A full walkout by Tube staff paralysed London's Underground on Monday, leaving millions of commuters facing severe travel disruption as the RMT union presses Transport for London (TfL) for higher pay and a cut in working hours.
The strike, led by the RMT, closed the entire network until Friday morning and followed a limited service day on Sunday. TfL said it had offered a 3.4% pay increase but rejected the union's request to reduce weekly working hours from 35 to 32 as "unaffordable and impractical." TfL's director of customer operations for the Tube, Nick Dent, renewed a plea for further talks, saying it was "not too late to call off the strikes and put our offer to the RMT members."
Entrances to stations across the capital were closed and long queues formed at bus stops as commuters sought alternatives. London Overground, trams and buses were expected to face heavy knock-on demand, and TfL warned that some services could be unable to stop at shared stations because of congestion. The Docklands Light Railway, which serves east and southeast London, will also be suspended on Tuesday and Thursday because of a separate dispute.
The RMT has framed the action as a response to workload, shift patterns and staff travel arrangements. General Secretary Eddie Dempsey said the union's members were "not after a 'King's ransom'" and described fatigue and extreme shift rotations as issues affecting members' health and wellbeing that had gone unaddressed by management. He said the union would continue to engage with management to seek a revised offer and a negotiated settlement.
Commuters and businesses expressed frustration on social media and at picket lines. Some users asked why the city's mayor, Sadiq Khan, and the TfL chair had not been more visible during the disruption. The strikes represent the first complete closure of the Underground since March 2023; earlier this year, Khan used Greater London Authority funds to avert industrial action in January by interim measures that are not being repeated now.
Transport analysts and travel advisers urged passengers to plan for longer journeys and to consider alternatives. Nicky Kelvin, editor-at-large at The Points Guy, advised commuters unable to avoid travel to explore buses, bikes and other transport options and to monitor real-time updates and on-the-ground reports as ripple effects build across the transport network.
TfL said it had met with union representatives multiple times in the past fortnight and remained willing to hold further discussions. The authority cautioned that reduced staffing and increased demand on other modes of transport would continue to cause significant disruption throughout the week.
The dispute adds to a wider pattern of industrial action affecting public services in the United Kingdom this year, with unions citing pay, conditions and staffing as central concerns. Both TfL and the RMT said they were available for talks, leaving the outcome dependent on whether negotiators can bridge the gap between the union's demands and what TfL says it can afford and practically implement.