A week of tube strikes that would have caused severe disruption to the London Underground has been called off at the very last moment after the Mayor of London made more money available.
The RMT union said it would suspend the strike action following talks with Transport for London (TfL).
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “Following further positive discussions today, the negotiations on a pay deal for our London Underground members can now take place on an improved basis and mandate with significant further funding for a settlement being made available.
“This significantly improved funding position means the scheduled strike action will be suspended with immediate effect and we look forward to getting into urgent negotiations with TfL in order to develop a suitable agreement and resolution to the dispute.”
Due to the talks, the strikes on Monday to Thursday will no longer go ahead – however, TfL is warning that there will be some disruption tomorrow morning due to the late notice suspension of the tube strike.
A TfL spokesperson said: “Today, we were made aware that the Mayor was able to provide additional funds to enable discussions with the unions to continue. We have all consistently made clear that strike action is bad for everyone and would have a negative impact on the city as it recovers from the pandemic.
“This intervention from the Mayor has been discussed with the unions, and the RMT union has now suspended the planned strike action. However, as the action has been suspended at this late stage, Londoners will still face disruption tomorrow and we advise all customers to check the TfL website or the TfL Go app for the latest travel information.”
“We will now meet with representatives of all the unions to agree on the best way for this funding to be used to resolve the current dispute. We will also seek to meet as soon as possible with the unions representing TfL staff.”
Posting on his personal Twitter account, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said that “Londoners and visitors to our city will no longer face several days of disruption.”
“This shows what can be achieved by engaging with trade unions and transport staff rather then working against them.”
The dispute over pay and conditions is not settled; it’s just that the two sides appear to have made enough progress that the stikes can be suspended pending further negotiations.
RMT members have repeatedly voted to reject a 5% pay offer, which TfL has said in the past is the most they can offer at the time.
Updated 17:48: Added extra context from TfL.
great, more wasted time in the office. I hate TFL so much, not only is their service awful and expensive for the peanuts London companies pay you, but you need to put up with red signal failures and more. I wish they kept this strike. more money wasted
‘more money wasted’
What money has been wasted?
I think she means more of her money on transport. As for a response though, I don’t think I even know where to begin with that one.