Elizabeth Line Drivers Vote for Strike Action
ASLEF to hold industrial action on four days
ASLEF members voted overwhelmingly to reject 4.5% pay increase
February 15, 2025
Train drivers on the Elizabeth line who are members of ASLEF have voted for industrial action over pay.
They plan 24-hour walkouts on four days but the timing of the strikes means that services are likely to be affected over six days.
The first day of action is Thursday 27 February followed two days later by another walkout on Saturday 1 March. Then there will be a strike on Saturday 8 March followed by another one on Monday 10 March.
There are around 500 drivers employed on the line and 95% of those who voted in a turnout of 88% supported rejecting a pay increase of 4.5% from MTR the private company which currently operates the service.
It is understood that a typical train driver’s salary on the line is £72,465 for a 34-hour, four-day week – which would have risen by £3,261 to £75,726 under the proposed 4.5 per cent uplift.
A driver instructor’s salary would have risen from £75,430 to £78,824 while a driver team leader’s salary would have increased from £76,090 to £79,514.
Mick Whelan, ASLEF's general secretary, said, “Our members have been instrumental in the success of the Elizabeth line - it's a partnership, in practice, between the company and its employees - but, despite our best efforts, MTR has decided not to recognise the input, the importance, and the value of train drivers in this success.'
“I suspect that the company's intransigence is because it has lost the contract with TfL to run the Elizabeth line; if that is indeed the case, it is very disappointing to see the company behave this way.”
MTR will hand over the operation of the Elizabeth line on 24 May to a consortium of Go-Ahead Group, Tokyo Metro and Sumitomo Corporation.
The Mayor of London, Sir Sadiq Khan, has urged Elizabeth line bosses and a union threatening strikes to “get round the table”, as he insisted there was still “some time” for them to “resolve their differences”.
The mayor declined to say whether drivers should accept the increase, while City Hall Conservatives called the situation “an indictment of Labour’s negotiating strategy”.
Sir Sadiq told the Local Democracy Reporting Service,“I think what’s really important is for MTR – who run the Elizabeth line – and ASLEF to resolve these differences amicably, rather than going on strike.
“I think strikes ultimately are a sign of failure. The first one’s scheduled to take place at the end of this month – that means there is some time for Aslef and MTR to resolve these differences.
“What’s not right is for me to give a running commentary on any negotiation that takes place, but I encourage ASLEF and MTR to get round the table…
“These strikes will mean the Elizabeth line loses passengers, passengers are inconvenienced, the drivers lose a wage, and so nobody wins.”
The Elizabeth line is the busiest rail line in the UK and is used for more than 700,000 weekday journeys.
Pressed on whether he thought drivers should simply accept the pay rise on offer and drop the threat of strike action, the Mayor said, “No, I’d encourage MTR and ASLEF to talk about the differences they’ve got and resolve them amicably, which is really important.”
Keith Prince, City Hall Conservatives’ transport spokesman, suggested the issue could be traced back to the Mayor’s decision to avert RMT strikes on the Underground in January 2024, when he suddenly produced £30m in City Hall funding to boost the annual pay rise for 16,000 Tube staff.
He said,“With every successive announcement that drivers are set to strike, the Mayor’s decision to throw tens of millions at the unions with no conditions is increasingly looking like a poor investment, made worse by the government’s rogue deals with the union barons.
“It’s the same old story – mayor makes a mistake, Londoners pick up the bill. We hope these strikes can be prevented, but this is an indictment of Labour’s negotiating strategy.”
Nigel Gibson, one of ASLEF's full-time district organisers and the unions lead officer with MTR, added, “Taking action is always a last resort, because we do not want to inconvenience passengers and our members do not want to lose money, and I hope that the company, seeing the strength of feeling amongst our members, their drivers, will do the right thing and return to the negotiating table.”
MTR's managing director Mike Bagshaw he was disappointed with the outcome of the vote adding, "The offer would have maintained some of the highest salaries in the industry, along with enhanced terms and conditions.
"We remain committed to engaging with ASLEF in the hope of resolving this dispute."
A Transport for London (TfL) spokesperson said, "We encourage ASLEF and MTR Elizabeth line to continue working towards resolving this dispute and avoid impacting our customers with strike action."
Written with contributions from Noah Vickers - Local Democracy Reporter
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