London subway strike stifles commuters
LONDON. October 5. KAZINFORM London commuters struggled to get to work on Monday as workers on the city's underground rail network held their second 24-hour strike in a month in a dispute over planned job cuts; Kazinform refers to China Daily.
Most of the capital's underground lines were suspended or partly suspended because of a walkout by up to 10,000 tube staff that began late on Sunday.
It was the second of four planned 24-hour walkouts.
Writing in The Daily Telegraph, London Mayor Boris Johnson called the stoppage a "nakedly political strike", noting it coincided with the annual conference in Birmingham of the Conservative Party, part of the ruling coalition.
He urged the government to consider a law requiring a minimum 50 percent participation in a strike ballot.
London Underground management held a day of talks with the Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT) and the white collar TSSA unions last month, but no progress was made and the unions have refused to resume negotiations as long as a proposal to cut 800 jobs remains on the table.
The network said the job losses reflected the fact that many ticket offices were barely used since more and more passengers were buying tickets and passes via the Internet or at self-service machines. It has said there will be no compulsory redundancies.
The unions plan two further 24-hour walkouts, on Nov 2 and Nov 28, if the dispute is not resolved and a ban on overtime remains in place; Kazinform cites China Daily.
See www.chinadaily.com.cn for full version.