THE TUBE’S biggest union, RMT, today welcomed condemnation of the London Mayor’s plans to cut 2,000 Underground jobs, put down in parliament by London MPs.

A motion tabled by John McDonnell (Hayes and Harlington) and Jeremy Corbyn (Islington North), calls on the mayor to drop proposals that have already been denounced by the Greater London Assembly and have raised “severe concerns” from London TravelWatch.

As 11,000 RMT and TSSA members across the network prepare for a third 24-hour strike, due to begin on Tuesday evening, RMT general secretary Bob Crow welcomed the growing cross-party consensus that cuts in safety-critical Tube jobs are a serious and potentially fatal blunder.

Bob Crow said today: “Our members have been out and about campaigning among London commuters, and despite the hostile media hype there is a groundswell of support for our campaign to stop the mayor’s drive to undermine Tube safety by cutting safety-critical staff.

“Only this week Tube workers were commended by the inquest into the July 7 bombings for their selfless actions in rescuing victims, yet among them are the very grades that the mayor is intent on cutting.

“The mayor has tried to reduce the dispute to one about closing underused booking offices, but that is dishonest and misleading, because they are planning a net loss of 800 safety-trained staff which will leave LUL unable to staff stations adequately.

“Over the last couple of weeks the Tube network has been in meltdown, but we now know that the mayor wants to go even further and shed more than 2,000 jobs, including engineering staff. This is plain madness.

“Despite two walkouts by Mayor Johnson’s Tory group, the GLA has also registered its opposition to these dangerous cuts, and we would urge Tube users to make their voices heard with the mayor, and by asking their MPs to sign Early Day Motion 920.”