London subway strike in 2nd day; union to talk

Thursday, June 11, 2009 at 5:10 AM Posted by Beijing News


LONDON – For the second day in a row, millions of Londoners struggled to get to work and school and unlucky tourists found new ways to reach museums Thursday as a strike by subway workers shut down much of the city's Underground network.

Nine of 11 subway lines were fully or partly suspended because of the walkout by members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union.

Transport for London said it had increased bus services and was running a limited schedule on half of the city's subway lines. About 3.5 million people a day use London's subway, known as the Tube.

Car traffic was heavy on roads into the city, and buses were crowded — although many were less packed than on Wednesday, apparently because more workers were simply staying home.

The London Chamber of Commerce has estimated the 48-hour strike could cost as much as 100 million pounds $164 million in lost productivity.

Management and city officials claimed many of the union's 10,000 drivers, signalers, maintenance workers and station staff had crossed picket lines since the strike began Tuesday evening, although the union denied that claim.

"It is a certainty that there has never been such a badly supported strike by the RMT and its members," said Mayor Boris Johnson. "The RMT have failed to produce the kind of mass disruption that they wanted and Londoners have got to work one way or another."

The union rejected Johnson's comments, saying support for the walkout was "solid."

RMT chief Bob Crow said the union was willing to restart talks with management to resolve disputes over pay, disciplinary issues and job losses. There was no word on when negotiations would resume.

One commuter said the union shouldn't have struck this time.

"I have worked for unions and I support them, but they picked the wrong battle this time," said 64-year-old electrician Jeff Fhay. "I don't know how you can go on strike without being sure that everyone in your union supports it."

The strike is due to end at 7 p.m. 1800 GMT; 2 p.m. EDT, with service back to normal by Friday morning.







Janeiro. REUTERS/Alex Carvalho

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