It was announced last month that London’s trusty transport network was going to be impacted by a fair bit of springtime strike action. And whilst the Tube strikes that were set to take place in March were called off; the same unfortunately cannot currently be said for the industrial action confirmed for April, May, and June. Here is everything you need to know about the impending disruptions.
Who is striking and why?
Drivers on the London Underground who are members of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) are set to walk out across a series of 24-hour periods over the coming months. The strike action comes following an ongoing dispute regarding work pattern changes and London Underground’s plans to compress the hours of a normal working week of its Tube drives into four days. The union has rejected these plans, expressing concern about ‘fatigue, safety and work-life balance’.
When will the strikes be taking place?
London Underground drivers (that are members of the RMT union) are currently set to strike 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)
- June 16-17 (12pm Tuesday – 11.59am Wednesday)
- June 18-19 (12pm Thursday – 11.59am Friday)
The strike will affect all Tube lines but TfL expect these strikes to have less of an impact on the entirety of the network than those that took place last September. It’s likely that a reduced service will continue to run on most lines across the affected dates. The Elizabeth line, the DLR, and the London Overground will all be running as normal, but TfL has warned that these services will be very busy.
Following progress-making discussions between RMT and London Underground management, the strikes that were scheduled in March were called off. So, there is still (a tiny bit of) time for the same to happen regarding the upcoming dates. You can stay up to date and find out more about any upcoming strike action taking place across London’s transport network here.
