Drivers on London Underground are to strike on the day of Donald Trump’s visit next month
RMT union bosses says Tube workers on the Piccadilly Line are due to walk out ‘over appalling working conditions’
DRIVERS on London Underground are to strike on the day of Donald Trump’s visit next month.
The RMT union says Tube workers on the Piccadilly Line are due to walk out for more than 48 hours "over appalling working conditions".
They will be on strike from 9pm on Wednesday, July 11 until 1am on Saturday, July 14.
President Trump is due in the capital on July 13 to meet Theresa May before travelling to Windsor Castle for a reception with the Queen.
There are huge protests expected in central London to greet the controversial leader’s arrival, but they will struggle to get around with the planned industrial action.
RMT boss Mick Cash said of the strike: “There have been repeated problems on the Piccadilly Line going back a number of years which have led to dispute after dispute and the failure of LU management to get a grip has tipped the situation over the edge yet again.
“That is why we have had no option but to put on these strike dates.
"Every effort by RMT reps to negotiate a settlement has been obstructed by the company and it is now down to LU bosses to start listening to their members, take the raft of issues at the heart of this dispute seriously and start engaging in a way that will allow us to make some genuine progress."
MOST READ IN POLITICS:
The union say their dispute is over a “continued failure by London Underground to employ enough drivers” on the line which moves half a million passengers a day through the city centre and out to Heathrow airport.
In response Nigel Holness, director of network operations for London Underground, said: "We urge the RMT leadership to work with us constructively on the local issues they have raised rather than threaten to disrupt our customers.
"We remain available for talks to prevent any unnecessary industrial action on the Piccadilly line.”