Listen up, Londoners, we can all breathe a collective sigh of relief as there will no longer be Tube strikes taking place next week. Two 24-hour Tube strikes were set to take place between Tuesday and Friday next week (March 24-27), but the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport have announced that following discussions with London Underground management, progress has been made in regards to the ongoing dispute, and the industrial action will no longer be going ahead next week.
That was the good news, folks, but now for the bad news. Next week’s strikes might be off the table, but they were just two in a series of strikes that had recently been announced by the union. The other industrial walk-outs that were set to take place over the coming months are still currently very much going ahead. But there is, of course, still time for negotiations to be made between both parties.
Who is striking and why?
London Underground drivers who are members of the RMT union are set to walk out across various 24-hour periods over the next few months due to a dispute over changes to working patterns and condensed hours. London Underground plans to compress the hours of a normal working week into four days for Tube drivers, and the union has rejected these plans and expressed concern about ‘fatigue, safety and work-life balance’.
When will the strikes be taking place?
London Tube drivers are still currently set to strikes on the following dates:
- April 21-22 (12pm Tuesday – 11.59am Wednesday)
- April 23-24 (12pm Thursday – 11.59am Friday)
- May 19-20 (12pm Tuesday – 11.59am Wednesday)
- May 21-22 (12pm Thursday – 11.59am Friday)
RMT union have also said that additional strike action on June 16 and 18 has now been put in place. Londoners will need to use alternative transport methods on the days on which the strike action is taking place. The Elizabeth line, DLR, London Overground, buses and trams will all be running as usual on the strike days but TfL have warned that these services are likely to be extremely busy.
You can stay up to date and find out more about any upcoming strike action taking place across London’s transport network here.