Driver wins tribunal as strike looms

Bakerloo Line driver Eamonn Lynch took his case to an employment tribunal, claiming his dismissal was due to his trade union activities.

The Rail Maritime and Transport union backed Mr Lynch, and another sacked worker, Northern Line driver Arwyn Thomas, who is also claiming unfair dismissal.

The union has announced six days of strike action by its Tube driver members over two weeks later this month and in June, threatening travel chaos for millions of passengers, in protest at the sackings.

RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: “We welcome Eamonn’s victory in the tribunal and we are calling for an immediate meeting with London Underground in the light of the ruling that he was unfairly dismissed for his trade union activities.

“With the clear parallel with Arywn Thomas’s case, there is now an urgent need for London Underground to meet with the RMT to set out a plan for a return to work that can avoid plunging London into two blocks of strike action that everyone knows will lead to massive disruption.

“The tribunal has found in favour of the RMT, justice has been done and now we need to meet with the company to finalise arrangements that can enable us to move forwards as quickly as possible.”

London Underground, which had said Mr Lynch was dismissed after breaching established safety rules, urged the RMT to call off the threatened strikes. Around 1,500 Tube drivers will walk out for up to 24 hours.