There's an opportunity for London Underground "to set up a non-profit infrastructure company,'' said Bob Crow, general secretary of the Rail, Maritime & Transport union, at a news conference today in the U.K. capital.

His comments came as union members at Metronet voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike against the company. They're demanding job security for 3,000 workers after Metronet, London Underground's largest contractor, ran out of cash and was put under the control of administrators last month. The unions say the company's collapse threatens workers' jobs, pay and pensions.

"Our members are angry,'' said Gerry Doherty, general secretary of the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association union, at the news conference.

Metronet maintains nine of the 12 London Underground lines,and a strike would severely disrupt the railway, which carries 3 million passengers a week, union officials said.

The unions wrote to U.K. Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly and spoke to London Mayor Ken Livingstone about establishing a non-profit, government-controlled successor to Metronet, Crow said. He favors a company similar in structure to Network Rail, which maintains Britain's national railway, he said.

The U.K. government set up Network Rail to succeed Railtrack Plc, which collapsed after running out of cash in 2001.

Industrial Action

Peter Hendy, London's transport commissioner, said no decision has been made about Metronet's successor and the administration, overseen by Ernst & Young LLP, will take "months rather than weeks.

"We've go to do it in an orderly fashion,'' Hendy said in an interview today. He said was disappointed about the union'sstrike plans. "We don't think there's any cause for industrial action.''

Metronet signed a 30-year agreement with the U.K. government that required it to spend 17 billion pounds ($34 billion) inreturn for annual payments of about 850 million pounds. The so-called public-private partnership contract, which was backed by Prime Minister Gordon Brown when he was treasury chief, was designed to boost private investment in the London Underground.

The company collapsed after saying it ran up about 2 billion pounds of extra costs. Metronet is a joint venture owned by WSAtkins Plc, Balfour Beatty Plc, Bombardier Inc., Thames Water and Electricite de France SA.