RMT union announces eight 24-hour strikes starting November 26, 2026, in a dispute over a proposed four-day working week for Tube drivers.
London Underground drivers are to stage a series of eight 24-hour strikes in a long-running dispute over working arrangements, the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union has announced.
The 24-hour strikes will begin at noon on:
The RMT said new working arrangements are being imposed, including a four-day week. The union says drivers face spending more time driving trains, longer duties, earlier starts and later finishes.
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.”
The RMT has also raised 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.
Aslef, which represents many other drivers on the network, supports the move to a four-day week on a voluntary basis.
Finn Brennan, Aslef’s full-time organiser on London Underground, said: “We are surprised that the RMT has, once again, decided to take strike action to try to prevent Underground drivers moving to a four-day week on a voluntary basis.
“The voluntary four-day week gives Tube train drivers an extra 35 days off every year with rosters based on a 34-hour week in return for some changes to working conditions and moving to electronic, rather than paper-based, systems for booking on for duty.
“We are in discussions with Transport for London about how the final details of this will work in practice.
“Management have agreed that anyone who wants to keep working a five-day week will be able to do so without suffering any detriment, and we will be holding them to that.
“A strike designed to stop people having the choice of a shorter working week and more time off is a strange choice to make.”
London Underground said drivers can now choose to remain on a five-day week with a guarantee of remaining at the same depot. Nick Dent, director of customer operations for London Underground, said: “This will give our colleagues a real, meaningful choice on their working pattern without having to change where they work. This will also mean less time at work for Tube drivers, while delivering a more efficient, reliable Tube service for our customers.”
The strikes are set to take place during the Christmas trading season and into February 2027. BusinessLDN said the strikes will hit the hospitality sector particularly hard during the vital Christmas trading season. Ed Richardson, transport programme director at BusinessLDN, said: “These strikes will not bring any festive cheer to Londoners and visitors that rely on the Tube to get around the city.”
About half of the drivers on the network are members of the RMT union. Previous strikes over the same issue caused significant disruption across the network, with some lines being entirely closed.
Sources
This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.
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