Tube drivers to be offered four-day working week
TfL will set out a ‘proposal for delivering an average four-day working week’ by January
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Your support makes all the difference.Tube drivers are set ti see a change in their working week under plans by Transport for London (TfL).
TfL has told the Aslef union it will set out an initial proposal on an average four-day working week in January, it is understood.
Earlier this week Aslef called off two days of strike action on the Tube over pay.
Transport for London has said there will be “no reduction in contractual hours”.
A letter dated November 5 and seen by the BBC reads that TfL will set out a “proposal for delivering an average four-day working week” by January.
The letter, from Nick Dent, the director of customer operations at TfL to Aslef organiser Finn Brennan, also suggests that the proposal will include plans for paid meal relief in working hours while maintaining 35-hour weeks.
The proposals were subject to the pay award for 2024 being agreed and all industrial action called off, the letter said.
A TfL spokesperson said: “Discussions are ongoing and there will be no reduction in contractual hours.
“As with any proposal, there are still details that need to be worked through and any changes would need to be mutually beneficial, preserving or improving the reliability of our service for our customers and improving efficiency.
“We will continue discussions with our unions.”
Earlier this week Aslef announced that strikes planned for November 7 and November 12 had been suspended.
Mr Brennan, Aslef’s full-time organiser on London Underground, said: “Following fresh talks, and an improved offer, Aslef has agreed to suspend our planned industrial action on London Underground.”
It comes as the Government dropped official concerns about a council’s four-day week, as it has not reissued a notice which declared disapproval over the policy.
South Cambridgeshire District Council introduced a four-day week in 2023 and faced opposition from the previous Conservative government over the change.
The policy continued past the end of its trial period in March this year as the council awaited information from ministers.
A letter from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to the Cambridgeshire authority last Friday said that councils are “rightly responsible for the management and organisation of their own workforces”.