RMT boss Mick Cash lambasted for his "telephone-number salary"

Thank god – next week’s Tube strikes have been called off.

However, RMT has threatened further industrial action if negotiations with London Underground don’t go smoothly.

An RMT spokesman told the BBC: “If further negotiations prove negative then further industrial action will be called in defence of our agreements and for proper pay for our members.”

RMT members have staged three strikes this year to protest about pay and conditions ahead of the launch of the all-night Tube service.

Now, RMT boss Mick Cash has come under fire for his “telephone-number salary”.

Cash, who was appointed general secretary of the RMT in October 2014, receives a salary of £128,437.

According to RMT’s 2014 annual returns (attached), the union has spent over £6.7m on remuneration and expenses of staff.

Jonathan Isaby, chief executive, Taxpayers’ Alliance, told LondonLovesBusiness.com that the government should not give in to “union barons”.

He said: “Union barons raking in telephone-number salaries shouldn’t be able to hold London to ransom. Tube strikes aren’t just a minor inconvenience but materially affect people’s lives, their ability to get to work and to earn a living.

“There are thousands of people who work in pubs, clubs, shops and restaurants who aren’t able to get into work and that hits them in the pocket, and it will seriously grate that those responsible for the chaos are on salaries multiple times higher than their own. The government cannot give in to these unions, who take a mile when they’re given an inch, and therefore should reclassify the Tube as an essential service so that minimum staffing is legally required.”

Caroline Pidgeon, Lib-Dem transport chairwoman on the London Assembly, told LondonLovesBusiness.com:

“Passengers may be surprised that both the senior management of RMT and at TfL are enjoying pay and remuneration most ordinary Londoners can only dream about. It is time the needs of passengers and ordinary Londoners were given a far higher priority and a way forward found to stop the strikes.”