5 September 2025
Industrial chaos, outsourcing, zero hours contracts and ticket office closures in Transport for London – What’s going on? •
Next week, RMT is planning three sets of strike action on three different parts of Transport for London’s network, with a fourth set to ballot for industrial action shortly if there is no improved offer.
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These strikes will include the entire London Underground network, Docklands Light Railway (DLR), its outsourced cleaning function. In addition, outsourced cleaners employed by ABM on the Underground have declared a dispute and may be balloting for action shortly.
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Now, it has been revealed that TfL and the new company running the Elizabeth Line plan to close every ticket office by August 2027, a move described by General Secretary Eddie Dempsey as ‘pouring petrol on the fire’.
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In this briefing we explain why there has been such a multi-faceted breakdown in industrial relations in TfL and we suggest how the Mayor of London can use his position to rein in TfL managers and broker resolutions.
Root causes – Growing pressure and danger at work and rampant outsourcing at TfL There are two fundamental causes underpinning these disputes and issues. The first is that TfL and London Underground staff are under growing pressure at work. The second cause is TfL’s widespread use of outsourcing and sub-contracting to deliver parts of its services. 1. Understaffing, fatigue and growing violence against staff Since the pandemic, passenger numbers have almost entirely recovered across most modes of transport. Passenger journeys on the Underground, for example, are running at 90-94% of prepandemic numbers. On weekends, they are regularly in excess of that, with higher levels of leisure travel. TfL is under pressure to maximise revenue from fares, while at the same time, there is higher fare evasion and higher levels of aggression and violence towards staff. Around half of all incidents of violence and aggression towards TfL staff stem from fare evasion or payment disputes. This has fuelled an understandable desire among staff for action to address their concerns.