London Underground: Thousands of staff to strike over job cuts

Thousands of London Underground station staff are to strike next month in a long-running dispute over job losses.

Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) members will walk out on 4 and 6 October, which the union said would shut down the capital's Tube service.

The union has also raised safety concerns over higher workloads, more lone working and increased fatigue.

Transport for London (TfL) said it was "disappointed" with the RMT's decision to take strike action.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: "Station staff have had enough of having their livelihoods threatened by job losses and attacks on their terms and conditions.

"[They] have a vital role to play assisting vulnerable passengers to access the network safely and ensuring that the Tube is a safe environment for passengers.

"These job cuts and attacks on conditions are going to lead to more unstaffed stations, temporary closures and rising passenger anger."

Mr Lynch said that station staff cuts would make "negatable" savings and will lead to "unacceptable" staff shortages.

He added: "This strike action will lead to the Tube being shut down and we call on mayor Sadiq Khan to meet us urgently to discuss this matter."

The union said more than 3,500 of its members were involved in the dispute.

Glynn Barton, TfL's chief operating officer, said: "Nobody wants to see strikes that will cause significant disruption to our customers and we urge them to reconsider and continue engaging with us."

Follow BBC London on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected]