Tube Unions Call 72-Hour Strike

London Underground's two largest unions have called strikes for 7,500 of their station staff following a row over safety.

Members of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) and transport and travel union TSSA are set to walk out from 6.30pm on Sunday 6 April until 6.30pm on Wednesday 9 April after voting for action yesterday.

Plans for ticket-office closures, de-staffing, lone working, introduction, use of agency and security staff and other disputed policies amount to an unacceptable attack on safety standards, says the RMT in a statement.

The RMT and TSSA want London Underground to abandon the introduction of 'mobile supervisors' who will be responsible to several stations at a time.

The unions are worried the scheme will not work in an emergency and are demanding all stations to be fully staffed during traffic hours by 'an appropriate number of customer-service station assistants'.

The unions claim standards are also at risk from plans to close 40 ticket offices and reduce opening hours. But Transport for London (TfL) say these issues have nothing to do with safety and there is no reason for a strike.

By Ozge Ibrahim