London 2012: Boris Bikes and Transport for London staff to strike over Olympics pay bonus

Monday, July 23, 2012
10:24 AM

Members of the Rail Maritime and Transport union working on the London bike hire scheme will strike for 48 hours from Friday morning in a row Olympics bonus payments.

Hundreds of RMT members employed by Transport for London will also go on strike over the first weekend of the Games after failing to secure a deal over a bonus.

Also, up to 1,000 members of the RMT union at South West Trains will work to rule, including a ban on overtime, from Friday, the day of the opening ceremony, to August 12, the last day of the Games.

Union members at the firm, which runs services into London Waterloo, rejected going on strike but voted for other forms of action.

The union has been seeking a bonus for its members for working during the Games, but SWT insisted it had already agreed a wage deal which covers the Olympics period.

RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: “Although we have secured good deals on Olympics recognition and reward for the vast majority of our members we still have a small number of employers holding out and refusing to offer either a fair deal or any kind of deal at all.

“We cannot accept that blatant unfairness and the time has come for these employers to seize the opportunity, get round the table and sign off agreements that recognise the additional work and pressures that these staff will be carrying.”