Mon, Oct 4 11:18 PM
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Commuters wait for buses outside King's Cross railway station during a 24 hour underground strike...
Londoners struggled to and from work on Monday after a strike on the underground rail network, but transport bosses said the action had not brought the city to a halt.
The strike by up to 10,000 staff was the second walk out in a month in a dispute over plans to cut 800 jobs at station ticket offices, which network bosses say are becoming irrelevant as more people use pre-paid passes and self-service machines.
Britain could face an increase in industrial unrest as deep spending cuts planned by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition to curb a record peacetime budget deficit bite.
Most lines on the 140-year-old network, which carries more than one billion passengers a year, suffered problems because of the action which began late on Sunday, the second of four planned 24-hour walkouts.
Struggling commuters had little sympathy with the striking rail workers, while the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry lobby group called the strike a "shameless political game".
"There's no need for ticket offices. A lot of people are losing their jobs these days ... We used to have bus conductors years ago. How is this any different?" said university administrator Roger Law, 54, as he waited for a bus in the rain.
London Underground (LU) bosses said 40 percent of services had operated. "The unions have once again failed to bring London to a halt," Howard Collins, LU's Chief Operating Officer.
"Although most Londoners will have experienced some disruption ... together with additional bus and river services, we have kept London moving."
Speaking at the Conservatives' annual conference in Birmingham, London Mayor Boris Johnson called the underground stoppage "blatantly political", and said 3,000 people should not be able "to hold a city to ransom".
He was referring to the number of Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT) union members who voted in the strike ballot. Some 1,200 members of the white collar TSSA union also voted on whether to walk out.
CHANGE BALLOT LAW?
Johnson urged the government to consider a law requiring a minimum 50 percent participation in a strike ballot.
The Confederation of British Industry business lobby group also called for Britain's industrial relations laws to be updated, saying unions should give more notice of strikes and workers should be able to hear both sides of the argument.
The RMT said about 40 to 45 percent of their members voted, a turnout the union said was more than that required of local council and parliamentary votes.
Union chiefs said they wanted talks with Johnson, and would suspend strike action while discussions were ongoing. However, the unions have refused to resume negotiations as long as a proposal to cut 800 jobs remains.
"We will not withdraw our proposals, but we will listen to any specific safety concerns," said Mike Brown, LU managing director.
The unions plan two more 24-hour walkouts, on Nov. 2 and Nov. 28, if the dispute is not resolved and a ban on overtime remains in place.
(Additional reporting by Kylie MacLellan, Adrian Croft, Estelle Shirbon and Michael Holden; Editing by Diana Abdallah)
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