TfL Tube strike August 2015: Just one in five commuters back the strikers as two new strike dates announced
As RMT announced another two Tube strike dates, it seems the majority of Londoners are getting fed up with the conflict over the Night Tube disrupting their commute – although most of us don't like the idea of night-working ourselves.
Only one in five back the strikers, showed a Yougov poll conducted over the latest Tube standstill. More than twice as many thought the Tube strike was “unjustified”, although quite a few said they didn’t know enough to have an opinion.
The strikes aren’t primarily over pay, but rather over job cuts and work-life balance when the Night Tube is introduced in September.
The two new strikes announced today mark the fourth time in just two months that London Underground will have come to a standstill over the Night Tube, and it seems public opinion towards the Tube drivers may be cooling. Just days ago the Huffington Post wrote that the strike had “more commuter support than you might think”.
TUC’s digital manager John Wood pointed out in a widely shared blog post that in order to have an impact, a strike must inconvenience commuters’ lives:
Striking is a last option, when your employer is refusing to negotiate – it’s not something people do on a whim.
Despite the growing frustration with the Night Tube conflict, it seems quite a few of us have reservations of our own about increasing night-working as we move towards a 24/7 society.
A slight majority replied they did not like this trend, and when asked by Yougov, said it created “too much work and stress” and disrupted “natural human rhythms”.
Fans of night-working thought it was buzzy and productive.