Tube strike – as it happened | UK news | The Guardian
Tube strike – as it happened
First of two 48-hour strikes over ticket office closures
David Cameron condemns strike as ‘unacceptable’
Labour says strike is a sign of failure and calls for talks
LU claims more staff working than on previous strikes
TfL puts on record buses numbers including old Routemasters
Tuesday 29 April 2014 11.12 EDT
First published on Tuesday 29 April 2014 02.44 EDT
4.05pm BST
Which underground services are running?
TfL has a guide here to which services are running, before you attempt to navigate your way home. It claims a good service on the Overground, DLR and Northern line.
Bakerloo line is operating between Queen's Park and Elephant & Castle only, trains approximately every five minutes.
Central line is running between White City and Ealing Broadway, between West Ruislip and North Acton, between Epping and Leytonstone and between Hainault and Marble Arch only.
Circle line is running between Hammersmith and Aldgate only.
District line is operating between Ealing Broadway and High Street Kensington and between Wimbledon and Upminster.
Hammersmith and City line between Edgware Road and Barking only.
Jubilee line is running between Stanmore and Wembley Park, with trains approximately every 20 minutes, and between Wembley Park and Stratford, approximately every 8 minutes.
Metropolitan line has trains between Uxbridge and Harrow-on-the-Hill and between Harrow-on-the-Hill and Aldgate only.
Piccadilly line is operating between Hammersmith and Heathrow Terminal 1, 2 and 3, and between Arnos Grove and Cockfosters only.
Victoria line has trains running approximately every four minutes with some stations closed (this is the least useful of the TfL updates).
There are no Waterloo and City line trains running at all.
For now, things look fairly quiet on the travel front, so this live blog will take a pause. We will keep an eye out as London heads into rush hour and update you as the evening goes on.
Updated
at 4.12pm BST
3.45pm BST
Those manning the Twitter feeds for individual tube lines seem to be doing a decent job of answering commuter queries about which bits of the line are open. This update is a little baffling:
TfL Central line (@centralline)
Service btn White City & Ealing Broadway, btn West Ruislip and North Acton, btn Epping and Leytonstone and btn Hainault and Marble Arch...
A traveller at Bond Street station, on the Central line, confirms:
تمارا Tamara (@_Syriana_)
It looks as if the Routemasters and other antique buses are proving their staying power today:
Becky G-Sherry (@x_ray_bex)
How lovely is this number 38 routemaster lined up at Angel for free shuttle service during #TubeStrike pic.twitter.com/o4wSCM7wtv
I'd be interested to hear from any wheelchair-using travellers in London today, though – have the contingency measures worked for you?
Updated
at 3.32pm BST
3.20pm BST
The tube strike has of course had a knock-on effect on other services, which will affect train and bus passengers tonight and tomorrow.
This update from Greater Anglia trains:
Greater Anglia (@greateranglia)
#TubeStrike - Please note that our trains will NOT be able to call at Stratford station before 07:00 again tomorrow morning. KM
April 29, 2014
Greater Anglia (@greateranglia)
#TubeStrike - We're expecting services via Tott'm Hale and Metro services from Shenfield-London to be busier than usual tomorrow morning. KM
And there are delays on London buses:
TfL Bus Alerts (@TfLBusAlerts)
Strike advice about today: http://t.co/SPp2SsmyXs Buses are busier than usual, allow extra time for yr journey. #tubestrike
But better news for Woolwich ferry users:
TfL Bus Alerts (@TfLBusAlerts)
3.14pm BST
The TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady says:
Closing all London Underground ticket offices and cutting 1,000 tube staff will have a hugely detrimental impact on both regular passengers and tourists.
The public want ticket offices to be manned by dedicated staff. Without them journeys will be more difficult, and groups such as disabled passengers or women travelling at night will feel less secure.
Responsibility for this dispute lies squarely with the Mayor of London, who has broken his manifesto promise to keep ticket offices open.
Frances O'Grady, general secretary of the TUC Photograph: Richard Gardner/REX
3.10pm BST
Claire Phipps here, taking over from Matthew Weaver. For those of you considering leaving work early, the Piccadilly line probably won't be the way to go:
TfL Piccadilly line (@piccadillyline)
Service btn Hammersmith & Heathrow Terminal 1, 2 and 3, and between Arnos Grove and Cockfosters. No service on the rest of the line.
April 29, 2014
3.03pm BST
The Emirate Air Line, the cable car over the Thames between the Royal Docks and the Dome, is going to stay open until 10.30pm to help deal with the extra demand.
Emirates Air Line (@EmiratesAirLDN)
I have just been advised that the @EmiratesAirLDN cable car is remaining open until 10.30pm tonight to assist customers with travel
Emirates Air Line. The UK's first ever urban cable car. Photograph: Graeme Robertson
2.57pm BST
RMT London has questioned TfL's claim that a "good service" is running on the Northern Line. Its Twitter feed points to a mobile phone app showing wait times of nine and 11 minutes on the line.
RMT London Calling (@RMTLondon)
April 29, 2014
2.51pm BST
This might be wishful thinking, but the London Evening Standard reckons there are doubts about whether a 72-hour strike planned for next week will go ahead .
It says many RMT members are expected to baulk at the loss of a further three days’ pay.
A Standard source close to the negotiations said: “I think we will see the RMT finding an excuse to call of the second strike by the end of the week.”
2.35pm BST
Waterloo and City is now the only one of the 11 Underground lines that is completely suspended.
There are at least some trains on all the other lines, including the Circle Line. The Northern Line even boasts of a "good service", according to TfL .
Bruce Cat (@brucecat)
2.13pm BST
Business groups appear to be divided on the likely impact of the strike.
The Federation of Small Businesses estimated that strike will cost small businesses, around £ 600m in lost working hours, business and productivity.
The figure was based on a poll of its members that found businesses took a hit of about £1,297 each due to cancelled meetings, staff absences, and difficulty transporting good and services.
"Many businesses will be rightly concerned about the potential impact five days will have," the federation's national chairman John Allan said in a statement, adding that businesses should draft contingency plans for the next action from May 5.
But the employers organisation, the CBI, reckons the economic impact of the strike will limited:
Neil Carberry, its director for employment and skills, said:
With only 30% of RMT members voting for a strike, it’s disappointing this has gone ahead, causing disruption to the journeys of many workers in and around London.
The strike is likely to have a limited impact on the wider economy, as employers make it possible for staff to work remotely. However there will understandably be a significant impact on those businesses where that has simply not been possible.
We welcome the efforts by Transport for London to resume service where possible on the tube. Providing a record number of buses will also help.
Director Jamie Dixon is relieved to be working at home.
Jamie Chapman Dixon (@Jamiecdixon)
" @TimeOutLondon : THE HORDE ARE AT THE GATES! Stratford Station this morning, pic.twitter.com/TYl07UDJcs " This is why I'm working from home ATM
April 29, 2014
1.47pm BST
Guardian readers have been sharing some of their experiences of getting into work on GuardianWitness . Here's a couple of samples:
The Gateway from the West into Town... a wee bit, err, shut.
Following a trip across Ruislip Golf Course to get to West Ruislip Tube, then a shuttle from there to Acton Town (complete with Evangelical Preacher - captive audience) then on to White City and down the road to Wood Lane... then it was shut! Opened very shortly thereafter though, so able to get into town on the Hammersmith and City Line (very packed!) 2.5 hours all in. Can't wait for the return journey!
29 April 2014, 11:04
1.35pm BST
Downing Street has expanded a little more on David Cameron's tweet about the strike being "unacceptable" .
Cameron's official spokesman told a regular Westminster media briefing:
Many Londoners today will have had to put up with very significant disruption to their journeys in and out of the capital.
I think the Prime Minister thinks that it is wrong that they are facing disruption this week as well as next.
I think the Mayor of London is absolutely right to note the way London is determined to keep going about its business.
1.31pm BST
The Guardian's transport correspondent Gwyn Topham examines the strike's central issue .
At the heart of the original dispute behind the London tube strikes is one critical question: are ticket offices needed? Certainly mayor Boris Johnson once thought so, having campaigned to become mayor with a pledge to stop any closures. Johnson and Transport for London argue that the transformation in technology - such as Oyster, contactless payment cards, online transactions, and mobile devices for staff and passengers - have rapidly made the traditional station model redundant.
Unions, as an RMT official outlines below , claim that the vision only works in a world of “ideal customers” rather than those who for various reasons may be unfamiliar with the system.
The statistical claims made for use of ticket offices are worth examining. During the tube strike in February, David Cameron made the inaccurate claim that only 3% of transactions took place at a ticket office. The statistic that Transport for London repeats is that only 3% of journeys, not transactions, begin with a visit to the ticket office.
What they fail to mention is that as many people use the ticket office to seek a refund at the end of their journey, according to stats released by TfL in February. That might tally with a lot of people’s experience of being overcharged when an Oyster machine fails to register a tap-in at open gates.
The same set of figures released to the Labour party in the London Assembly actually showed a very slight increase in overall ticket office transactions from 2010 to 2013, now at 7,573,000 a year.
The RMT union’s polling says two thirds of passengers oppose closures, and 52% have had to use ticket offices when machines were broken. TfL stats show around 20% of transactions within stations take place at an office rather than a machine.
Others, of course, who can afford the advance payments or the technology, are buying season tickets or topping up online - cheaper and quicker. But the example of the buses, where many Londoners ended up today, needs to be heeded.
Wealthier commuters are likely to have contactless bank cards, which can be used to pay already on London buses and soon will be an Oyster substitute on tubes. That means, for example, that without a travelcard or Oyster, they can use a credit card to pay £1.45 for a journey, while someone having to use cash pays £2.40 for a single fare (and the option of paying cash will be eliminated in July). TfL needs to reassure the public that incentives to wean customers off ticket offices won’t see the poorest or those who need assistance lose out.
Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union mounted picket lines outside London Bridge Underground station on the first day of a 48 hour strike by tube workers on the London Underground over ticket office closures. Photograph: Philip Toscano/PA
Updated
at 2.19pm BST
12.09pm BST
Bus enthusiast Adrian Pearce has been in touch to point out that we were wrong to refer to the vintage buses pictured earlier as Routemasters.
They are an even older model called RTs, he said.
Earlier this month marked the 75th anniversary of their first use in London , according to Adrian.
He added: "I should add that of course TfL are running Routemasters but many of the extra buses today appear to be RT's."
An antique bus in Vauxhall Bridge Road, London brought in on the first day of a 48 hour strike. Photograph: Jonathan Grun/PA
Updated
at 2.42pm BST
12.01pm BST
The RMT has released a series of figures on ticket office closures . It describes the stats as the "tube dispute in numbers". So far the union has not released any figures to back up its claim that the support for the strike has been solid.
But here those numbers on ticket offices.
3 %: The number of tickets the Mayor claims are sold by ticket offices.
23%: Total amount of ticket transactions ticket offices actually have responsibility for.
7.577 Million: The total transactions at ticket offices in 2013, an increase on the 7.418 million
from 2012.
14% Projected increase in passenger numbers over the next five years.
17% Cut in the number of frontline station staff proposed by the Mayor.
52%: The number of tube users unable to buy tickets from a machine because it was broken.
56%: The number of voters who said they would not vote for Boris Johnson again for breaking his promise not to close ticket offices.
66%: The number of passengers opposed to ticket officer closures.
11.53am BST
Summary
Here's a summary of the main developments so far:
The RMT and London Underground have issued competing claims about the level of disruption caused by the strike. The union said there was "solid" support for the strike without provide figures. London Underground said services were running on nine out of 11 underground lines.
London Mayor Boris Johnson dismissed the strike as "pointless" and claimed it was "farcical" of the union to claim solid support for the action. He said the system was running better than it ever had during a strike.
Widespread disruption and delays have been reported across the network, but there was a wide variation in the level of service on different lines. Two lines, Circle and Waterloo and City, were suspended altogether. Elsewhere trains were running at various frequencies, from every 20 minutes on the Piccadilly line to every four minutes on the Victoria Line.
David Cameron led political condemnation of the strike, describing it as "unacceptable". Labour stopped short of outright criticism, but said it was wrong that commuters faced so much disruption, and called for more talks.
Transport for London put on a record number of buses. Vintage uses, including old Routemasters, were among 266 extra buses deployed to help cope with the extra demand.
Updated
More from the mayor ...
Johnson added:
The idea that this is a solidly-supported strike is farcical. This action is the result of a minority of just one union, the RMT, who are refusing to see the logic of what we are trying to achieve.
We have got more staff out on the network than we did before, more services running and two thirds of stations open and I am very grateful to London Underground workers who have come out to keep the capital moving.
I apologise for the disruption that this has caused people, but I'm very impressed by the fighting spirit Londoners have shown in getting to work today. I thank them for their patience.
We can't, as some would have us do, just stand by and force Londoners to pay for ticket offices. A resource which currently costs Londoners money, and where less than 3% of journeys begin, can be delivered better and far more efficiently with these changes.
Modernising the network as we are seeking to do will save £50 million a year, money that will be reinvested in the things our customers do actually want whilst helping to keep fares down.
There are no compulsory redundancies, no-one who wants to play a part in the future of the Tube will lose their job as a result of our plans. I urge the RMT leadership to do the right thing - get back around the table, not the wrong thing - muscle flexing in the race for the RMT leadership. Start thinking about hard working Londoners and small businesses across the capital and call off this pointless strike.
Mayor of London Boris Johnson arrives at London Bridge Underground station on the first day of a 48 hour strike by tube workers on the London Underground over ticket office closures. Photograph: Philip Toscano/PA
11.30am BST
Boris: tube running better than ever during a strike
London Mayor Boris Johnson has claimed that London Underground is running better than ever during a strike.
But he apologised to commuters for the disruption to their journeys.
Boris Johnson (@MayorofLondon)
1/3: Sorry to many who’ve had a tricky journey but LU running better service than ever during strike as I saw this AM pic.twitter.com/gSkJjybjEd
April 29, 2014
Boris Johnson (@MayorofLondon)
2/3: No compulsory job losses, £50m in savings we can invest in modernising network. Fewer than 3% of journeys start at a ticket office
April 29, 2014
Boris Johnson (@MayorofLondon)
3/3: H&C & Vic running whole length, Central started earlier, Jubilee running Wembley Pk to Strat - thanks to staff for these strike firsts
April 29, 2014
11.20am BST
A commuter remonstrates with London Underground staff as they attempted to help find alternative routes. Photograph: Matthew Aslett/Demotix/Corbis
A commuter talks with Union members outside London Bridge Station. Photograph: Matthew Aslett/Demotix/Corbis
11.15am BST
Deputy chief whip Greg Hands applauds those transport workers who crossed the picket lines.
Greg Hands (@GregHands)
Well done to the large number of Tube and bus workers at work today, keeping London's economy moving!
In Acton a union activist reported only a handful of "scabs".
Neil Cafferky (@neilcaff)
April 29, 2014
11.09am BST
Transport for London is citing statistics from Oyster card system to claim that the transport system is "open for business". It points out an 87% use of the cards on its system.
Transport for London (@TfLOfficial)
Around 87 per cent of Oyster cards that would usually be seen on our network have been seen – showing London is working & open for business
It also continues to insist that trains on nine of the 11 London Underground Lines are operating .
10.59am BST
There's been gridlock even for cyclists.
Sharon Dale (@pixlz)
And the Boris bikes were taken.
Tanguy DELMAU (@delmau)
at 11.31am BST
10.44am BST
Network Rail has been in touch to claim that all the tube lines are closed at Paddington station. The Hammersmith and City line is running, its Twitter feed pointed out.
But Richard Adams insists that when he was at the station staff were telling passengers to walk to Baker Street.
Richard Adams (@RichardA)
@NetworkRailPAD @matthew_weaver not when I was there it wasn't. Staff were telling passengers to go to Baker St.
Earlier Richard reported that all the tube entries were blocked at the station.
10.28am BST
Deputy chief whip Greg Hands, accused the RMT of blackmail and sabotage. Speaking to the Daily Mail , the Conservative MP for Chelsea and Fulham, said: "This is economic sabotage from militant trade unionists holding my constituents and Londoners in general to ransom.
"And all, it seems, in an effort to prove their leftist credentials in advance of a leadership election."
10.24am BST
The RMT insists that the support for the strike has been "solid" among London Underground's workforce .
But Labour party isn't backing it. Chosing her words carefully, shadow transport secretary Mary Creagh said: "It is wrong millions of Londoners are facing travel misery today. Strikes are always a sign of failure and both sides must get round the table urgently and sort this out as quickly as possible."
Shadow transport secretary Mary Creagh. Photograph: Ray Tang/REX
10.15am BST
Earls Court station in west London looked particularly hellish this morning.
Nimrah (@nimcompoop_)
David Cameron has condemned the strike as "unacceptable".
David Cameron (@David_Cameron)
It's unacceptable that millions of people are having their lives disrupted by today's Tube strike in London.
April 29, 2014
10.00am BST
All the tube entrances at Paddingtona are currently closed, according to the Guardian's Richard Adams. Staff have been telling commuters to walk to Baker Street, he reports.
Richard Adams (@RichardA)
9.56am BST
Guardian reporter Maev Kennedy is staying cheerful on a long journey from west London.
It took an hour to get in by the 26 bus. It was one of the jolly bright green buses brought in as extra, with an immensely cheerful non uniformed driver from Waterloo to
Liverpool Street.
At the station Starbucks was offering free hot drinks to anyone who hangs onto their receipt and survives to make the return journey this afternoon
9.55am BST
Passengers wait outside London Bridge underground station. Photograph: Philip Toscano/PA
Commuters at Earls Court tube station. Photograph: Andrew Cowie/Rex
Commuters wait for buses outside Victoria station. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA
9.38am BST
There is wide variation of the frequency of trains on the network.
On the Piccaddily line there are services only every 20 minutes.
TfL Piccadilly line (@piccadillyline)
Service operating btn Hammersmith & Heathrow Airport, approx every 20 minutes. No service on the rest of the line due to strike action.
But on the Victorian Line trains are now running every four minutes.
TfL Victoria line (@victorialine)
Service operating between Blackhorse Road and Brixton approximately every 4 minutes with some stations closed. See our timeline for list.
Elsewhere, the Jubilee Line is reporting a 15 minute wait for trains.
TfL Jubilee line (@jubileeline)
Service operating btn Wembley Park and Stratford only, approximately every 15 minutes. No service on the rest of the line.
On the Bakerloo Line its six minutes.
TfL Bakerloo line (@bakerlooline)
Service operating btn Queen's Park and Elephant & Castle, approx every 6 minutes. No service on the rest of the line due to strike action.
The Northern Line is ominously vague.
TfL Northern Line (@northernline)
A service is running on the entire Northern line, but some stns are closed. See our timeline for a list with updates to follow soon.
And there's still no service at all on the Circle Line and Waterloo and City Line.
TfL Circle line (@circleline)
TfL W&C line (@wlooandcityline)
Morning, strike action means there is no service on the Waterloo & City line today. Sorry.
April 29, 2014
9.24am BST
There's a massive taxi queue at Paddington stretching the entire length of the concourse, according to the Guardian's education editor Richard Adams.
People at the front of the queue tell me they have been waiting and hour and a half and "well over an hour" to get to the front.
Richard Adams (@RichardA)
9.07am BST
Heathrow Express has drawn on "reservist" staff to keep the airport link to Paddington running.
A spokesman said: "Despite the strike reducing the company's available workforce from 450 to 150, our trains between Paddington and Heathrow are running scheduled today, thanks to the hard work and commitment of our reservist staff."
Heathrow Express (@HeathrowExpress)
April 29, 2014
9.03am BST
John Leach, RMT's London transport regional organiser, explains why the union is striking over ticket office closures. In a blogpost for Left Foot Forward , he writes:
LU’s vision is of an Underground where no-one needs ticket offices and no-one needs help: an Underground where everyone has topped up their payment card online and moves confidently and seamlessly through the system.
But where is the room in this brave new world for visitors to London unfamiliar with the system, disabled people, poor people who struggle to keep their card in credit, non-English speakers, people visiting hospitals, elderly people, people who fear assault or harassment while travelling, or anyone else who does not measure up to their ideal customer?
Moreover, these cuts represent only 6 per cent of the total savings that TfL needs to make. So if the company steamrollers these plans through, then the hard-pressed passengers can also look forward to at least several of the following: higher fares, abandoned improvements, more staff cuts, less frequent services, less regular maintenance and thus lower safety standards.
LU bosses have claimed in the media that RMT has made no alternative proposals – or that the union has made no ‘constructive’ or ‘credible’ proposals.
This is a sleight of hand in which the company dismisses the well-thought-through, detailed alternative proposals that we made as being neither constructive nor credible, when in fact they are both.
RMT has proposed that TfL/LU: undertake a major programme of making the Tube accessible to disabled people; ask the government for more money; cap salaries at £100,000; bring all contracted-out services in-house; promote its own ticket offices rather than rival outlets; and abandon costly preparations for further cuts, such as driverless trains.
These measures would both improve services and save money, but were all rejected by top Tube bosses, who even had the cheek to claim that if anything, they are not paid enough.
So that is why we are on strike. We have talked and talked and it has got us nowhere. When we took strike action in February, it won us and Londoners a promise from the company of a ‘station-by-station review’ which ‘may lead to some ticket offices staying open’.
Eight weeks later, that station-by-station review has not taken place, and LU bosses openly state that even when it does, it will not lead to any ticket offices staying open.
A closed London Bridge underground station in central London, before partially opening on the first day of the strike. Photograph: Philip Toscano/PA
Updated
at 9.36am BST
8.46am BST
At least some trains are currently running on nine of the 11 London Underground lines. It is only on the Circle Line and Waterloo and City lines where services are completely suspended.
London Underground managing director Mike Brown said: "Thousands of staff and volunteers are working hard this morning to keep London working and our customers informed in the face of this pointless strike.
"More London Underground staff have come to work this morning than during the strike back in February, and a record number of London buses are operating."
Some commuters even reported uncrowded trains.
Andrew Elliott (@andrew_paradigm)
at 9.37am BST
8.32am BST
Transport for London has dusted off some antique Routemaster buses to help tackle the strike. The move has created some goodwill among nostalgic commuters.
Chris Harrison (@chris__harrison)
@heritageroutes This is the Routemaster that helped me beat the #tubestrike ; small inside but robust & comfortable pic.twitter.com/6R88rdWDrO
April 29, 2014
Yuriy Akopov (@y_akopov)
Vintage Routemaster and its crew helping people during the Tube strike. No ticket is required. I love London. pic.twitter.com/YNwraxV8gR
at 8.34am BST
8.24am BST
There are competing claims about the level of disruption caused by the strike. The RMT said the strike is "solidly supported".
London Underground says it expects to run up to half of the services, according to BBC London.
BBC LONDON 94.9 (@BBCLondon949)
London Underground says it expects to run 40-50% of normal service but RMT says strike is "solidly supported". Follow @BBCTravelAlert
But at present services on most lines are suspended or severely delayed. The least disrupted services appears to be the Victoria Line where trains are running every eight minutes.
TfL Victoria line (@victorialine)
Service operating btn Seven Sisters & Brixton, approx every 8 mins with some stns closed. No service on rest of line due to strike action.
The RMT and London Underground remain at loggerheads over ticket office closures.
Here's what the two sides are saying. First the RMT acting general secretary Mick Cash:
﻿London Underground have dug themselves into an entrenched position and have refused to move one inch from their stance of closing every ticket office, in breach of the agreement reached previously through Acas which enabled us to suspend the previous round of action and in flagrant violation of repeated promises from the London Mayor Boris Johnson that not a single ticket office would be closed on his watch.
It is scandalous that Transport for London are blowing what we estimate to be hundreds of thousands of pounds on politically-motivated adverts and propaganda designed to deflect attention from Boris Johnson's broken promises.
RMT could have recommended the suspension of this strike action if LU had responded positively to our proposal to halt the ticket office closures and job cuts, stopping the dire impact they would have the length and breadth of London Underground.
As a consequence of the management stance, and the broken promises of Boris Johnson, the action has gone ahead and is solidly supported.
RMT remains available for serious and meaningful talks around our alternative proposals.
And now London Underground managing director Mike Brown:
The RMT leadership appear to remain implacably opposed to the modernisation of the Tube that will radically improve customer service and help us keep fares down.
For example, at our busiest stations, there will be nearly a third more staff visible and available to provide, on a permanent basis, the face-to-face customer service we offered during the London 2012 Games.
Visitors to London and people with disabilities will be better looked after than ever before.
Safety and security will never be compromised. Safety is not controlled from ticket offices but by station supervisors and dedicated control rooms. This will continue.
Fairness to our staff is also guaranteed. There will be no compulsory redundancies, there is a job for all staff wanting to remain with us and no-one will lose pay as a result of change.
We have also made significant changes to our original proposals after listening to staff and unions in over 40 meetings, including agreeing that supervisors will not need to 'reapply for their jobs'.
However, the RMT leadership continues to say 'no' to everything, and they also appear in the context of these changes to be opposed to giving our staff the option of voluntary redundancy.
Only the RMT leadership know the real motivations behind their actions, but it is infuriating that London's commuters and businesses are the ones who are being forced to pay the price with five days of utterly pointless and disruptive strikes.
We have asked all the trade unions to continue talking to us this week and we hope that they continue to do so.
7.58am BST
Widespread disruption is being reported at London's major transport hubs. Here's a selection of the latest images from Twitter users around the capital.
Waterloo