The fourth tube strike since September left many commuters struggling to get to work this morning, while snow caused dangerous conditions for drivers in other parts of the country.
London Underground staff walked out from 7pm last night over plans to axe 800 jobs, with the strikes planned to end at around the same time this evening.
Talks broke down after London Underground management rejected an offer from the RMT union to suspend the strikes for 12 weeks in return for a halt to job cuts while a safety evaluation of the plans is carried out.
RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: “With more chaos as a result of signal failures on the District and Circle lines [last week] … Londoners can see the real impact of the planned cuts for themselves and it is those very same safety-critical cuts that are at the heart of this dispute.”
Transport for London, which says that it is currently running around 40% of its normal service, called the strikes “pointless” and said that they would “achieve nothing whatsoever”.
The strikes come as the earliest snowfall in 17 years continues to cause travel chaos for workers in parts of the country.
Bad weather overnight in Scotland resulted in several miles of traffic on the A9 between Dunblane and Perth this morning, after several lorries jack-knifed. Other roads in the North of the UK have been described as “treacherous”.
The South-East, which has so far escaped the brunt of the bad weather, is at risk of heavy snowfall from tomorrow, leading to fears that commuters could face a double-hit of travel disruption.
For more information on the employment issues caused by disruptions to public transport, read XpertHR’s employer guidance.
