The second of three planned blocks of strike action by Unite union members on London Trams resulted in extensive disruption between Sunday and Thursday May 5-9.
The first planned action on March 24-28 had been cancelled to allow for talks with Transport for London (TfL).
A third strike is planned for 2000-0600 on Thursday-Monday July 11-15.
May’s action meant no services before 0700 or after 1800 on the London Trams network. Between 0700 and 1800, trams only ran between Wimbledon and Reeves Corner and between East Croydon and Beckenham Junction/New Addington.
There was no service through Croydon town centre or to/from Elmers End all day.
On May 9 (after this issue of RAIL went to press), services were set to start later than normal, with disruption expected throughout the day, according to TfL.
The dispute is with 60 engineers maintaining the trams and infrastructure. They are angry that their colleagues on the London Underground, who require the same qualifications and perform the same roles, are paid up to £10,000 more a year.
Unite said negotiations collapsed in April because TfL refused to be transparent about the process it was using to identify pay disparities, and broke its word on how they would be resolved.
“It is outrageous that TfL somehow thinks it is acceptable to be systemically underpaying highly skilled workers who are essential to keep the tram system functioning,” said Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham.
The union claimed TfL has admitted that five Tramlink engineering roles have pay disparities, and that other roles either do
