Tube strike: RMT and TSSA workers to walkout in jobs dispute

Union members will walk out for 24 hours on 8 January

Thousands of Tube workers are to hold a 24-hour strike in a row over jobs and ticket office closures.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union and the Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) will walk out from 18:00 GMT on 8 January.

However, plans for an RMT driver walkout on the Central Line on Christmas Eve has now been suspended.

The unions said abuse against staff had increased since staff levels were cut and ticket offices closed.

RMT general secretary Mick Cash said working on the Tube had become "horrific" because of "the toxic impact of the job cuts programme".

"With the constant overcrowding on stations and platforms, it is only a matter of time before there is a major tragedy if we don't act decisively," he said.

Manuel Cortes, the general secretary of the TSSA, said workers were "fed up of being made scapegoats for passenger frustrations".

The ticket office closures were agreed under previous mayor Boris Johnson to help save costs

A recent review commissioned by London Mayor Sadiq Khan found the office closures had caused "significant issues" for passengers but said they should not be reopened.

Steve Griffiths, chief operating officer for London Underground, said it was "working with unions" and additional staff were being employed "to provide a better service for our customers".

The planned walkout on the Central Line had been organised by the RMT because of the "overly harsh" dismissal of a driver for gross misconduct after he passed a red signal.

Peter McNaught, operations director for the Central Line, said the driver had "potentially put the safety of others at risk" and a "full and fair disciplinary process" was carried out.

A planned strike by Tube drivers on the Central Line on Christmas Eve has been suspended by the RMT