Hundreds of tube and travel staff including about 300 workers employed by Dial-a-Ride and 300 TfL revenue protection inspectors, road transport enforcement officers and compliance officers will strike on this 31^st of January.

Transport for London (TfL) drivers and other workers based in Wimbledon and Orpington and three other bases will stage the first of a series of 24-hour strikes on a dispute over a one per cent pay rise.

Their union, Unite, claims TfL is trying to “bulldoze through a derisory one per cent pay increase” which they say amounts to a pay cut in real terms.

The workers are demanding parity with London Underground staff.

There’s also some controversy about Gareth Powell, the TfL managing director of surface transport. The Union claims he was paid £305,649, a 10 per cent increase on his previous year’s salary, plus he received performance-related pay worth £50,648.

Unite regional officer Simon McCartney said: “TfL workers are fighting back against paltry pay. TfL bosses on six-figure salaries need to rethink their decision to impose a real-terms pay cut on staff working in an expensive city like London.

“There is no good reason why Dial-a-Ride workers who provide services to the elderly, vulnerable and disabled should get less than the staff at London Underground. (…) TfL workers also do crucial work to protect the travelling public and to recover lost revenue for TfL. Staff are regularly abused, threatened and have been assaulted while carrying out their duties.”