Last-minute plea to call off Tube strikes

London Underground has made a last-minute plea for Tube strikes to be called off ahead of walkouts by thousands of workers which will cause travel chaos in the capital.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT), including drivers, signallers and maintenance workers, are to launch a series of strikes over pay and conditions which will cause huge disruption to services next week.

Transport for London (TfL) has warned there will be few or no services between Monday and Thursday, with some disruption on Sunday.

TfL has offered a 3.4% pay rise which it described as “fair” and said it cannot afford to meet the RMT’s demand for a cut in the working week.

Nick Dent, London Underground’s (LU) director of customer operations, said it was not too late to call off the strikes.

He told the PA news agency that LU had made a “fair” pay offer, without any conditions attached, which he urged the RMT to put to a ballot of its members.

Union demands for a cut in the 35-hour week were “simply unaffordable” and would cost hundreds of millions of pounds.

“We have met four times in the past two weeks and we would welcome further talks,” he said.

“It is not too late to call off the strikes and put our offer to the RMT members.”

The last Tube-wide strike was three years ago, over pay and pensions, but Mr Dent said next week’s action will be different because separate groups of workers will walk out on different days.

“It will be very damaging for us,” he added.

Passengers have been urged to check before they travel, with Tubes that do run, as well as buses, which are expected to be busier than usual.

Docklands Light Railway services will also be hit next Tuesday and Thursday because of a strike by RMT members in a separate pay dispute.

Claire Mann, Transport for London’s chief operating officer, said: “Our pay deal is in line with other offers accepted by the RMT across the rail industry, so it is disappointing the RMT is planning to disrupt Londoners without giving their members a say on the offer.

“We remain open for discussions about any part of our offer, and we are committed to making sure our colleagues are treated fairly.

“We welcome further engagement from all of our unions about managing fatigue across the network but a reduction in the contractual 35-hour working week is neither practical nor affordable.

“If this strike action goes ahead, customers should check before they travel, as on some days during the strike there will be little to no service.”

An RMT spokesperson said: “We believe a shorter working week is fair and affordable particularly when you consider TfL has a surplus of £166 million last year and a £10 billion annual operating budget.

“There are 2,000 fewer staff working on London Underground since 2018 and our members are feeling the strain of extreme shift patterns, giving rise to potential health problems due to fatigue.

“London Underground is doing well financially and all our members want is fair consideration.”

The Tube strikes will mean some stations served by Great Northern, Southern and Thameslink will be shut and train times altered.

Passengers have been told to plan ahead and expect trains to be much busier than usual.

The affected stations are:

– Farringdon (Thameslink)

– Moorgate (Great Northern)

– Old Street (Great Northern)

– Essex Road (Great Northern)

– Highbury and Islington (Great Northern)

– Drayton Park (Great Northern)

– Wembley Central (Southern)

– Harrow and Wealdstone (Southern)

London Underground station staff will not be available to open some of these stations at certain times on some days, meaning passengers will not be able to enter or exit and trains will not call there.

Jenny Saunders, Thameslink and Great Northern’s customer service director said: “Next week, we’re expecting our trains to be much busier than normal owing to Tube strikes in London.

“It’ll mean services may not call at their usual stations or could be diverted to run elsewhere.

“My advice to anybody planning to travel in, into, or through London next week is to plan ahead of time, and check again before travelling, as information might change at short notice.”