The decision by Transport for London to push the deadline back for English speaking tests on their employees has been greeted with cheers and jubilations from union members of GMB. The deadline for drivers and employees to show that they can speak English to their employers has been repealed back from the original deadline of March to September, and GMB are pleased at the very least that some of the workers’ anger and indignation has been quenched as a result of their actions to push this ridiculous notion back.

TfL’s original plan was to impose 24 hour long private English language lessons to those who could not prove that they had a certification in the English language, which would cost to the workers forced to do this a total of £180. Not only is this a staggering amount, it also forces  individuals to suffer the indignation of being exposed by TfL and humiliated even if they are in fact perfectly capable of speaking the language.  Indeed, at least now that the plans have been pushed back to September, this will enable drivers and staff the appropriate amount of time to provide themselves with a more affordable alternative to  these private lessons. Mister Steve Garelick of GMB has explained that he is pleased that the union were able to put enough pressure on GMB to ensure that they would be forced to push back these detrimental plans that would have caused great misery and upset to the workers that would have had to suffer from them.

The imposition of £180 for a mere formality is indeed ridiculous and Mister Garelick is pleased at least that TfL were willing to see reason on this particular occasion and agreed to repeal what they had originally intended to do.  The victory is not only one for GMB, it is also one for the hard-working drivers and employees of TfL who do their utmost to make sure that transport vehicles are driven safely for the public.