A DAMAGING strike by Glasgow Subway staff has been averted after members of the Unite union voted by a narrow margin to accept an overhaul of pay and conditions as well as the loss of 65 jobs.

The agreement reached yesterday between Unite and Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT), which runs the 116-year-old underground system, clears a significant hurdle in a £300 million modernisation programme and follows months of negotiations.

Having more flexible working practices will save SPT £1.1m a year in operating costs and is viewed as an essential precursor to introducing automated driverless trains and signalling equipment over the next five years.

Staff will be given £750 as a reward for accepting the new terms and conditions, which are expected to take effect from July 1.

The deal will see the workforce reduced from 323 to 258. About 30 posts are vacant, so the number of redundancies will be lower.

Eddie Duffy, Unite's regional organiser for Scotland, said a breakthrough had been achieved after union stewards presented counter-proposals on new shift patterns, which were accepted by SPT management.

"SPT does not envisage compulsory redundancies but have said any job cuts will be done through agreement," he said.

A spokeswoman for SPT described the deal as a historic agreement. She said: "It will deliver real change to working practices across the subway system."

A report drawn up by SPT had previously complained trains were being "over-maintained" and made available at times that suited maintenance shift patterns.

Unite representatives said they were being made scapegoats for inefficiencies caused by a historic under-investment in the world's third-oldest underground system.