Construction and maintenance workers employed on the London Underground will begin a two-day strike today, amid warnings that further industrial unrest may follow Tuesday's austerity budget.
Members of the RMT union employed by PPP contractor Tube Lines will walk out, despite London Mayor Boris Johnson asking the High Court to declare the strike illegal.
However, Mr Justice Tugendhat refused to grant an injunction stopping the strike.
RMT argues that Transport for London, which is renationalising Tube Lines, had failed to give workers “concrete assurances on jobs, pay and working conditions”.
Meanwhile, RMT general secretary Bob Crow warned that further strikes may follow the cuts announced in Chancellor George Osborne's budget earlier this week.
“There is no question that there will be widespread industrial and community resistance to the cuts agenda and RMT will be in the front line wherever people are making a stand,” he said.
“Despite all the hype about sharing the pain this is without a doubt a budget for the rich.
“The increase in VAT, the attacks on pensions and benefits and the pay freeze in the public sector will all hit the poorest the hardest.
“We can already see the cracks opening up in the coalition as some Lib Dems start to realise that jumping into bed with David Cameron is a political suicide pact. We intend to lever open those cracks as part of a political fight back against this assault on the British people.”
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