Tube strike: How is it different to previous industrial action and how likely is it to go ahead

The strike is set to begin on Friday at 6:30am for 24 hours

TfL expects there will be minimal disruption to services (Oli Scarff/Getty Images)

Tube services could be disrupted on Friday as track patrol staff and maintenance workers have said they will go on strike for 24 hours.

From 6:30am on Friday, around 2,000 members of staff from the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) will begin industrial action over two separate disputes – one is over the use of private contracts for track patrol staff, which RMT general secretary Mick Cash has said is an attempt “to undermine and casualise jobs across London Underground”.

The other dispute is over safety for maintenance workers.

How does the strike differ to previous ones?

The reasons behind Friday’s planned strike are different from strikes which took place in 2015, which were over disputes about pay and the Night Tube.

As drivers and station staff are not involved in the current disputes, Travel for London (TfL) has said it expects services to run as normal and for disruption to be minimal – but the lack of maintenance and track staff may mean faults take longer to repair.

How likely is the strike to go ahead?

Some previous RMT strikes have been called off at the last minute, such as the 48-hour industrial action which was organised to begin on 6 February. It was suspended after the RMT said it had engaged in talks with London Underground management. However, the reasons behind it were the proposed closure of ticket offices and changes to work rosters, not private contracts or safety.

Friday’s strike coincides with ‘Heart Unions’ week, which has been launched by the Trade Union Congress (TUC) to oppose the government’s proposed Trade Union Bill. The TUC has said the bill “threatens the basic right to strike”.