LONDON — The capital braced on Tuesday for another 24-hour strike closing down its subway system, with most of the commuter nightmares expected during the morning and evening rush hours on the following day, the Associated Press reports.
The job action — the second by subway workers in a week — was scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. (1900 GMT) Tuesday, when most of the millions of commuters who use the London Underground each day would already have returned home.
That means people will be forced once again during the morning and evening rush hours on Wednesday to try to get to work in London by walking, riding overcrowded buses or driving their cars on gridlocked streets.
The strike by members of the Rail Maritime and Transport Union and the ASLEF union was being held to protest a 3 percent pay increase as too low.
Subway services were wiped out during a similar one-day strike last Wednesday, costing the British economy millions of pounds (dollars).
The unions were expecting solid support from their members for Tuesday’s strike, and threatened to stage more 24-hour job actions if there is no breakthrough in the deadlock over their pay.