London Underground workers will strike for four consecutive days later this month as their long-running pay dispute shows no sign of ending.
The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union announced the walkout last week as workers also fight for better pensions and conditions.
The union said hundreds of jobs would be cut, affecting tube stations and maintenance.
Metro drivers, represented by the Aslef union, announced they would also strike in a separate dispute over pensions and working conditions. They are included in the walks on July 26 and 28.
Read on for everything you need to know about the dispute and how it will affect passengers:
When do strike actions take place?
RMT said London Underground staff will walk out on the following days:
- Sunday July 23
- Tuesday July 25th
- Wednesday July 26
- Thursday July 27
- Friday July 28
The union said there would be no strike action on Monday, July 24.
Which lines will be affected?
More than 10,000 workers have the right to strike, but the strikes will affect different sections of the metro network and categories of workers on different days.
It is not yet clear which lines will be affected on different days.
What did the union bosses say?
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said the action would “close the pipe” and “show how important these workers are”.
He said: “Transport for London’s (TfL) plans to cut 600 jobs and attack our members’ pensions are simply unacceptable.
“We are aware that the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has cut TfL’s budget. However, he must join our union and London Underground staff to push back against the Tory government, exposing their damaging agenda for a key part of London’s transport infrastructure.
Aslef’s full-time London Underground organizer said the union had joined the Underground strikes announced by the RMT because the changes would make it “impossible” for drivers to “organise their lives outside of work”.
Finn Brennan said: “We only take action when necessary. Unfortunately, the last few weeks have shown that London Underground management are determined to try to push through disastrous changes – despite union opposition – if they think they can get away with it.
“They have already announced that they intend to start training managers in August under a new on-site procedure and will implement it from January, ignoring the current agreed procedure.
“This new procedure would mean no right of representation or appeal at the first stage of the disciplinary process and the length of all warnings would be doubled from 26 to 52 weeks.
“Any illness longer than a week will be considered ‘long-term’, which means the manager can reassign a driver without an additional appointment.” After just six weeks into the deployment, the guide can be, as they put it, “terminated.”
“Management also want to push through their plans for what they call ‘train modernization.’ They want unlimited remote booking on and off, driving shifts of up to 10 hours, weeks of “flexible cover” on each list and fixed connections to be removed.
“This would make it impossible for subway drivers to organize their lives outside of work or have an efficient shift system.
“Their aim is a fully flexible workforce with all existing agreements replaced – allowing them to cut hundreds more jobs and forcing those of us who remain to work harder for longer. To protect our pensions, working conditions and agreements, our members are ready to act.
How is Transport for London responding?
Glyn Barton, TfL’s chief operating officer, said: “We are disappointed that the RMT has announced strike action over this range of issues, which we are trying to discuss with them openly and collaboratively.
“We urge the union to reconsider and engage with us to discuss the issues and seek a solution.”
The government’s transport agency said it has no current proposals to change its pension provisions, although it is exploring a range of proposals to ensure no staff lose their jobs or are asked to work extra.
The RMT said 20,000 UK rail workers will also strike in July.