Nearly 3,000 members of Rail Maritime and Transport Union( RMT), TSSA and Unite have voted for strike action. In the three unions’ ballots, Metronet workers voted by a total of 1,369 to 70 to strike.

The decision to strike has been sparked by the what the unions see as the failure of Metronets administrators to provide guarantees that there will be no job losses or forced transfers as a result of the company’s financial collapse.

RMT and TSSA members also voted to strike over the failure to guarantee that there would be no cuts in pension entitlements.

Union chiefs are due to meet with Metronet’s administrators Ernst and Young on Wednesday. If they fail to receive the assurances they require, they will name dates for industrial action on Thursday.

Jennie Bremner,Unite assistant general secretary said:
“Unite is calling on the administrator to take firm action to put the Tube back on track and to cease operating the same policies that led to Metronet being taken into administration in the first place.”

RMT general secretary Bob Crow added:
“The work our members do is crucial not only to the day-to-day operation of the Tube but to the urgent upgrades that are slipping further behind schedule, and any further fragmentation of the workforce is out of the question.
"If we are to have the world-class Tube that London needs in time for the Olympics the only sensible answer is to bring the work back into the public sector ."