London subway hit by strike, day after rail walkout

A strike by London Underground workers brought the British capital’s transit network to a grinding halt

A strike by London Underground workers brought the British capital’s transit network to a grinding halt on August 19, a day after a nationwide walkout by railway staff. Another rail strike is scheduled for August 20 as the U.K. endures a summer of action by workers demanding pay increases to offset soaring food and energy price hikes.

No subway trains were running on most of London’s Tube lines because of the strike over jobs, pay and pensions by members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union, operator Transport for London said.

“It is going to be a difficult day,” said Nick Dent, TFL's director of customer operations. “We’re advising customers not to travel on the Tube at all.”

There was also continuing disruption above ground as trains started to run again following Thursday’s strike by thousands of railway cleaners, signalers, maintenance workers and other staff. Only about a fifth of trains ran during the 24-hour walkout, the latest in a series of strikes on Britain’s railways.

Rail unions accuse Britain’s Conservative government of preventing train companies which are privately owned but heavily regulated from making a better offer. The government denies meddling, but says rail companies need to cut costs and staffing after two years in which emergency government funding kept them afloat.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told Times Radio that “it’s a kick in the teeth” to the public for unions “to turn round after we provided 16 billion pounds of support for the railways and go ‘Right, well, the next thing we’re going to do is go on strike.’”

More public- and private-sector unions are planning strikes as Britain faces its worst cost-of-living crisis in decades. Postal workers, lawyers, British Telecom staff and port workers have all announced walkouts for later this month.