Unions RMT, Aslef, Unite and TSSA are unhappy with the pay and shifts for the new all-night service, which is due to run on the Central, Jubilee, Northern, Piccadilly and Victoria lines on Friday and Saturday nights.
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Union members walked off the job twice this summer amid a dispute about how to implement a new 24-hour service on weekends.
It’s the news most Londoners were expecting after two strikes and several rounds of talks failed to produced a satisfactory outcome for management and drivers.
In a statement, London Underground said it wanted to conclude the talks and avoid further strikes.
General secretary of train drivers’ union ASLEF Mick Whelan welcomed the decision, stressing that it gave them “all the time and space to negotiate properly on the introduction of the Night Tube in the capital”.
London Mayor Boris Johnson has been blamed for the delay in the launch of the Night Tube service.
The union on Monday said it had suspended the strikes as a “gesture of good will” to allow further talks.
Caroline Pidgeon AM, Liberal Democrat London Assembly transport spokesperson, called the delay of the launch “a big climb down for the mayor”.
“We warned repeatedly that it would be unsafe and foolish to press ahead with bodged Night Tube plans until the very basics in terms of staffing and safety had been agreed with the unions through the long-established frameworks”.
On August 12th it was revealed that the service wouldn’t meet its targeted September 12th start date.
“In the meantime, our action scheduled for early September remains on”.
The Night Tube is expected to begin in London in Autumn. By pushing for a set start date the Mayor strengthened the union’s negotiating position.
It was announced by Mayor Boris Johnson and then Tube boss Mike Brown, now acting TfL Commissioner, in November 2013.
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If “never taking the night bus ever again” was on your wish list for mid-September, think again.
