Mike Brown, Customer Services Director, Stations, said "This is an unnecessary strike which follows an unwillingness by the RMT to negotiate with us. This is not about safety. We have already reached agreement with Aslef."

On asking an Aslef representative what the deciding factors were for calling the strike off he said "we were happy the management had agreed to set up a safety forum with union representation, No enforced redundancy and no job losses on safety critical positions." The vote was apparently unanimous though when questioned on this he stated "It was unanimously voted by those in the room." The final tally was believed to be 4 to 3 against action.
A spokesperson for the RMT said "Aslef's members are train drivers and they won't be affected by PPP, plus they were also threatened with legal action if they striked."

Other safety issues that concerned some of the strikers were the dust levels inside the tunnel, along with asbestos which lies in amongst the infrastructure. Tests are done regulary involving sucking air through a filter which is then cleaned of dirt to leave any remaining particles which
are later observed through a microscope. Chris Beech an Occupational Service scientist for the L.U. said " I'm not saying their aren't any but with technology that's available we don't find any. Sometimes there is too much
grit to tell." He further added "Their is asbestos down here we know where it is and we manage it. If a major refurbishment is done we use the opportunity to take it out. But it's not cost effective to remove it all otherwise." One of the strikers outside Seven Sisters said "When you blow your nose at the end of a black soot comes out."