London Underground Halted

Thursday morning was a disaster for millions of people in London as they attempted to get to work. According to Philly Voice, the underground rail network was completely out of service due to a strike.BBC reported that the strike began Wednesday at 18:30 BST, “after members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, the Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) and Unite walked out.”

People who normally take the underground railway had to find other means of transportation. Some had to resort to walking, getting to work by bicycle, take crowded buses or fight over taxi cabs. The strike resulted over the upcoming changes to the London Underground this September, and the inability for London Underground and the unions to agree on a pay deal when the rail network will be a 24 hour transportation service.

One of the unions, Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association, which had been involved in the negotiations with the London Underground posted on twitter, “Been trying to negotiate for 18 months to avoid today, but London Underground’s intransigence is cause of #tubestrik http://www.tssa.org.uk/en/campaigns/london-underground-dispute …”

CNN reported that London Underground’s “boss,” Mike Brown, referred to the strike as a “big disruption and “totally unnecessary.” London Underground COO, Steve Griffiths told Londoners, “We are, as we always have been, ready to talk at any time to sort out this dispute.”

London Mayor Boris Johnson was quoted on a radio show saying, “The thing is ridiculous, and it is not a well-founded strike.” He also added that the “Night Tube,” as it is being referred to is, “”something that millions of people have wanted for a long time” and that Underground workers had been offered ‘a very, very fair deal’ in exchange. The strike is scheduled to continue until Friday morning.