Tube strike bombshell for London as RMT announces EIGHT 24-hour walkouts
Tube drivers are to stage a series of 24-hour strikes in the next few months in a dispute over a four-day week, the RMT union announced on Friday. The walkouts on the London Underground will take place on eight separate days between Thursday, November 26 and Thursday, February 25. The shock news was immediately slammed by business chiefs in London and the Aslef train drivers’ union which has hailed the reforms as offering Tube drivers the best working conditions on the rail network.
The RMT and Transport for London have been in talks for months over a four-day week for Tube drivers, many of who earn on average more than £70,000 , after industrial action earlier this year. The RMT has announced Tube strikes on eight days Getty TfL presented the union with the final proposals a few weeks ago and they have failed to break the deadlock in the negotiations over the changes which have been fully backed by the Aslef union.
The 24-hour strikes will begin at noon on the following dates: Thursday 26 November 2026 Thursday 17 December 2026 Saturday 19 December 2026 Monday 4 January 2027 Wednesday 6 January 2027 Wednesday 17 February 2027 Tuesday 23 February 2027 Thursday 25 February 2027 RMT general secretary Eddie Dempsey said: “London Underground is attempting to dress up a wholesale attack on drivers' working conditions as a voluntary four-day week. “But there is nothing voluntary about a scheme that forces drivers to give up existing protections whether they work four days or five, and threatens those who refuse with displacement from their depots.”
Left out here: Leaves out what changes the picture
The Standard never reports the RMT's stated concern that the proposals would pave the way for hundreds of job cuts, with initial Bakerloo line rosters indicating significant staffing reductions, nor that the union says it is not against a genuine four-day week. Without it, and with Aslef's line that the strike is designed to stop a shorter week, a reader believes the RMT is striking to deny drivers more time off.
How we know
- The Independent reported“The union has also raised serious concerns that the proposals would pave the way for hundreds of job cuts, with initial rosters published for the Bakerloo line indicating significant reductions in staffing.”London Underground strikes: Drivers to stage series of 24-hour walkouts (opens in a new tab)
- Daily Mail reported“He said the RMT is not against a 'genuine' four-day working week that benefits their members”London Tube drivers to go on strike across three months as RMT union continues fight against four-day working week (opens in a new tab)
RMT General Secretary Eddie Dempsey PA Archive But the industrial action, which threatens to cause travel chaos ahead of Christmas and into the New Year, was condemned by business chiefs. Karim Fatehi, chief executive of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said: “The days immediately before Christmas are vital trading days for thousands of businesses across the capital, while hundreds of thousands of visitors come to London over the festive period to shop, dine, stay in hotels and enjoy everything the city has to offer.
“Disrupting the transport network at this time risks costing businesses valuable revenue, deterring visitors and making it harder for staff and customers to get around.“ Shadow Transport Secretary Richard Holden added: “These RMT militants who bankroll hand-picked Labour MPs do not care about better services, they do not care about passengers and they do not care about our capital city – all they care about is beating as much cash out of this weak piñata of a Labour Mayor and Government as they can.”
Signs on the Tube strike inside Tottenham Court Station during a walkout this summer Getty Finn Brennan, Aslef’s full-time organiser on London Underground, voiced “surprise” that the RMT was striking “to try to prevent Underground drivers moving to a four-day week on a voluntary basis”. He added: “The voluntary four-day week gives Tube train drivers an extra 35 days off every year with rosters based on a 34-hour week in return for some changes to working conditions and moving to electronic, rather than paper-based, systems for booking on for duty.
“A strike designed to stop people having the choice of a shorter working week and more time off is a strange choice to make.” TfL has stressed that the four-day week for drivers is voluntary and no-one has to accept it.
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