For the Guardian to suggest that London Underground should "bribe" tube drivers with "generous overtime payments" to avert a Boxing Day strike is incredible (Editorial, 27 December). Nor is it right to suggest the dispute is the fault of an intransigent management set on enforcing "the small print of some 1992 concordat". The way to resolve such issues is through dialogue, ideally pay and conditions negotiations. This year, LU reached a four-year agreement with all unions that guaranteed an above-inflation pay increase each year. Drivers currently earn around £44,500 and get 43 days annual leave each year.
We also moved to reduce the Boxing Day burden on drivers this year, with only around one-quarter rostered to work. Yet it is the leadership of Aslef that unilaterally tore up agreements covering all bank holidays, including Boxing Day, demanding triple pay and a further day off in lieu. We ran more tube services than predicted on Monday and, thanks to extra buses, the DLR and river services, we kept London moving and high streets across the capital were open for business. Many traders reported their busiest Boxing Day in years.
Three more strikes are threatened early in 2012. We remain ready to resolve this dispute through dialogue. But Londoners and businesses would rightly never accept us "bribing" our staff to come to work, especially when they have already been paid to do so.
Mike Brown
MD, London Underground