Tube workers are Londoners too

Zac Goldsmith wants to ‘protect Londoners from Tube strikes’ but Tube workers are Londoners too and threatening them is not the answer.

Responding to Zac Goldsmith’s announcement that he wants to make it harder for Tube workers to take industrial action, I’ve responded with a challenge to actually talk to the workers instead of threatening them.

I’ve said:

My Conservative rival for Mayor of London says he wants to ‘protect Londoners from Tube strikes’. But Tube workers are Londoners too and threatening them is not the answer. Nobody enjoys strikes but recent industrial action on the Underground has been directly caused by the present Mayor’s cack-handed efforts to impose a no-strike deal and bring in a night Tube without any negotiation.

I challenge Zac Goldsmith to try talking to workers, as Boris Johnson has completely failed to do, instead of attempting to restrict their rights.”