LONDON Underground services are likely to be seriously disrupted tonight and tomorrow, but as crews prepare to walk out on strike Transport for London has denied a claim by the RMT that unqualified staff are being urged to perform safety-critical jobs to keep services going, and that LU was ‘playing fast and loose’ with safety.

The union alleged that an LU circular to staff which was ‘desperately appealing for volunteers’, said those without the required Operational Licences would still be deployed and that those with lapsed licenses could have them renewed without complying with the normal training and updating programme.

The RMT said the breaches went to ‘the very heart of the dispute, which is all about London Underground hacking back staffing levels and cutting corners on safety in a dash to slash costs regardless of the implications for the travelling public’.

A union spokesman continued: “LU has tried to create the impression that the dispute is about the Oyster Card and technology whereas in fact it is about the axing of 800 staff who are in the front line of protecting safety. RMT have revealed that last weekend a Customer Services Assistant – one of the grades under threat – apprehended a passenger at Moorgate with a Samurai sword, a bag of knives, ammunition and two loaded guns.”

However, TfL did not accept the union's claims, and dubbed them as ‘desperately grasping at straws’.

A spokesman said: “No one will ever be asked to do a job that they have not got the appropriate licence for, and we would never allow any member of staff who did not have valid operational licences to work in safety-critical roles. You do not, however, need licences to give out basic customer information – which is what we will have volunteers on-hand at stations to do. 

“This is the RMT leadership desperately grasping at straws as it knows it is fighting an unwinnable argument. The changes we are making to staffing are essential for London Underground’s future. 

“We have assured the RMT, and indeed the TSSA, that these changes are being delivered with no compulsory redundancies, that every station that currently has a ticket office will retain one, and that all stations will remain staffed at all times.”