London Underground strikes this week cancelled after last-minute deal
Strike action set to cause chaos on the London Underground this week have been called off, the Rail Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) has announced.
3,000 workers had planned walk outs on Wednesday and Friday this week but the RMT said that both will no longer go ahead after “significant progress” was made during the talks.
The union said that following talks at the conciliation service ACAS that it had managed to save key jobs, a critical aspect of the dispute, and prevent “detrimental changes to rosters.”
A coinciding ban on overtime working from the train drivers union ASLEF is still set to go ahead on Wednesday, causing reduced service at 16 rail operators across the UK.
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “I congratulate all our members who were prepared to take strike action and our negotiations team for securing this victory in our tube dispute.
“Without the unity and industrial power of our members, there is no way we would have been able to make the progress we have.
“We still remain in dispute over outstanding issues around pensions and working agreements and will continue to pursue a negotiated settlement.”
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan posted on X: “Strike action this week has been called off – great news for Londoners. Despite the government’s onerous funding conditions we’ve avoided strikes. This is what you can achieve when you work with, not against, unions.”
Nick Dent, director of customer operations for the London Underground, said “this is good news for London and we will continue to work closely with our trade unions as we evolve London Underground to ensure we can continue to support the capital in the most effective way.”
The resolution will also come as a relief to London businesses, particularly hospitality, which have faced multi-million pound writedowns as a result of repeat walk-outs across Britain’s rail network.
But much of the Transport for London (TFL) operated service will still be affected due to the last minute nature of the cancellation.
The Centre of Economics and Business Research (CEBR) had forecast a £62m hit to the capital’s economy as a result of the disruption prior to today’s deal.