London tube strike to go ahead after 11th-hour talks fail to find resolution

The strike on the London Underground will go ahead on Tuesday after a day of talks failed to avert industrial action. About half of London’s tube drivers will take action, bringing widespread transport disruption to the capital. A second strike is planned for Thursday. Hopes of a resolution were high after previous threatened action was suspended in May . However, despite 11th-hour negotiations at Acas between RMT union representatives and Transport for London (TfL), RMT drivers will strike on Tuesday and Thursday in a dispute over the introduction of a four-day working week. TfL urged customers to check before travel, although it hopes to run about half of all tube services. Drivers in Aslef, a slight majority of those working on the tube, have welcomed the four-day week proposals and will not be on strike, limiting the impact of the RMT’s action. Nonetheless, no service is expected on the Circle or Piccadilly lines, or in central sections of the Metropolitan and Central lines, during the strike. Tube services will also finish earlier and later than usual on functioning lines. Other rail services, including the Elizabeth line, the London Overground and the Docklands Light Railway, will run as normal. Buses will operate as usual but are likely to be very busy and slowed by additional traffic on the roads. The RMT union blamed TfL’s “refusal to engage meaningfully” with concerns over the proposed working patterns. …