Sir Sadiq Khan has made clear that he is not prepared to intervene in a Tube strike that threatens to bring six days of closures and chaos to the London Underground.
It comes as commuters facing a torrid Tuesday, with a strike on the DLR adding to another total shutdown of the Tube network.
The RMT, which has called its 10,400 Tube members out on a rolling strike that began on Sunday and is expected to affect services until Friday mid-morning, wants the London mayor to offer concessions on its demand for a 32-hour, four-day week.
This is because Sir Sadiq found £30m from City Hall resources to give Tube staff a bumper pay rise and avert a RMT strike in January 2024.
But the mayor, speaking to London media on Monday afternoon, said last year’s intervention was because of “exceptional circumstances” – and said he was “not able to do so” again.
He told The Standard: “I think what is really important for the RMT and TfL to get round the table and talk about the differences they have got and try to meet them when they can.
“I can’t sugar-coat the fact that these strikes are incredibly bad news for our city.
“They are bad news for patients who are struggling to meet hospital appointments. They are bad news for parents who find it really hard to get their kids to school because they need the Tube to get form home to school. They are really hard for people who haven’t got the luxury to work from home.
“In the past, in exceptional circumstances, because of record-breaking inflation levels, because of Liz Truss’s mini Budget, I have supported the Met police service, the Fire Brigade and Transport for London financially.
“I am not able to do so. That was an exceptional circumstance. That is why I would encourage TfL and the RMT to get round the table and sort this out.”
Asked to clarify that he had “absolutely no plans to intervene”, Sir Sadiq replied: “This will only be resolved if RMT and TfL get round the table and resolve it.”
Hundreds of thousands of defiant Londoners battled into their central London workplaces by Elizabeth line, bus and bike - as some small traders accused the union of holding London to ransom.
Lime said it saw a 58 per cent increase in demand for its e-bikes.
So many people getting around by Lime bike during the Tube strike. Alas not everyone obeying the red lights… pic.twitter.com/hprHLZs1XN
— Ross Lydall (@RossLydall) September 8, 2025
Sir Sadiq also chairs the TfL board. His intervention last year is understood to have made negotiations tougher for TfL to resolve.
This is because RMT negotiators doubt that TfL’s “final offer” – which includes a 3.4 per cent pay rise but no reduction in the 35-hour working week – is really a final offer.
They believe that by piling pressure on TfL – including the threat of more strikes – that even a modest reduction in the working week, of about 30 minutes a week, can be achieved.
The RMT is taking action primarily in a bid to secure concessions from TfL relating to the longstanding concerns of Tube station staff about shift patterns and fatigue.
“You never feel right. Your head is all wrong. You get brain fog all the time.” Jared Wood from @RMTunion explains why London Underground staff are on strike pic.twitter.com/bxWirme4sn
— Ross Lydall (@RossLydall) September 8, 2025
The RMT action on the DLR is over pay and conditions and is against Keolis Amey Docklands, the private consortium that runs the DLR under contract for TfL. DLR staff who work on the DLR will also strike on Thursday.
The DLR, which is used for almost 100m journeys a year, is a key part of the TfL network in east and south-east London and how thousands of workers get to and from Canary Wharf.
