i bet most of you don't care since this is across the pound, but just remember what happened during the NYC transit strike...sucks, doesn't it
London Tube Strike Causes Commuter Chaos
A commuters reads a sign at Blackfriars tube station in central London as a strike by members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union caused disruption to the Tube service Tuesday Sept. 4, 2007. Most of London's sprawling subway network was shut down by a strike Tuesday, leaving hundreds of thousands of workers to walk, switch to trains or buses, or just stay home. Around 2,300 members of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers launched a 72-hour strike at 6 p.m. (1700 GMT) Monday in a dispute related to the collapse of their employer, maintenance consortium Metronet. (AP Photo/ Jane Mingay/PA Wire)
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Jane Mingay / AP
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By ROBERT BARR
Updated: 15 minutes ago
LONDON - Hundreds of thousands of commuters struggled to get to work Tuesday by bus, bike, cab and on foot as a subway workers' strike stretched into a second day, disabling three-quarters of the sprawling Underground.
The planned three-day strike by 2,300 members of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers started Monday evening, with nine of 12 lines shut down.
The union said it would meet for talks later Tuesday to try to resolve its demands for protecting jobs and pensions of workers at Metronet, the maintenance consortium forced into administration by a financial crisis.
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"This is a positive development, and we hope that Metronet and its administrator will now take our members' legitimate concerns seriously," said the union's general secretary, Bob Crow.
The strike forced commuters to find another way to work.
"I've had to get three trains and two buses this morning to get to work _ it's ludicrous. I'm already tired," said Adrian Wells, 57, an accountant from Sutton, south of London.
Jennifer Evans, 29, who was waiting in line for a taxi outside Victoria Station, estimated that she had moved 16 feet in 20 minutes.
"It doesn't seem as if there's enough taxis for everyone, but I suppose they are picking up people stranded across London because of all this chaos," she said.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown called the strike "wholly unjustified" and urged subway workers to get back to work.
"It is causing an enormous amount of trouble to the people of London and disruption to the business of this city," he said Tuesday. "They should get back to work as quickly as possible."
London's subway system, known as the Tube, carries an average of more than 3 million passengers a day over 255 miles of track.
Mayor Ken Livingstone said the union was a disruption to Londoners' lives.
"This strike is one of the most purposeless ever called," he said. "All of the issues raised have been settled."
Metronet's workers maintain tracks, trains and signals on some of the subway system's busiest routes, and have demanded assurances that their jobs would be protected under arrangements being made to try to rescue the company, which has been unable to pay its debts.
"From what I've read it seems Ken Livingstone's given all the assurances that he can," said commuter Phil Breeden, 42.
"We're living in a grown-up business world, and people should realize we can't protect everyone's job forever."
Metronet's management said it had given the union's members written guarantees that their jobs were safe. But the RMT said it still wanted guarantees from Metronet that there would be no job losses, forced transfers or pension cuts. It warned of another 72-hour strike next week.
"My husband and I missed the first two buses but you just have to deal with it, don't you?" said Lesley Jones, 51, from suburban Bromley, who started an hour early to beat the crush. "Our philosophy is to go with the flow because there's nothing you can do but we've seen a lot of people getting tense and irate."
London Tube Strike Causes Commuter Chaos
A commuters reads a sign at Blackfriars tube station in central London as a strike by members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union caused disruption to the Tube service Tuesday Sept. 4, 2007. Most of London's sprawling subway network was shut down by a strike Tuesday, leaving hundreds of thousands of workers to walk, switch to trains or buses, or just stay home. Around 2,300 members of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers launched a 72-hour strike at 6 p.m. (1700 GMT) Monday in a dispute related to the collapse of their employer, maintenance consortium Metronet. (AP Photo/ Jane Mingay/PA Wire)
View related photos
Jane Mingay / AP
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By ROBERT BARR
Updated: 15 minutes ago
LONDON - Hundreds of thousands of commuters struggled to get to work Tuesday by bus, bike, cab and on foot as a subway workers' strike stretched into a second day, disabling three-quarters of the sprawling Underground.
The planned three-day strike by 2,300 members of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers started Monday evening, with nine of 12 lines shut down.
The union said it would meet for talks later Tuesday to try to resolve its demands for protecting jobs and pensions of workers at Metronet, the maintenance consortium forced into administration by a financial crisis.
Story continues below ↓
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
advertisement
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"This is a positive development, and we hope that Metronet and its administrator will now take our members' legitimate concerns seriously," said the union's general secretary, Bob Crow.
The strike forced commuters to find another way to work.
"I've had to get three trains and two buses this morning to get to work _ it's ludicrous. I'm already tired," said Adrian Wells, 57, an accountant from Sutton, south of London.
Jennifer Evans, 29, who was waiting in line for a taxi outside Victoria Station, estimated that she had moved 16 feet in 20 minutes.
"It doesn't seem as if there's enough taxis for everyone, but I suppose they are picking up people stranded across London because of all this chaos," she said.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown called the strike "wholly unjustified" and urged subway workers to get back to work.
"It is causing an enormous amount of trouble to the people of London and disruption to the business of this city," he said Tuesday. "They should get back to work as quickly as possible."
London's subway system, known as the Tube, carries an average of more than 3 million passengers a day over 255 miles of track.
Mayor Ken Livingstone said the union was a disruption to Londoners' lives.
"This strike is one of the most purposeless ever called," he said. "All of the issues raised have been settled."
Metronet's workers maintain tracks, trains and signals on some of the subway system's busiest routes, and have demanded assurances that their jobs would be protected under arrangements being made to try to rescue the company, which has been unable to pay its debts.
"From what I've read it seems Ken Livingstone's given all the assurances that he can," said commuter Phil Breeden, 42.
"We're living in a grown-up business world, and people should realize we can't protect everyone's job forever."
Metronet's management said it had given the union's members written guarantees that their jobs were safe. But the RMT said it still wanted guarantees from Metronet that there would be no job losses, forced transfers or pension cuts. It warned of another 72-hour strike next week.
"My husband and I missed the first two buses but you just have to deal with it, don't you?" said Lesley Jones, 51, from suburban Bromley, who started an hour early to beat the crush. "Our philosophy is to go with the flow because there's nothing you can do but we've seen a lot of people getting tense and irate."