Planned London Underground strikes that threatened to bring the capital to a halt next week have been called off after talks.
The RMT and Aslef unions have suspended industrial action that would have stopped the tube entirely for four days and caused widespread disruption from Monday to Saturday.
The strikes, by train drivers and station staff, were planned because of a dispute over changes to working conditions, including staffing reductions and a review of pensions brought as part of Transport for London’s post-Covid financial settlement with the government.
The RMT’s general secretary, Mick Lynch, said there had been “significant progress” in talks held by the conciliation service, Acas but that it was not the end of the dispute, with negotiations continuing and a strike mandate still in place.
The union said that concessions included longer guarantees on earnings, no pension changes for at least three years and a halt to productivity proposals that it said would have damaged the terms and conditions of RMT members.
Finn Brennan, Aslef’s organiser on the underground, said that negotiations had “made real progress in making sure our members’ working conditions and pensions are protected from the impact of the Tory government cuts to TfL funding”.
He said they had agreed there would be no changes to pension benefits before the next general election, while changes to working conditions would only be made by negotiation.
The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said the suspension of strikes was “really welcome news for Londoners”, adding: “Despite the onerous funding deal conditions imposed by the government, we have managed to avoid industrial action.
“Negotiation is always the best way forward, and this shows what we can achieve by working with trade unions.”
National rail strikes by RMT members remain on for Saturday and 29 July, in the separate pay dispute with 14 train operators and the government in England, bringing widespread disruption to trains around Britain.
