This week's London Underground tube strikes have been called off — and future action rescheduled
Mind the gap (in regular services)
Morgan Truder
It’s a last-minute reprieve for London commuters after this week’s planned Tube strikes were called off just before they were due to begin.
It was set to be round two for London’s major 2026 Tube strikes. And judging by the April walkouts, we were likely in for more minor travel chaos across the coming week. The May strikes were due to begin at midday on Tuesday (19 May), meaning plenty of Londoners had already started figuring out how they’d get home from work.
However, the RMT union confirmed on Monday that the two planned 24-hour stoppages on May 19 and May 21 have now been suspended following fresh talks with London Underground.
An RMT spokesperson said: “At the 11th hour the employer has shifted its position, allowing us to further explore our members’ concerns around the imposition of new rosters, fatigue and safety issues.
“The dispute is not over, and more strike action will follow if we fail to make sufficient progress.”
The strikes involved drivers who are members of the RMT union, and centre on an ongoing dispute with London Underground over proposed changes to working patterns. The plan is to move drivers onto a four-day work week by compressing their hours, something the union has pushed back on, citing concerns around fatigue, safety and work-life balance.
Transport for London says the proposals would initially be trialled voluntarily. Rival union Aslef, which represents a slight majority of Tube drivers, has already endorsed the plans.
While this week’s disruption has now been avoided, the dispute itself is still very much ongoing. Strikes previously scheduled for June 16 and 18 have also been cancelled, although the RMT has announced replacement dates below:
- June 2-4 (12pm Tuesday – 11:59am Wednesday)
The good news for Londoners is that the network should now run as normal this week. The bad news is that there may still be some disruption elsewhere. Separate strike action involving more than 150 TfL bus controllers and network traffic controllers is still due to take place on Thursday, May 21 and Friday, May 22, in a dispute over rota changes.
During the April walkouts, a number of Tube lines were either fully suspended or part-suspended, while alternative transport services saw a major spike in demand. Lime reported a 22% jump in rides on April 23 compared with the previous week, while Forest said evening rush-hour journeys rose by more than 50%.
Nick Dent, director of customer operations for London Underground, said: “We are pleased that RMT has withdrawn its planned industrial action this week. This is good news for London.”
The now-cancelled May strikes were the third and fourth in a planned series of six 24-hour walkouts between April and June.
The root issue of these strikes is a plan to take Tube drivers down to a four-day work week. While Aslef union members agreed to these plans, the RMT has taken issue with them, citing concerns over safety regarding a compressed work week.
However, when you crunch the numbers, the drivers’ actual hours working each day aren’t that different. The plans would see drivers work eight and a half hours each day, but with a 30-minute paid break, which isn’t part of the current deal.
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