LONDON — According to the Associated Press, a 24-hour subway strike made a mess of Londoners’ commute Wednesday, snarling traffic and leaving millions with major transportation headaches for the second time in two months.
Members of the Rail Maritime and Transport Union and the train drivers’ union ASLEF walked out at 8 p.m. Tuesday and planned to stay off the job until the same time Wednesday, although train service was not expected to get back to normal until Thursday morning.
Long lines built up at bus stops Wednesday morning as packed buses refused to take on more passengers. Many decided to walk instead. The Automobile Association said main routes into London were packed, as were areas of the city center.
Some workers picketed outside stations, and managers at the Edgware Road stop in northwest London called police to complain about what they said was aggressive demonstrating.
“We are disappointed for our customers that we cannot run any trains,” said Howard Collins, London Underground’s service delivery manager.
RMT general secretary Bob Crow and ASLEF leader Mick Rix asked the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) to urgently investigate the possibility of using arbitration to settle the pay dispute.
“I absolutely, 100 percent regret what is happening to the traveling public, but I have to say that the blame for this dispute lies fairly and squarely on (London Underground’s) doorstep,” Crow said, picketing at Golders Green station in north London. “We hope that this strike is the last one and that LU see sense and go to see an independent referee along with us.”
London Underground’s management said it had gone to ACAS three times and that it had no money to offer the workers beyond the 3 percent raise it had already promised.
“The 3 percent offer is not enough when you put it into the context of the conditions of service,” said Gerard Vickers, 43, a driver on the Northern Line.
“We work most bank holidays, weekends and extremely unsocial hours in a dirty and hostile environment. This package has been imposed upon us.”
Mayor Ken Livingstone said arbitration was the best way of resolving the dispute, which prompted a July 17 strike and another scheduled to begin Oct. 1. He blamed London Underground, which he does not control, for refusing to go to ACAS.
“This is an absolute disgrace, this is a completely unnecessary strike,” he told British Broadcasting Corp. radio Wednesday morning. “If you’ve got a management that won’t negotiate, the only thing the work force can do is strike.”
He said he did not support the strike, which he said would cost London’s economy 60 million pounds ($93 million). The Underground normally carries 3 million passengers a day.