Tube drivers to stage strikes in Christmas run-up

London Underground drivers are to stage a series of 24-hour strikes in a long-running dispute over working arrangements, the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union has announced.

A series of walkouts will begin on 26 November in opposition to plans to introduce four-day working weeks.

Further strikes are planned for 17 December, 19 December, 4 January, 6 January, 17 February, 23 February and 25 February.

The union says drivers will face longer hours behind the wheel and longer days, but Transport for London (TfL) previously said its proposal for a four-day working week was voluntary and would mean drivers work fewer hours overall.

A series of strikes in the spring over the same issue caused significant disruption across the network, with some lines being entirely closed.

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.

"Our members are being asked to spend more time driving trains, accept longer and more unpredictable shifts and surrender agreements that have been negotiated and defended over many years."