Fresh strikes will be held by drivers on London’s Night Tube this weekend as a dispute over rosters remains deadlocked.
Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) on the Central and Victoria lines will walk out for eight hours on Friday and Saturday evenings, with similar action planned every weekend until June.
The union has accused London Underground (LU) bosses of a “deafening silence” over the row, but Transport for London (TfL) says it remains open to talks.
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “We are calling on Tube bosses to end their deafening silence and take up the opportunity of resuming negotiations with the aim of resolving the Night Tube dispute.
“The action continues tonight despite the fact that we believe there are simple and cost-free options that would enable us to consider suspending the action. We cannot make any progress if LU continue to give us the cold shoulder.
“With London heading back towards some normality at last, the settlement of this dispute should be a priority for the mayor and his officials and that means showing a willingness to recommence the talks process.
“The issue at the heart of the dispute, protecting the work/life balance of drivers, cannot be swept under the carpet and needs to be addressed rather than dismissed.
“RMT stands ready to get talks back on. ”
A TfL spokesperson said: “We remain open to talks with the RMT, in the hope this long-running strike action can be called off.
“During the six months of regular (conciliation service) Acas talks on this matter, it’s become clear that there are no new or workable proposals. However we remain in touch with both the RMT and Acas in the hope that a resolution can be found.
“Our position remains that since changes to our rosters, which have been agreed with our other union, were implemented, they’ve been a positive change for the organisation and our staff, helping us to keep London moving, become a fairer place to work and bringing back Night Tube.
“Despite the strike action, we’re running a good Night Tube service on the Victoria Line and a regular service on the Central Line with at least two trains per hour through central London.
“We’ve made changes to driver rosters to preserve a near-normal Tube service while also giving drivers the opportunity for full-time work, new flexible part-time work and long-term job certainty.
“There are no job losses, and those few who want to remain on the previous rosters have been able to do so as a result of the changes made, and we have assured Tube drivers that night shifts usually can be swapped with colleagues for duties at other times of day.”
