Andy Murray today reached out to tube bosses and union leaders in the hope of averting the strike action that will affects thousands of those travelling to Wimbledon.
He said: “I am hoping it all gets sorted out before Wimbledon starts. I know lots of fans have bought their tickets and can’t wait for the action to start.” A wave of public sector strikes over job cuts is also threatened for this summer.
The strike action, organised by the RMT union over the sacking of a tube driver, would involve a series of walkouts beginning on Sunday and continuing into next week.
RMT leader Bob Crow said: “This trade union would not be worth its salt if we didn’t stand up and fight injustice. It’s not too late to make amends rather than plunging London into a series of Tube-wide actions. There is still time to put right this wrong.”
RMT leaders are demanding that the sacked driver, Arwyn Thomas, is given his job back. He was fired over alleged abusive behaviour towards colleagues. He insists that he is innocent and is awaiting a full tribunal later in the month.
Mayor of London, Boris Johnson has said that the “pointless” strikes would only be hurting the thousands of tennis fans looking forward to Wimbledon.
He said: “Thousands of Londoners will be looking forward to cheering on their tennis heroes at Wimbledon and it is mystifying that the leadership of the RMT wish to go on strike in advance of a tribunal decision that Transport for London said it will abide by and which is expected shortly. I urge them to resolve their issues through discussion, not pointless strike action.”
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