2024-01-07 16:14:52
Leytonstone Underground station in east London on January 6, 2024. SUZANNE PLUNKETT / REUTERS
London Underground traffic is expected to be very disrupted, if at all, from the end of the afternoon, Sunday January 7, and until Thursday inclusive, due to a strike called by the transport union, which is demanding salary increases.
Transport for London (TfL), the network operator, recommends that travelers complete their journey in the « Tube » before 5:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m. Paris time), due to the service stopping, planned earlier than normal, this Sunday. Of « graves perturbations » are expected from Monday to Thursday, with reduced or no traffic, according to forecasts. A return to normal is expected by midday on Friday.
“TfL failed to avoid this strike by not offering an acceptable offer for London Underground workers”deplores a spokesperson for the RMT union in a press release, explaining not to walk out ” lightly “.
According to the organization, nearly 10,000 of its members are taking part in the strike, which began on Friday for certain categories of staff.
Read also: Faced with inflation, strikes continue in the United Kingdom in hospitals and the railways
Cost of living crisis
In the grip of a severe cost of living crisis, the United Kingdom has been faced with numerous strikes in recent months in several sectors, including health, transport and education.
The purchasing power of the British was hit hard by a sharp rise in inflation during the summer, and a shock in interest rates, rising from 0.1% to 5.25%. The burden of taxes is, moreover, at its highest level since the Second World War, while public services are failing everywhere. Taxation, which weighed 33% of GDP until 2019, a relatively stable level for thirty years, has now increased to just over 36%.
The Prime Minister, the Conservative Rishi Sunak, and his Labor rival Keir Starmer launched the election year in the United Kingdom on Thursday, with legislative elections which will probably be held in the second half of the year and could see Labor make its comeback to Downing Street.
Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers The United Kingdom, undermined by inflation, is experiencing its fourteenth increase in interest rates in a row
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