The first full day of the tube strike has caused widespread disruption in the capital, with the closure of London Underground leaving many roads jammed and buses packed and disrupted.
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“Strike action especially during busy summer months is a real nightmare for our hotel, restaurant and visitor attraction members who have to maintain high standards while facing the staff shortages and unpredictable customer footfall resulting from the transport challenges”. It also tallies up the “most f*cks given”, with around 1000 utterances of the f-bomb at the time of writing.
The data suggests that people were waiting later than ever to decide whether they should stay in London or find a route back home.
The 24-hour strike by four unions began on Wednesday evening in a dispute over all-night weekend Tube services which are due to start next month.
New figures obtained from Transport for London (TfL) show 364 tube drivers alone have retired in the last five years – a small number of them could run a core service, and be paid the wages which the striking staff would have received. He accused the unions of “holding a gun” to the head of the travelling public, warning that no further money would be authorised during negotiations – even if it meant delaying the launch of the Night Tube.
“More interestingly, of those searches made during the second strike on 5 August, we saw a couple of very significant and telling spikes throughout the day”.
The strikes relate to a pay dispute between the unions and London Underground.
The industrial action which, has been joined by four major unions, is to continue until Friday morning.
Aslef has argued the current terms and conditions for Night Tube workers would have a detrimental effect on the work/life balance of drivers and the union is seeking to secure more rest days for its members.
The scheduled start date is 12 September, but the Mayor of London Boris Johnson has indicated that he is not concerned if the deadline slips.
“The Night Tube plan has been botched from the off”, RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said.
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LU’s chief operating officer Steve Griffiths said: “We’ve recruited 500 additional staff specifically to run the Night Tube and that’s across stations and train operators”.
