Planned Strike by Tube Staff for Cancelled
A strike planned by Tube staff for next week has been cancelled. Transport for London (TfL) warned in an email sent at 11.35am today (Thursday, August 29) that some stations could close as a result of planned industrial action.
The authority said: “On Wednesday 4 September, a small number of stations may have to close, or be unable to offer lift and boarding ramp services at short notice due to strike action. Customers travelling on this day should plan ahead and check before they travel to ensure they have the latest information on how stations and services are running.”
It is understood that staff planning to strike were members of the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA), which has been in a dispute with London Underground over workers’ ‘roles, locations, terms and conditions’. But, at 4.58pm, MyLondon was told that the strike action next Wednesday has been ‘called off’.
On April 24, TSSA said a strike would take place on April 26, during which members would not commence work on any shift starting between 12.01am and 11.59pm that day.
The union also said workers would walk out on Saturday, April 27 in respect of any members expected to commence shifts before 11.59pm on April 26, whose shifts run into April 27.
TSSA Customer Service Managers earlier took strike action on April 10, with Tube stations closed at short notice. In addition, staff would also take part in an overtime ban from April 29 to May 5, the union announced. This overtime ban would ‘again lead to station closures at very short notice’.
Network Rail has also said that the London Overground and District line will partially close over four weekends from September to October for repair works.
The closures have been put in place for Network Rail engineers to repair the 155-year-old Kew Railway Bridge, which runs over the River Thames between Kew Gardens and Gunnersbury stations.