London Underground staff strike in protest against Night Tube shifts
Five Tube lines will be severely affected this morning by strike action taken by London Underground (LU) workers.
Transport for London (TfL) said the Central, Jubilee, Northern, Piccadilly and Victoria lines will be severely disrupted for 24 hours from 4.30am on Friday.
Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) members are also planning to strike on six other nights: this Saturday (27 November), and on Friday 3 December, Saturday 4, Friday 10, Saturday 11, and Friday 17.
As the strikes cross into Friday evening rush hour, only 58 per cent of the regularly scheduled service is running, Andy Lord, managing director of London Underground confirmed.
The Mayor of London said the strike action came at the “worst possible time” as shoppers attempted to attend Black Friday sales and Londoners anticipated the return of the Night Tube. Sadiq Khan urged RMT to return to negotiations after accusing the union of refusing to meet TfL for crunch talks yesterday.
The RMT has said that LU has abolished 200 Tube driver positions and has imposed “unacceptable and intolerable” new rotas on existing drivers to cover Night Tube services. The union says this would “wreck the work-life balance” of members.
