A planned bus workers’ strike that was expected to disrupt a number of routes across the capital over the weekend has been largely called off, Unite the union has said.
The strike action would have come just after Londoners endured major disruption on the Underground, forcing many to turn to cycling, driving, or even walking to commute to work.
Drivers, engineers and controllers on about 60 routes in northwest and southwest London were due to strike this weekend, following a dispute over pay and conditions.
The strike was expected to take place from 5am on Friday to the evening on Sunday.
But the majority of workers due to strike, London United employees, have now accepted a pay offer and have cancelled their plans to strike, Unite the union has said.
Negotiations between Unite and London Transit are set to take place in the near future.
If an agreement cannot be made, some industrial action will go ahead which is likely to affect the following bus routes: 13/N13, 23/N23, 31/N31, 218, 295/N295 and 452.
First Bus, which owns the two bus operators, said it had made an above-inflation offer.
A spokesperson for the firm told the BBC: "Our employees are at the heart of everything we do, and the above-inflation offer, which includes full back pay for all colleagues, demonstrates our commitment to supporting our people through the ongoing cost-of-living pressures while balancing the financial challenges we face as a business."
Thousands of RMT members have brought the Underground to a standstill for much of the working week. RMT members on the DLR walked out in a separate dispute over pay and conditions on Tuesday and Thursday.
Commuters have been forced to seek alternative ways of getting to work, leading to a surge in the use of Lime and Forest bikes. Some reported walking for hours to reach their offices, while others were seen queuing outside Elizabeth line entrances and inside overcrowded stations.
In an update today, Transport for London has invited the RMT union to peace talks next week in a new bid to solve the dispute that sparked a five-day Tube strike.
TfL’s lead negotiator Nick Dent wrote to his opposite number at the RMT, Jared Wood, on Thursday afternoon, saying the walkout - which is due to end at midnight on Thursday - had been in “no-one interests”.
Mr Dent said that TfL “remain committed to finding a resolution to the dispute” and invited the Tube’s biggest union the chance to take part in talks next Wednesday, September 17.
