A FIVE-year pay offer from Transport for London for Underground staff has been rejected by the RMT union, which claims that the first year of the proposed agreement would actually mean a pay cut. The union branded the offer as 'derisory', and said it would continue to press for more.

The union's general secretary Bob Crow said: "When you peel away all the spin from TFL, the reality is that with February’s RPI being 5.5 per cent it means that the first year is not a rise at all, but is actually a real-terms pay cut of 1.5 per cent.

"The package falls well short of RMT’s claim for a substantial, above-inflation, pay rise in a one-year deal. This offer takes no account at all of the fact that LU is carrying record numbers of passengers, charging inflation-busting fares, cutting staff and thus increasing productivity by the back door. We also note the fact that LU is continuing to pay large numbers of senior managers excessive fat cat salaries.

"Add in the pressure on staff of the repeated failures in service as the infrastructure collapses and anyone can see why this derisory offer has been rejected."

The offer included a four per cent pay rise in the first year followed by a rise of inflation, plus 0.25 per cent, in subsequent years.

The company had described its five-year programme as 'fair and affordable' when it set out its terms to all trade unions at a meeting of London Underground's Company Council on 14 April.

LU said it had also committed itself to examining further issues raised by the unions, including working on statutory public holidays and the company's 'family-friendly' policies, which aim to make working for LU easier for parents and carers.

The previous agreed pay deal, which saw staff get a 1.5 per cent increase in year one and RPI+0.5 per cent in year two, expired at the end of April.