London braces for a week of travel chaos as a strike on the underground rail network keeps staff away from the office, costing an estimated £50 million ($64 million) for the city’s pubs and restaurants.
“That figure comes on top of a £4.18m loss in sales in recent months which hospitality businesses have already had to absorb due to ongoing transport strikes,” said Kate Nicholls, chief executive of trade body UKHospitality.
Subway workers are intensifying their strike on Sunday night, resulting in almost no subway services until Friday morning. The RMT union is demanding more than the 5% pay rise offered by Transport for London.
TfL has also warned of some disruptions on the Elizabeth line, Overground and DLR, which overlap with the tube network but are technically separate lines.
This is just one example of how the strike is paralyzing London, as a major West End restaurant in the theater world has been forced to close for 4 days, losing revenue and customers, theatres, cinemas etc. will be affected.
— Martin (@MartinC93414706) January 7, 2024
“Strikes are bad news for everyone, and no worker or union wants to have to make the difficult decision to go on strike,” said a spokesman for Sadiq Khan, Labour’s London mayor. Khan blames the National Conservative government for imposing strict conditions on TfL’s funding.
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Most pay disputes in the UK were resolved last year, but some remain. Doctors in training have staged mass walkouts, exacerbating long waiting times in the country’s state health service.
