RMT to ballot Tube Lines engineers over strike action

This means we’ll always have a core service even on strike days, and it could be run by retired staff like the fire brigade. Unions warned more strikes could follow, with a mandate for continued industrial action until the dispute is resolved.

The unions have so far rejected a 2-percent average pay raise for all tube employees, as well as an over-$3,000 one-off bonus for drivers working on the affected lines.

The union said there should be an immediate and indefinite suspension of the proposed scheme, warning that it risked damaging infrastructure, compromising safety and making weekly maintenance works untenable.

Mr Johnson said: “This [the all-night service] will be a fantastic thing for London”.

A Transport for London advertisement was published on Wednesday advising commuters about the organisation’s offer to tube drivers, and the changes to working terms and conditions. 50 per cent of people who use the night bus are working people.

Early morning commuters form queues to board buses at Victoria station during the Tube strike in Lon … “We urgently need to get talks convened with tube professionals who understand the reasons behind a crisis which should never have been allowed to get this far”. “No-one will be compelled to work more than they want to”, he said.

It is the second round of strike action to take place.

TFL has asked customers to remember it will be much busier than normal on all routes but they will be putting staff on hand to give advice on how to complete journeys without taking the tube.

Mr Johnson said it was “a great shame” that the unions had not put the offer on the table to their members – though both the RMT and Aslef members voted overwhelmingly in favour of action. But the offer was rejected.

“We are urging the unions to call off the strike and put the offer to their members”, COO Steve Griffiths said late Tuesday, adding the only way to settle the outstanding issues “is by keeping talking”.

The idea came as millions of Londoners braced themselves for a hard journey home.

The roads are expected to be particularly congested.