London Underground to cut 1,000 jobs

London Underground plans to axe 1,000 jobs but the cuts will not affect passenger services, Transport for London said on Thursday.

The staff reduction is aimed at making the "Tube" network more efficient and is not linked to the recession, the body that runs the capital's transport system said.

The employer began talks with unions about the planned cuts on Thursday. It did not say over what time period the job losses would take place.

"Frontline operations including train, station and maintenance staff are not part of the review and will be unaffected by any changes," Transport for London said in a statement.

London Underground employs around 20,000 people.

A Transport for London spokesman said the job cuts would mainly affect backroom roles such as finance, procurement, human resources and administration.

He said the organisation hoped to avoid compulsory redundancies. It would look to achieve the figure by reducing temporary positions, by not filling vacancies and through some voluntary redundancies.

Transport workers' union RMT said it would ballot its members on industrial action if London Underground made any compulsory redundancies.

Source : Reuters
[tags : recession bankrupt collapse retrenchment financial news collapse stagnation economic slowdown financial collapse world recession global recession layoff job cut]

Canadian Pacific Cuts 600 Jobs

Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. cut 600 union jobs, suspended bonuses and restricted air travel on corporate jets, the Globe and Mail said.

The Calgary-based railway is focused on “containing costs on all fronts, in tough ways,” the newspaper said, citing an internal company memo. The cost-cutting measures were announced to employees during a meeting in Calgary. The job cuts amount to 3.8 percent of its workforce of 16,000.

Source : Bloomberg
[tags : recession bankrupt collapse retrenchment financial news collapse stagnation economic slowdown financial collapse world recession global recession layoff job cut]

National Express to cut 750 jobs

Rail and bus firm National Express says it plans to cut up to 750 jobs to save costs over the next year.

The firm said it was offering voluntary redundancies but could not rule out making any compulsory cuts.

National Express, which runs buses, coaches and the East Coast and East Anglia rail franchises, said that it needed to save £15m a year.

It said the job cuts would come from back office staff rather than workers serving customers.

A spokeswoman said some of the job cuts had already been made.

Voluntary redundancy has been offered to about 50 train catering staff across the North East.

In November, National Express said it would close its call centre in Norwich with the loss of at least 73 jobs.

The company, which employs 18,000 people in the UK, said its 2008 profit would still meet expectations.

Source : BBC
[tags : recession bankrupt collapse retrenchment financial news collapse stagnation economic slowdown financial collapse world recession global recession layoff job cut]