British union says rail workers will strike next week across London tube network

The London underground system, also known as the tube, is expecting severe disruptions on the rail line next week due to labor strikes that are scheduled for two days and involve thousands of workers. File Photo by Andy Rain/EPA-EFE

Feb. 24 (UPI) -- A British union said on Thursday that as many as 10,000 rail workers across the London underground will walk out in a labor strike next week -- protests that are expected to seriously disrupt tube service for at least two days.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport union confirmed that the strikes will happen, and accused London Mayor Sadiq Khan of blocking progress in unresolved labor talks that hinge on concerns about job and pension cuts.

The union said the strikes will occur across the entire underground system for the entire day -- midnight to midnight -- on both Tuesday and next Thursday.

The strike is part of a complaint from RMT workers about multiple issues. The union cited the underground's "continuing refusal to give assurances on jobs, pensions and working conditions in the midst of an on-going financial crisis driven by central government."

"Our members will be taking strike action next week because a financial crisis at [the underground] has been deliberately engineered by the government to drive a cuts agenda which would savage jobs, services, safety and threaten their working conditions and pensions," RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch said in a statement Thursday confirming the strikes.

Transport for London Chief Operating Officer Andy Lord responded that cuts to workers' pensions have not even been proposed.

"It is extremely disappointing that the RMT is planning to go ahead with this action," he said in a statement. "We haven't proposed any changes to pensions or terms and conditions, and nobody has or will lose their jobs because of the proposals we have set out."

Lord urged the RMT union to "get around the table with us, continue talks and call off this disruptive action, which will cause huge frustration for our customers and further financial damage to TfL and London's economy when we should be working together to rebuild following the [COVID-19] pandemic."

"During [prior] talks, [the underground] confirmed all the union's worst fears that nothing is off the table in terms of the threat to jobs, pensions, conditions and safety," the union, which represents 10,000 British workers, added.