London Underground Drivers Announce Strike Action
RMT union calls for eight 24-hour walkouts over imposed four-day working week dispute.
Carla Rooney
London Underground drivers will stage a series of 24-hour strikes.
The RMT union announced walkouts, scheduled across eight separate days between November 26 and February 26.
Strike action stems from an ongoing dispute concerning a voluntary four-day working week for tube drivers. The RMT claims London Underground imposes this as part of new working arrangements.
Under these new plans, drivers face increased time spent driving trains, longer duties, earlier starts, and later finishes.
Eddie Dempsey stated that London Underground attempts to dress up a wholesale attack on drivers’ working conditions as a voluntary four-day week.
But there is nothing voluntary about a scheme that forces drivers to give up existing protections whether they work four days or five, and threatens those who refuse with displacement from their depots.
He added that members are being asked to spend more time driving trains, accept longer and more unpredictable shifts, and surrender agreements negotiated and defended over many years.