Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Business

Thousands of London commuters walk to work in underground strike

A strike by London Underground workers has caused significant disruption with commuters walking, biking or taking the bus to work
A strike by London Underground workers has caused significant disruption with commuters walking, biking or taking the bus to work - Copyright AFP CARLOS JASSO
A strike by London Underground workers has caused significant disruption with commuters walking, biking or taking the bus to work - Copyright AFP CARLOS JASSO

Workers streamed into the British capital by foot, bike and bus Wednesday as strike action on the London Underground train network disrupted services.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) walked out from 12:00pm (1100GMT) on Tuesday for 24 hours over plans by Transport for London (TfL) to condense the working week into four days.

They will strike again for 24 hours from midday on Thursday, causing disruption to services for the rest of the week.

The strike resulted in services on London Underground being suspended or part suspended with severe delays on other parts of the network, according to TfL.

Services on airport links such as the Gatwick Express and Heathrow Express were not affected, the operators said on their websites.

Eurostar services to France, Belgium and The Netherlands were also operating as normal.

The RMT union says TfL bosses informed it last week that it would go ahead with the four-day week despite drivers rejecting the working arrangement in two referendums.

Other issues include shift length and changes to annual leave were also in dispute, said RMT official Jared Wood.

Claire Mann, TfL’s chief operating officer, however, said the changes to the working week were not being imposed.

“The changes would be voluntary, there would be no reduction in contractual hours and those who wish to continue a five-day working week pattern would be able to do so,” she said.

AFP
Written By

With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.

You may also like:

Entertainment

Actor and filmmaker David Lipper ("Full House" fame) chatted about directing the thriller "Neglected," and working with the cast.

Entertainment

The Beatles' first official London museum is set to open next year in the Mayfair building.

Tech & Science

Staph bacteria. Image: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Public Health Image Library (PHIL), with identification number #11157. CC 3.0.Antimicrobial resistance continues to be...

Tech & Science

As AI data centres hit the limits of conventional hardware, photonic devices are moving from niche to necessary.