Tube strike: London underground staff in 24 hour walk-out next week

Workers on the Great First Western line which operates between London and the west of England will also stage a 48-hour strike starting the same day

A London underground station was temporarily evacuated following a sighting of a 'suspicious object' (Getty)

London's underground network will be hit by another strike next week, as the RMT union announced a 24-hour walk-out on July 8.

Rail workers on First Great Western will also strike from 6.30pm on July 8 in a row over jobs and other issues, the RMT union has said. The walk-out will last 48 hours.

The tube strike is in connection to the upcoming launch of the tube running all night from September.

Unions and management met for talks which will resume tomorrow. A strike by members of the four unions would cripple Tube services, causing travel chaos across the capital.

The unions are in dispute over pay and conditions for the new all-night Tube, which is due to start at weekends from mid-September.

The RMT said its members voted by 91 per cent in favour of strikes and 96 per cent for other forms of industrial action. The union is also in dispute over a series of other issues including jobs and safety.

RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: “Balloting has concluded today in a series of disputes on London Underground, including the linked issues of pay and night running and also in the long running dispute over station staffing, mass job cuts and ticket office closures.”

”The industrial relations situation on the Tube has sunk to an almost unprecedented low with all four unions united and balloting for action over pay and working arrangements due to be ushered in under the guise of the mayor's “night Tube” vanity project in just 10 weeks' time.

Cash said that the changes would lock workers into a “culture of anti-social hours and appalling that would rip apart work/life balance whilst at the same time they are being hit with pay proposals that would undermine their standard of living.“

Steve Griffiths, LU's chief operating officer, said: ”Londoners and businesses overwhelmingly back the night Tube. It will make life easier for everyone, cut journey times, create jobs and boost the economy.

“Most of our staff will not be affected by the new services at all because it affects only five of 11 lines. Some staff will actually work fewer nights than they do now because we have hired 137 more train operators specifically for the night Tube.