London Underground drivers will stage eight days of strike action over the winter in a dispute over new working arrangements, Britain’s RMT union announced on Friday.
The eight 24-hour walkouts are planned for 26 November, 17 and 19 December, 4 and 6 January, and 17, 23 and 25 February, the union said. Each strike will begin at noon, a format designed to hit both the morning and evening rush hours.
At the heart of the dispute is Transport for London’s plan to introduce a voluntary four-day working week for drivers, alongside a new Trains Modernisation Framework. The RMT says the changes would strip away protections negotiated over many years, forcing drivers to spend more time at the controls, work longer and less predictable shifts, and start earlier and finish later.
“London Underground is attempting to dress up a wholesale attack on drivers’ working conditions as a voluntary four-day week,” RMT general secretary Eddie Dempsey said. “But there is nothing voluntary about a scheme that forces drivers to give up existing protections whether they work four days or five, and threatens those who refuse with displacement from their depots.”
The union warned the plans could also pave the way for hundreds of job cuts. Transport for London says the four-day week would give drivers an extra 35 days off each year, with rosters based on a 34-hour week, in return for changes to working conditions and a move to electronic rather than paper-based systems for booking on for duty. TfL did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the strike announcement.
The walkouts threaten severe disruption across the capital. The Tube carries between three and four million passengers a day, and strikes on the network in September 2025 caused widespread disruption across the city. Walkouts planned by drivers in May were called off before they went ahead.
With two of the strike days falling just before Christmas and two more in the first week of January, the action is timed to maximise pressure on London Underground management at one of the busiest periods of the year for travel and shopping. The union has not indicated any further talks, and the dispute could widen if negotiations do not resume.
Sources: Reuters, “London tube drivers to hold 8 days of strikes over winter”, https://www.reuters.com/business/world-at-work/london-tube-drivers-hold-8-days-strikes-over-winter-2026-11-06/ ; PA Media via the Clacton and Frinton Gazette, “Tube drivers to strike over Christmas period in long-running dispute”, https://www.clactonandfrintongazette.co.uk/news/national/26705421.tube-drivers-strike-christmas-period-long-running-dispute/
