Tube strike begins after 11th hour talks fail

Wednesday 10th June 2009

Commuters and tourists face two days of travel chaos after last-ditch talks to avert a 48-hour strike failed.

Transport for London told inthenews.co.uk that eleventh hour discussions between managers and unions had broken down at around 18:50 BST on Tuesday.

"As far as we are concerned the strike has now officially begun," a spokesperson said.

The RMT union had agreed today to hold talks with London Underground at conciliation service Acas.

But the talks that centred on a dispute over job security, compulsory redundancies and low pay, ultimately failed, heralding the start of a strike that will bring virtually the entire tube network to a standstill.

The cost of stopping the 3.5 million people who use the tube from getting to work or forcing them to work from home is estimated at £100 million.

But RMT general secretary Bob Crow defended the strike action.

"RMT is committed to a modern and safe public transport system for Londoners," he said.

"That cannot be achieved by axing jobs, slashing rates of pay and imposing massive cutbacks on the tube." ADNFCR-1783-ID-19211154-ADNFCR

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