London Underground drivers will stage eight 24-hour strikes between the end of November and late February, the RMT union announced on Friday 6 November, in a dispute over new working arrangements.

The walkouts will each run from noon to noon the following day, starting on Thursday 26 November, with further strikes on 17 and 19 December, 4 and 6 January, and 17, 23 and 25 February. The first strike runs into Black Friday, and the 19 December walkout falls on the last Saturday before Christmas, one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

What the dispute is about

The RMT says Transport for London's plans for a voluntary four-day working week and a new Trains Modernisation Framework would worsen conditions for drivers, requiring them to drive trains for longer, with longer duties, earlier starts and later finishes. The union also warned the plans could pave the way for hundreds of job cuts.

Transport for London, which runs the Tube, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Elizabeth line, the London Overground and the Docklands Light Railway are not part of the action, and the strikes could still be called off if the two sides reach a deal.

A split between the unions

The other Tube drivers' union, Aslef, has accepted the proposals and challenged the RMT's decision to strike, leaving the two unions on opposite sides of the dispute.

The Tube carries between three and four million passengers a day. Strikes on the Underground in September 2025 caused widespread disruption across the city, while walkouts planned by drivers in May were called off. Based on previous strikes in this dispute, some lines are likely to have no service at all on strike days, with the rest of the network disrupted.