52 day holiday for Tube Staff

No wonder they have so many applicants

That's it, now I know why so many people (including one of our very own co-writers) apply to work on the Tube. Where else can you get a 52 day holiday just because you work vaguely unsociable hours? Just so that we can run a tube service on New Year's Eve, there's been an agreement between the RMT and London Underground for a 35 hour week. Technically it remains a 37.5 hour week but two and half days can be "banked" towards more days off.

Well at least we will be having tubes running all night on New Year's Eve, no strike (which was being muttered about earlier) and apparently it's also paving the way for later trains on Friday and Saturday Evening.

On the front page of today's Metro, Roger Evans, the Conservative's Transport spokesman was outraged by the deal and called it "an insult to every hardworking Londoner. Yet again are we seeing the unions holding the capital to ransom. They know the threat of strikes always pays off. The answer is to ban strikes on the Underground." For a fuller report check out The Scotsman.

I know we get a fair few Tube staff who read this blog and I'd be really keen to get their comments. Come on "thereisnospoon" where are you?

As Quin just noted in the comments in the previous post there is another poll in The Standard asking whether tube staff deserve 52 days holiday a year - currently it's massively in favour. Wonder how many tube staff voted?

I'll leave you with today's Oval Tube station thought which is kind of appropriate

London Underground; Tube Posted by annie mole Wednesday, November 24, 2004 Permalink COMMENT HERE
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