Sadiq Khan on track for worst strikes record of any London Mayor

Posted by GLA Conservatives in News   Share2017

Feb
22

– Latest walkout means Mayor’s projected yearly average eclipses Boris’s and Ken’s
– On course to average 5.05 strikes per year
– Record set to get even worse with threat of Night Tube strikes

Sadiq Khan is on track for the worst yearly strikes record of any London Mayor, despite promising there would be ‘zero strikes’ on his watch.

The latest walkout by RMT and ASLEF drivers, on the Circle and Waterloo and City lines, will be the fourth overseen by the Mayor in his first 9.5 months.

It gives him a projected yearly average of 5.05 strikes – the worst of any London Mayor.

With the threat of further industrial action on the Night Tube looming, Khan’s record on strikes looks set to get even worse before the end of his first year.

The Mayor has previously been quick to favourably compare his short term with the full eight-years of his predecessor, boasting of an improvement on strikes over his opening five months.

More recently, Khan listed ‘less disruption’ as one of his pledges to Southern commuters and boasted of fewer days lost to strikes compared to his predecessor, whose record he described as a ‘failure’.

However, the latest walkout puts him on course to be London’s worst strikes Mayor and firmly shatters his pre-election pledge of ‘zero strikes’.

London Assembly member Keith Prince said:

“The Mayor has previously been keen to point to his strikes record as a measure of success against his predecessor.

“The cold hard facts now are that he is on track to have the worst strikes record of any London Mayor – and one that looks set to get worse.

“Having already broken his zero strikes pledge last summer, the Mayor has more recently caved to union demands in a desperate bid to avoid further damaging industrial action.

“The unions sense a weak Mayor who will do anything to avoid further walkouts and can be bullied into a deal. We now have a hugely disruptive strike because eight drivers don’t want to move locations from east to central London – a common daily commute for thousands of ordinary Londoners.

“Additional strikes are now threatened on the Night Tube, yet the Mayor is refusing to accept his approach is not working. It is time he admitted his failures, stopped blaming his predecessor and came up with a plan to get London moving again.”

Notes
Strikes record of previous and current Mayors:
* Ken Livingstone – 16 strikes in 8 years, avg 2 per year
* Boris Johnson – 35 strikes in 8 years, avg 4.375 per year
* Sadiq Khan (if Tuesday walkout goes ahead) – 4 strikes in 9.5 months, avg 5.05 per year (plus RMT balloting over Night Tube strike)