Tube Strike Dates: Eight Walkouts, Starting 26 November

London Underground drivers will strike on eight days between 26 November and 25 February. Two of the dates fall in the week before Christmas, including Saturday 19 December, the last Saturday before Christmas Day.

The RMT union announced the action on Friday 6 November. Each strike starts at noon and lasts 24 hours, so it runs on into the next morning’s rush hour.

Every Tube line that runs through Westminster is operated by London Underground. That covers the stations people here use most, from Oxford Circus, Bond Street and Piccadilly Circus to Victoria, Baker Street and Westminster itself.

The eight strike dates

What the strike notice does not cover

The action is by London Underground drivers. The RMT’s announcement does not name these services, which carry a large share of people into Westminster:

• the Elizabeth line, which stops at Paddington and Bond Street
• National Rail trains into Paddington, Marylebone, Victoria and Charing Cross
• London buses

When we checked TfL’s planned line status for 26 and 27 November on 12 November, every Tube line still showed a good service. TfL had not yet said how much of the network it expects to run on the strike days.

Why the drivers are striking

The dispute is over London Underground’s plan for what it calls a voluntary four-day working week. It comes with a new Trains Modernisation Framework.

The RMT says the plans would force drivers to give up existing protections whether they work four days a week or five. It says drivers who refuse could be moved out of their depots. The union also says the proposals could lead to hundreds of job cuts, and points to the first rosters published for the Bakerloo line.

RMT general secretary Eddie Dempsey said: “London Underground is attempting to dress up a wholesale attack on drivers’ working conditions as a voluntary four-day week.”

He added: “RMT is not opposed to a genuine four-day working week that benefits our members, but we will not accept it being used as a vehicle for job cuts, intensified working and the erosion of terms and conditions.”

Strikes are sometimes called off when talks make progress, so check again before each date.

What it means for you

• From noon on each strike day until noon the next day, plan for little or no Tube service. Check TfL’s status page on the day.
• The morning after counts too. The strike that starts at noon on Thursday 26 November runs until noon on Friday 27 November, so Friday’s commute is hit as well.
• Saturday 19 December starts at noon and covers that evening and Sunday morning. If you are planning a Christmas shopping trip in Westminster that weekend, note that the strike does not start until noon. TfL has not yet said how services will run in the hours either side.
• The Elizabeth line, National Rail and buses are not named in the strike notice.