The Tube, or the Underground, is a railway that carries millions of passengers every day and forms the foundation of daily London commuting. However, it has earned notoriety as one of the most strike-prone companies in Britain, and, by the regularity of industrial strikes, has caused not only significant disruption to the lives and economy of millions of people, but also an effect on the lives and economy of the city itself. In view of major conflicts, union activities, the influence on commuters and businesses, and intricate negotiations that influence the future of the tube workforce, this blog will trace the history, reasons, and effects of tube workforce strikes in London. It is a significant transport system linking boroughs within the city and has iconic stations with millions of passengers.
Historical background and frequency of strikes
Some of the most common essential issues have included job losses, wages, pensions, working conditions, and safety concerns, such as resistance to staff cuts that are seen to compromise passenger safety.
Several 24- to 48-hour strikes in the early 2010s opposing large job losses, including the termination of over 800 safety-critical jobs in 2010, are notable strike actions that caused extensive service interruptions. Protests against plans to close almost all ticket offices flared once more in 2014, leading to network-wide closures.
Amid increased security concerns, strikes in the mid-2010s were related to the effect of workforce shortages on safety. For instance, unions characterized the Tube as dangerously understaffed during a series of strikes in 2016–2017 in protest of the proposed elimination of 900 front-line workers. There is also the striking against more narrow concerns like the dismissal of union activists, as was the case in 2011 when the dismissal of a Northern Line driver led to a succession of short strikes until he was reinstated.
The tendency of industrial activities has continued in recent years. In 2022, several job-related and pension-related strikes hit significant lines, such as the Piccadilly and Jubilee and were often coordinated with nationwide rail strikes. The one-day strike in November 2022 was predicted to have cost the economy of London £14 million in productivity.
London Tube strikes in September 2023, under the RMT union, staged a giant wave of strikes that affected the whole Tube network between September 5 and September 11. The move began in the evening of September 5 when the depot operational control managers at Ruislip downed their tools in a 24-hour walkout. In the following several days, the disturbance only worsened.
There were London Underground tube strikes in 2024, planned in the first half of November, mainly involving workers covered by the ASLEF (train drivers) and RMT (other Tube staff) unions. Such strikes were in response to ongoing pay and working condition disputes, which were characterized by poor negotiations between Transport for London (TfL) and the unions.
Key unions involved and nature of disputes (pay, pensions, job cuts, working conditions)
The primary representatives of the workforce of the London Underground are several powerful trade unions, all of which contribute significant weight to the discussion and industrial action on the issues of wages, pensions, loss of work, and working conditions.
1. Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT).
The Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) is the largest union representing London Underground workers who are station workers, maintenance workers, and some train operators. The RMT has been most prolific in organising strikes, often raising issues of unfavourable working conditions, meager pay rise, pension, and loss of jobs, which affect safety.
2. Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF)
ASLEF differences are often based on driver-specific issues, such as compensational, shift, and fatigue-related matters. They are very disruptive when they do occur, even though they are usually independent of wider RMT strike actions.
3. Transport Salaried Staff Association (TSSA)
The salaried managerial and administrative employees of the London Underground are members of the Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA). They have expressed their concerns about the reforms in pensions and employment security, and they are broadly in support of the work of the RMT.
4. Safety and work cuts
Layoffs of frontline workers have always been the hottest issue and continue to be. TfL has faced very strong resistance to the plan to remove hundreds of jobs, many of which are safety-critical, including ticket offices, from unions.
5. Salary
Employees have routinely turned down salary proposals that fall short of inflation or increases in living expenses. For example, TfL suggested a 3.4% salary raise in 2025, which RMT members felt was insufficient given the crisis in the cost of living. Conflicts draw attention to the challenging economic climate for workers and demand pay commensurate with the demanding shift patterns they face. Strikes have also been caused by raising contribution requirements or decreasing perks. Unions work to ensure their members have a secure retirement.
6. Working conditions
These include worries regarding staff travel plans, excessive shift rotation fatigue, and long workweeks (management has determined that TfL’s proposed 35-hour workweek is unaffordable). Unions highlight the negative effects of poorly managed schedules on health and well-being.
7. Union rights and fair treatment
The dismissal or disciplinary measures of union representatives have also triggered specific strike actions, which unions perceive as assaults on their power and worker rights.
Are the tubes on strike tomorrow, London Underground?
The London Underground Tube strike dates will see a major series of strikes organized by the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union beginning on the evening of Friday, September 5, 2025. These strikes are a part of a rolling industrial action that will affect various worker categories on different days for nearly a week. From Sunday, September 7 onward, there will likely be more significant disruptions that affect several key staff groups throughout the network.
On Sunday, September 7, several key teams, including track access controllers, London Underground control center workers, power/control staff, and Emergency Response Unit (ERU) members, will strike for the whole day, causing very limited or no Tube services available for much of the day. The following day, Monday, September 8, nearly all fleet members, except those involved in engineering vehicles and maintenance, plus the ERU, will strike across the network all day. This action effectively halts almost all normal Tube operations, causing a complete service shutdown on many lines.
On Tuesday, September 9, signalers, service control, and ERU members go on strike. The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) is also completely shut on this day, making the eastern half of London transportation more of a nightmare. The network sees another full stoppage on Wednesday, September 10, when all fleet, engineering, stations, and trains members again walk out. The strike week concludes on Thursday, September 11, with signalers and service control staff striking once more, and the DLR also ceasing operations.
The net effect is that all Underground lines will be impacted during this period, among which are the Bakerloo, Central, Circle, District, Hammersmith and City, Jubilee, Metropolitan, Northern, Piccadilly, Victoria, and Waterloo and City lines. Nevertheless, the London Overground and Elizabeth line services are not affected, since the employees are not in the same unions and they are not involved in the strike action. This rolling strike action has the combined effect of effectively stopping large parts of the Tube network in London over a series of days.
TfL is still pushing to negotiate further and resolve, but has conceded that at present the offer of a 3.4% pay increase has been turned down by union members, further extending the stalemate.
Economic costs, alternative transport use, and public response
The commuters are highly encouraged to take alternative means of transport during the September 2025 London Underground strikes since all the Tube lines are highly congested. The biggest bus network in London could be considered as one of the most feasible options as it serves the whole city and the standard charge is £1.75 per way, limited to £ 5.95 a day, so that the cost is not prohibitive to many. Nevertheless, buses are predicted to be incredibly congested during the Tube shutdown since a large number of commuters will transfer to buses. This alternative is widely used because it helps to avoid traffic and practice social distancing.
The other options are the classic black cabs and the ride-hailing apps such as Uber and Bolt that are convenient with door delivery but are more expensive than public transit.
The strikes are likely to cost London a lot economically. It is estimated that losses may be up to £230 million in terms of lost productivity, longer commutes, and less consumer expenditure in times of disruption. The effect of the sustained industrial action is evident even in the estimated costs of the previous London Tube strikes in September 2022, which amount to £14 million.
The strikes are met with mixed feelings in society. Although most commuters complain about the frustration and exhaustion due to daily inconveniences to their usual commute, most people sympathise and understand the demands of workers to be compensated and have good working conditions. However, the patience of the population is usually put to the test, particularly when alternative means of transport are overcrowded and travel is becoming more unpredictable.
Causes of the Tube strikes
Historically, tube strikes have been initiated by confrontation around many fundamental issues:
- Job Cuts and Safety: TfL has already introduced staffing cuts as part of modernization and cost-cutting campaigns, and has proposed staffing cuts of hundreds of safety-critical station jobs and the closure of ticket offices. According to unions, such cuts are a threat to operational safety, security against crime, and passenger assistance.
- Pay and Pensions: Workers have strongly opposed pay proposals that are below the increasing cost of living or below inflation. Reforms in pensions, perceived to be a blow to the future security of workers, have also triggered massive walkouts.
- Working Conditions: The tensions have been fuelled by disagreements regarding the level of staffing, automating jobs, working shifts, and work safety.
These problems have frequently been combined in recent years, and strikes have been used to resolve several grievances at the same time.
It is an ever-changing situation with continued negotiation towards a negotiated solution, but nothing definitive as yet, as employees and management are stuck between two roads of pay, working conditions, and future ways of operating.
