Rush-hour commuters faced chaos Monday as staff on the London Underground train network staged a five-day strike, shutting stations and forcing people to work from home or use alternative modes of transport.
Thousands queued to try and get on crammed buses while others reluctantly walked or cycled.
Transport for London (TfL), which manages the Underground, also known as the Tube, warned there would be little or no service between Monday and Thursday as a result of the first major strike in more than two years.
Lauren, 53, a construction sector admin worker, told AFP she was having to walk a couple of kilometres to work in central London instead of catching her usual Tube train.
“It’s a real inconvenience. I’m not sympathetic (to train drivers). They should get back to work,” she said.
The RMT trade union called the strike on the Tube — which carries up to five million passengers a day — as they battle to secure better pay and conditions.
Drivers are striking along with signalling and maintenance workers after having rejected TfL’s proposal for a 3.4-percent pay rise.
Workers are also demanding a reduction in their hours.
“We are not going on strike to disrupt small businesses or the public,” said an RMT spokesman.
“This strike is going ahead because of the intransigent approach of TfL management and their refusal to even consider a small reduction in the working week,” he added.
– Concert postponed –
TfL said it was “bitterly disappointed” that the strikes were going ahead.
“We have been clear that their demand for a reduction in the working week is unaffordable and impractical,” said Claire Mann, TfL’s Chief Operating Officer.
Concert organisers were forced to postpone two shows by American singer Post Malone, scheduled for Sunday and Monday at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
“Without a Tube service, it’s impossible to get people to the concert and home again safely,” Live Nation UK posted on X.
Trains on other networks were running Monday, but often with disruption as overcrowding concerns meant services did not always stop at stations shared with Underground lines.
Amita, a public sector worker in regulation, said she had taken her usual commuter train to the central London Bridge Station but faced a further 45-minute walk to get to her office.
“We’ve all got a job to do. I have a public-sector job and I get very minimal pay rises,” she told AFP.
Seventeen-year-old student Aida was trying to make her first day at college.
“I’m going to be late and I’m on a disciplinary, which is like if I miss or get a late I’m going to get kicked off my course,” she said.
It is the first major Tube strike to take place under the Labour government of Keir Starmer, who became prime minister in July last year.
His government is already languishing in the polls and suffered a serious blow last week when deputy prime minister Angela Rayner was forced to quit after underpaying tax on her new house.
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