A tube train subway station in Glasgow
PLANNED strike action on Glasgow’s subway has been suspended as more than 100 Unite workers consider a new “interim offer” from Strathclyde Passenger Transport (SPT).
Workers, who had already enforced a continuous overtime ban since June 13, had been scheduled to strike this weekend on June 21 and 22, with further action pencilled in for June 25, 27, and 28, amid long-running disputes over pay and “chronic” understaffing in the service.
The union says that both train drivers and station staff are routinely called in at short notice to cover shifts, and regularly work up to 10 hours over and above their 39 contracted hours each week without any improvement to shift, overtime or weekend allowances — a situation resulting in “significant work-life” pressures for workers.
Announcing the suspension of strike action, Unite industrial officer Andrew Brown said:
“An interim offer has been tabled by SPT. Our members will now decide if it provides a temporary solution until a wider, long-term agreement can be secured.
“Strike action has been suspended for this Saturday as an act of good faith while members are balloted on the offer.”
It’s hard to understand how minor divisions can come to dominate the process of building a challenge to the rule of the rich when the desperate need for a vehicle to fight poverty and despair is so abundantly clear, writes MATT KERR
