London Greens have joined their voice with transport unions and campaigners to tell Mayor Boris Johnson to “Cut Fares, Not Staff”. Talks between union leaders and TFL officials resume today, following a week that has seen strike action to protect nearly 1000 London Underground Jobs.
Islington Green Party Council Candidates Charlie Kiss (left), Caroline Russell (Centre Right) and Ernestas Jegorovas with Green Party Leader Natalie Bennett outside Kings Cross protesting against the jobs losses
The London Green Party, together with other members of the campaign group Hands off London Transport (HOLT), has pledged its support to the RMT transport union in their fight against redundancies, the closure of 260 ticket offices and the switch from Oyster Cards to contact-less bank cards, which is being forced through by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson.
The group argues that the Mayor Boris Johnson’s plans will put the public’s safety at risk with 1,000 safety-critical jobs set to be axed.
Natalie Bennett, Green Party Leader and London resident, speaking
outside Kings Cross Station ahead of the strikes
Michael Gold, a member of HOLT and the Green Party, said in advance of the strike action:
“The trade unions RMT and TSSA have come together to demonstrate against these callous proposals that have been sent down from the Mayor – a man who seems to have no understanding of the support needed to maintain a quality service on the underground and one that meets the highest standards of safety.
“In his election manifesto the Mayor promised that there would be no ticket office closures but he has completely gone back on his word. The cuts being proposed are heartless and will result in TfL offering a cut-price service at sky-high prices. We will all feel the pinch of these downgraded services – not least the workers whose phenomenal knowledge and experience is being cast-aside by the Mayor’s penny-pinching.
The number of passengers using the tube network is increasing every year and every year we want to offer them an improved and more reliable service. You can’t maintain such a service without people on the ground to deliver it.”
Hands Off London Transport (HOLT) includes the Green Party, Occupy, DPAC (Disabled People Against Cuts), National Pensioners’ Convention, Peoples’ Assembly, and London Student Unions.