London tube strike News

Drivers on the Jubilee line are planning two 24-hour strikes in a row over working conditions and claims of bullying, threatening disruption after the Easter break.

Members of the Rail Maritime and Transport union and Aslef on the Jubilee line are set to walk out next Tuesday and again on May 2nd.

The drivers voted overwhelmingly for industrial action, claiming bullying of staff and an "appalling decline" in the standard of working conditions which unions said have led to a breakdown in industrial relations.

Talks will be held at the conciliation service Acas to try to avert the strikes.

"There has been a cynical attempt to trivialise the issues at the heart of this dispute, but the fact is they amount to a systematic undermining of working conditions and staff morale on a Tube line that faces constant pressure from frequent breakdowns and failures, and where drivers are in the front line of trying to maintain both an effective service and passenger safety.

"Their reward has been attack after attack on working conditions and on both individuals and the drivers as a group of staff."

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Planned strikes by London Underground drivers and Heathrow airport cargo staff in separate disputes over pay and disciplinary action have been called off.

The drivers' union Aslef said a walkout by its members on the Tube's Piccadilly line on Thursday won't go ahead after agreement was reached over a disciplinary case.

A three-day strike by cargo workers at Heathrow over pay, due to start at 6.30am tomorrow, has also been suspended, said the Unite union.

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Talks will take place today, aimed at averting a tube strike next week.

Maintenance workers are due to stage a 72-hour strike on Tuesday from 4pm.

The dispute is over demands from the RMT union for all Tube Lines staff to get the same benefits as London Underground workers.

Tube Lines carries out upgrades and repairs on the Piccadilly, Northern and Jubilee Lines - and was bought by Transport for London two years ago.

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