London Underground: Industrial Action

Debate between Lord Carrington of Fulham and Baroness Kramer

Monday 10th March 2014 Lords Chamber

[Lord Carrington of Fulham]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact on the economy of the industrial action on the London Underground in February.

[The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Baroness Kramer) (LD)]

My Lords, the Government have not made such an assessment. Responsibility for London Underground, including industrial disputes, is a matter for the Mayor of London and Transport for London. The industrial action last month was regrettable and will undoubtedly have had a significant economic impact, but there is no straightforward or standard way of quantifying this.

[Lord Carrington of Fulham (Con)]

I am grateful to my noble friend for that response. Does she agree that the major damage caused by the strike was not monetary, but in terms of the aggravation, frustration and inconvenience caused to the poor benighted citizens of London? This raises the question of whether it is not time to reconsider whether strikes in public sector monopolies should be made illegal, or at the very least whether trade unions should be required to get a vote of two-thirds of the workforce in favour of action before calling a strike.

[Baroness Kramer]

My Lords, I join in celebrating the heroism of Londoners in coping with such situations, which are very stressful and inconvenient. Last autumn, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills announced a review of industrial disputes, and we hope to hear more detail on that shortly. At this moment in time the two sides in the London Underground issue are in negotiation and are due back at ACAS on 4 April. I think that this is a good time not to pour petrol on flames.