disrupt busy commuter services into London from Essex operated by the National Express subsidiary.
RMT general secretary Crow said: ‘If C2C wants to avoid a strike it should concede a simple and straightforward 28 days’ leave, rather than hiding behind ever-more complex devices to avoid it.’
Fellow rail union TSSA general secretary Gerry Doherty said: ‘We find it extraordinary that in this day and age staff have to strike to get paid for Bank Holidays like the rest of the British workforce.
‘National Express should do the decent thing before this action takes place.’
