Yesterday’s strike saw London grind to a standstill with pressure mounting on Mayor of London Boris Johnson to end the long-running dispute with the unions over the 24-hour tubes which are due to be launched in September.
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Travel chaos was feared across the British capital as commuters turned to cars, boats, bicycles and packed buses with the 24-hour walkout by rail unions meaning no trains were running on the network which handles some four million journeys a day.
Transport for London’s (TfL) website will be updated regularly with all the latest news on the strike and the status of London Underground lines.
London Subway (LU) has apologised for that interruption, stating the most recent present – a-2% income boost this season, an additional £200 per night-shift for motorists to get a limited-time, along with a £500 reward for Evening Pipe team – was targeted at increasing function-life balance.
The RMT union has also made noises about how the plans could jeopardise maintenance – usually stations and track are inspected overnight when the Tube is closed.
A senior Underground boss today admitted the latest offer to striking workers was “lost in translation”.
Many commuters switched to automobiles, taxis, and different for-hire automobiles like Uber, nevertheless London was congested to the goal of gridlock for a lot of the morning, irritating their efforts.
“In many ways most of the streets are inherited from history, there are very few wide boulevards or avenues that you’d find in other big cities”. “Over the years I have met them many times but what I won’t do is sit down and negotiate with them when they are holding a gun to Londoners heads”. Talks at Acas were expected to resume next week.
His colleague, LU’s managing director Nick Brown, said: “I think, for the sake clearly of our passengers, a resolution has got to come”.
RMT leaders claimed the offer “is just a rehash of an earlier package” which doesn’t address concerns about work/life balance, adding that staff have not been properly consulted about the rota changes that night work would bring, leaving them “at the beck and call of management to plug staffing gaps”.
That’s on top of a 2 percent pay increase and 500-pound bonus for all staff on Night Tube lines, plus a 2,000-pound payment for train operators who choose to work the new shifts.
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Steve Griffiths, London Underground’s chief operating officer, said: “We thank our customers for bearing with us during this unnecessary strike action”.
