This morning’s Tube strike is going ahead after eleventh-hour talks between Transport for London and a major union broke down.
Last year, TfL put forward proposals for a voluntary four-day working week for train drivers, which would see them work 35 hours compressed into a shorter schedule, without any reduction in pay.
Aslef – which represents just over half of Tube drivers – accepted the offer, describing it as the “biggest improvement” in work-life balance “for decades”.
But the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union is pushing for a 32-hour working week across four days for the same pay, arguing that the current proposals would lead to driver fatigue and safety issues.
On Monday, representatives from the RMT and TfL met at the independent conciliation service, Acas, for five hours of last-ditch talks designed to avoid the industrial action – but failed to come to an agreement.