Today’s tube strike in London disrupted the journeys of thousands of commuters as the RMT union has declared the action a success, claiming “massive and widespread” disruption had been caused to all lines. However, London Underground has disputed the level of chaos claimed by the union.
Ten of the 11 Underground lines were affected by the strike, one of a series of walkouts over plans to axe 800 posts. The action will end at 7pm today.
Mayor Boris Johnson has called for new laws to curtail the unions, which he accused of organising a “nakedly and blatantly” political strike.
“We cannot reward the bad behaviour of militants whose objectives are plainly nothing to do with the terms and conditions of their members, and everything to do with a political attack on the Coalition government and, to a lesser extent, on City Hall,” Johnson told Westminster legislators.
General secretary Bob Crow said support for the tube strike was “rock-solid” and accused London Underground of breaking safety rules by using untrained managers to run skeleton services and “ghost” trains.
However, Howard Collins, chief operating officer of London Underground, claimed that the strike hasn’t caused the level of disruption claimed by Crow:
“75 per cent of stations are open and 30 per cent of tube trains are running,” Said Collins. “The paralysis of London predicted by the leadership of the two unions has failed to materialise”.
Apart from the usual Monday morning misery, how was your journey to work today?
Related: London tube strike on Monday
