GLASGOW'S Subway staff are pushing for strike action over modernisation plans which they say will erode pay and lead to the service being privatised.
A consultation on cutting 45 posts and reforming pay and conditions has provoked "deep unhappiness and anger", according to public sector union Unite, which represents the majority of the workforce.
Eddie Duffy, Unite's regional officer for Scotland, warned a ballot for industrial action would be inevitable unless Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT), which operates the Subway, changed its approach during negotiations over the next two months.
"The measures are upsetting everybody. At this stage, we don't see any way of resolving this, so unless SPT changes its approach we're going to have a battle," he told The Herald.
Plans announced to staff in January proposed axing 45 jobs, 14% of the Subway's total workforce of 319. However, as 30 of those posts are currently unfilled the actual number of job losses is expected to be 15, according to SPT.
The reforms stem from an agenda stretching back to 2010, when SPT was ordered to cut costs following an expenses scandal.
But they are seen as an essential precursor to a £300 million modernisation programme that will see the Subway's track and signals replaced and the introduction of automated, driverless trains within five years.
Unite said staff concerns about the service being privatised were inflamed last year when a £5.6m contract to replace and maintain the Subway's 28 escalators was awarded to private firm Otis.
The union said the in-house bid was unfair to SPT staff as it was based on nine maintenance workers being required though only four had been needed to carry out these duties over the past four years.
"The in-house tender was skewed. It was engineered so they could give the contract to Otis," Mr Duffy said.
"The fear is that more and more of this will be put out to sub-contractors at the same time as they're making redundancies within SPT."
Mr Duffy said there was still room to negotiate before the end of the consultation period in May as the union's concerns were put to management. But he said emotions had been riding high among staff during a series of mass meetings, the most recent of which was held last weekend.
He said: "At the weekend meeting, staff wanted to ballot for industrial action right away. There is a lot of anger about this attack on core terms and conditions of people's contract of employment. There may be some staff who end up being paid more but the majority, we believe, will lose out."
However, SPT said it was committed to removing what it said were "outdated working practices". A spokeswoman said reforms to working practices were "fundamental" to the reform programme and warned Government funding could be jeopardised unless they were carried out.
She said: "Fundamental to the case for modernisation is the need to modernise working practices and conditions of service. In fact it's a condition in the funding commitment given to us by Scottish Government.
"Like all public bodies we are under huge financial pressures and it is right we should be seeking to change outdated working practices that have no place in the Subway today.
"A modern transport system needs a modern workforce and we are consulting with our staff on the best way of delivering that and achieving the cost reductions necessary to keep the Subway running for years to come."
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