Saturday, 7 April 2012

Tube drivers welcome the Olympics

London Underground staff could make a massive income from working during the Olympic Games.

According to a senior Aslef source a driver working all the opening ceremony, all the weekend shifts and late nights could earn an extra £6,200.

The offer was made by London Underground (LU) following months of tense negotiations with the drivers’ union and terms are due to be agreed next week.

Payments include up to £1,000 for reporting for duty, £400 extra for key shifts such as the opening ceremony and up to £285 for shifts which extend beyond 1.30am.

Also the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RTM) has agreed Olympic payments of £500 for Network staff and £600 for London Overground workers. Meanwhile, more than 500 members of Docklands Light Railway (DLR) staff will get a 25% rise in the standard overtime rate during the Games.

The overall offer covers nine weeks to the end of the Paralympics and was made despite pressure for public sector pay freezes.

It shows the power transport unions have in London this summer as drivers will be required to transport most of the one million spectators travelling from and to the Olympic venues everyday.

The cost of Tube Olympic bonuses alone for all 16,000 staff on duty is expected to be about £20 million which will be paid with the taxpayer-funded £9,3billion budget for 2012.

2 comments:

  1. It’s amazingly sad that government had to place such a deal in order to ensure its public servants to keep their duty during the WW event. That tolerance deal had reflected how weak of the spirit of patriotic in its public servants, as well as the off balance superiority of Union.

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