Tram strike begins after 'bad faith' talks

About 60 Croydon Tramlink engineers are taking part in the action

Engineers who work on a south London tram service have begun a five-day strike in a dispute over pay disparities.

The union representing the Croydon Tramlink engineers, Unite, accused Transport for London (TfL) of engaging in "bad faith" talks.

The union said about 60 engineers were taking part in the action from Sunday as they were "angry" their counterparts on the London Underground are paid £10,000 more a year despite having the same level of training.

TfL said it had been "open and honest throughout the process" and added it was "committed to continued dialogue to reach a conclusion".

'Unnecessary inconvenience'

The workers strike began at 20:00 BST on Sunday and is scheduled to run until 06:00 BST on Thursday 9 May.

Strike action had been due to take place in March but this was suspended to engage in further talks, a Unite spokesperson said.

They added this was 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".

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said TfL was "systemically underpaying" the tram engineers.

"TfL was negotiating in bad faith by breaking its promises and withholding information. Unite’s patience has run out with TfL’s disgraceful double-dealing and lack of transparency," she added.

A TfL spokesperson said it "would never enter conversations in bad faith".

"We have agreed to work with union colleagues to identify equivalent roles in London Underground, assess any disparity in overall benefits packages, and where agreed take action where appropriate," they explained.

TfL said it would take time and said it had asked that this strike action was suspended to allow this to happen.

"We remain committed to continued dialogue to reach a conclusion and ask the union to suspend this action, which will only cause unnecessary inconvenience for our customers," the spokesperson added.

Industrial action will escalate if the dispute is not resolved, the union spokesperson added.

Information on how the action will affect services can be found on the TfL strikes page.