The Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) said walkouts will begin on November 26 and continue into the new year. The strikes, each beginning at noon, are scheduled for December 17 and 19, January 4 and 6, and February 17, 23 and 25.
The dispute centres on the imposition of new working arrangements including a four-day week. The union argues the changes would mean drivers face spending more time driving trains, longer duties, earlier starts and later finishes. The RMT has also raised serious concerns that the proposals would pave the way for hundreds of job cuts, with initial rosters published for the Bakerloo line indicating significant reductions in staffing.
RMT general secretary Eddie Dempsey said: “London Underground is attempting to dress up a wholesale attack on drivers’ working conditions as a voluntary four-day week. But there is nothing voluntary about a scheme that forces drivers to give up existing protections whether they work four days or five, and threatens those who refuse with displacement from their depots. Our members are being asked to spend more time driving trains, accept longer and more unpredictable shifts and surrender agreements that have been negotiated and defended over many years.”