A LONG-RUNNING pay dispute on the London Underground appears to be over after the RMT recommended that its members accept an improved offer, but a fresh call for action has been made by the union in a new conflict over changed operating procedures.

London Underground Limited has offered a pay rise of 5 per cent this year followed by inflation (measured by the Retail Price Index) plus 0.5 per cent in the following three years. The company is also promising that a negative inflation figure would not erode the basic rises of 0.5 per cent between 2012 and 2014.

Members of the RMT have been voting on the pay offer, but a new call for action has been made by the RMT in a separate dispute over changed working practices.

The union said a vote had been in favour of industrial action 'by a margin of four to one' following the introduction of new ways of working which include changes to the rules for train reversing and dispatching.

RMT general secretary Bob Crow claimed that the changes were dangerous, and had been introduced in a bid to cut costs.

He said: “London Underground is attempting to impose dangerous operational changes that are cost-led, will undermine established safety procedures and will put our members and the travelling public in potential danger.

“It is nothing short of reckless to expect drivers to over-ride door failsafe systems after a potentially fatal incident in which a passenger jumped from a moving train and another was caught in its open doors. These unsafe procedures are being bulldozed through in a dash for cuts.”

But London Underground pointed out that less than a third of the staff balloted had approved the action. The rest had either been opposed to it or did not vote at all.

The Underground's chief operating officer Howard Collins said: “We hope the vast majority of drivers will simply apply the new process, as they already are doing, as it reduces workload and disruption to them as well as being of benefit to our customers. In any event there will be no impact on the level of service.”