Hospitality Sector Braces Itself for Tube Strike

London’s hospitality and licensed on-trade sector is facing a potentially difficult few months, as industry leaders warn that a series of planned Underground strikes could inflict severe damage on trade at a time when operators can least afford disruption.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union voted overwhelmingly to take strike action on the London Underground, with six 24-hour walkouts confirmed across 12 days between late March and late May. The first strike is scheduled for 24 March, with further action in April and May.
The dispute centres on London Underground’s plans to introduce a compressed four-day working week for drivers. The RMT says management has pushed ahead with the arrangement despite it being rejected by a majority of train operators in internal referendums, with members raising concerns about shift lengths, fatigue and unacceptable working time arrangements.

RMT General Secretary Eddie Dempsey said the union had been left with no alternative after months of failed negotiations, warning that the proposed changes posed serious risks to worker safety and wellbeing.

Kate Nicholls, chair of UKHospitality, said: “Tube strikes have a devastating impact on London’s hospitality businesses, with commuter footfall almost non-existent and families cancelling plans to visit. The cost of strikes can stretch into the millions – as we saw when strikes hit the sector a couple of years ago. It’s not just lost sales, but the impact on hospitality staff, who can no longer get into work.

“I urge all parties to continue negotiations and reach a solution that averts these damaging strikes.”

Michael Kill, chief executive of the Night Time Industries Association, said that “when the Underground stops, the night-time economy suffers immediately”, and added: “Once again London’s night-time economy is being placed directly in the firing line of widespread disruption caused by Tube strikes.

“Late-night hospitality, entertainment venues, live music spaces, theatres, nightclubs and the thousands of workers who keep London alive after dark rely on a functioning, dependable transport network.

“Our sector has worked relentlessly to rebuild after years of economic pressure, rising costs, staffing shortages and reduced consumer confidence. Planned strike action of this scale risks undoing much of that fragile recovery.”

He acknowledged workers’ rights to “raise concerns and negotiate fair working conditions” but added: “The scale and timing of this action will have severe consequences for an industry that contributes billions to the UK economy and supports hundreds of thousands of jobs.”

The new tube strike dates are as follows:
24–25 March
26–27 March
21–22 April
23–24 April
19–20 May
21–22 May