In a rather un-festive turn of events, the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) has just announced a series of 24-hour Tube strikes that will hit the capital city over the next couple of months – one of which will be taking place on the last weekend before Christmas. This announcement comes following months of back-and-forth between the London Underground and the RMT due to an ongoing dispute regarding changes to the work patterns of Tube drivers.
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 between November 2026 and February 2027. The industrial action has arisen due to London Underground’s proposed plans to compress the hours of a normal working week into four days for Tube drivers. The union has repeatedly rejected these plans, expressing concerns around ‘fatigue, safety and work-life balance’.
Transport for London reportedly wants to introduce a voluntary 35-hour working week for London Underground drivers, spread across four days. RMT are pushing for a 32-hour working week across the same four-day period. The union claims that the proposed plans will negatively affect the existing protections of drivers, and that workers will have to face longer duties and more short-notice changes to their shifts.
When will the Tube strikes be taking place?
A series of eight 24-hour Tube strikes have been announced. Each strike will run from noon until noon, thus affecting 16 days in total. The industrial action is currently set to take place on the following dates:
- Thursday, November 26, 2026
- Thursday, December 17, 2026
- Saturday, December 19, 2026
- Monday, January 4, 2027
- Wednesday, January 6, 2027
- Wednesday, February 17, 2027
- Tuesday, February 23, 2027
- Thursday, February 25, 2027
It is likely that the strikes will affect all Tube lines in some capacity. However, only Tube drivers that are RMT members will be striking. Around half of London’s Tube drivers belong to the ASLEF union who will not be partaking in the strikes. This hopefully means that there will still be services running on the affected dates – they are likely to be much busier than usual, though.
Eddie Dempsey, general secretary of the RMT, said: “London Underground is attempting 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.
“Our members are being asked to spend more time driving trains, accept longer and more unpredictable shifts and surrender agreements that have been negotiated and defended over many years.”
Transport for London has repeatedly emphasised the proposed four-day working week is voluntary, and drivers are not obliged to agree to it.
As always, we’d highly recommend you keeping an eye on the Transport for London website so that you can check your journey before travelling and plan ahead to avoid further disruptions.
