Victoria Line strike suspended as union begins fresh talks with London Underground
A planned strike on the Victoria Line by tube drivers scheduled for next week has been suspended.
The drivers were due to walkout next week on 27 and 28 November over a dispute involving “broken promises”.
Read more: Talks continue between RMT and South Western Railway over December strikes
But the tube union RMT has called off the action temporarily “to allow for the issues at the heart of the dispute to be addressed in detail in further talks with London Underground.”
The union called for the strike action last week which would have rendered the Victoria Line closed for 24 hours from 10pm next Wednesday.
RMT also threatened more strikes in the build up to Christmas on the Victoria Line, which is used by around 600,000 each day.
The strike had originally been due to take place in September but was suspended when the union believed it had reached a deal with London Underground.
Nick Dent, London Underground’s Director of Line Operations, said: “We are pleased that the RMT has suspended this industrial action. We will continue to work through the steps we agreed earlier this year to resolve the issues they have raised.”
The dispute has occurred to due to a breakdown in industrial relations, with the RMT union saying that London Underground leaders had “reneged” on a series of pledges made at conciliation service Acas.
Read more: London Underground: Rail union threatens Christmas Tube strikes
A union spokesperson said “abuses of procedures, agreements, pay arrangements and constant harassment of staff” were “at the heart of the dispute”.
“LU’s actions are deliberately provocative and the announcement of action later this month is solely down to their childish behaviour,” RMT leader Mick Cash said last week.