London’s tube passengers were at the mercy of a five-line strike on two occasions towards the end of last year, after RMT action against the night tube schedule caused disruptions.
Now, it seems that a strike across the entire network is going ahead this week, with disruptions set to hit the network on Tuesday, March 1 and Thursday, March 3.
The RMT union announced on February 24 that 10,000 members would walk out this week in protest over jobs and pensions. It is said that talks at arbitration service Acas broke down last week, and the strikes will go ahead.
On both March 1 and March 3, the strikes will last 24-hours, from one minute past midnight until midnight. We can expect “severe disruption across all Tube lines”, and little to no service across the entire. Morning rush hours on Wednesday (March 2) and Friday (March 4) are also expected to be “severely impacted”.
Pension schemes for TfL are being reviewed, and the network plans to axe 500-600 station posts — both are which are reasons for the latest tube strike.
TfL has said no worker will lose their job, and cuts will be made simply by not re-filling positions of those who leave or retire. The RMT believes the government are prolonging the TfL financial crisis in the wake of the pandemic.
During talks the RMT said: “London Underground confirmed all the union’s worst fears that nothing is off the table in terms of the threat to jobs, pensions, conditions and safety”.
Passengers have been advised to work from home on the affected days. A few weeks ago, tube passenger numbers were at around 60% of pre-pandemic levels.