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LONDON – When David Sellors tried to catch a taxi at London's King's Cross train station Tuesday, he didn't expect a line so long that he couldn't even see the front. A snaking row of more than 250 people turned several corners before reaching the rank full of cabs.
Sellors had expected a day-long strike by about 10,000 staff of the British capital's subway system to add an extra hour to his morning commute. But that was before he saw the throng of hopeful passengers – which doubled his delay.
AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis
Commuters wait at a bus stop in central London on Tuesday. Millions of Londoners struggled to get to work by road, rail, boat and bicycle Tuesday as a strike by London Underground workers shut down much of the city's subway system.
"In the industry I work in – the construction industry – they're laying people off all over the place," grumbled the 47-year-old from Derby, England. "No-one's getting a pay rise, so we’re all in the same boat."
Jam-packed buses
More than 3.5 million people use London's subway system daily and the walk-out left all but one of the city's 11 Underground lines shut or partly suspended. Commuters were forced to take jam-packed buses, pay for taxis, ride bicycles, use boat services along the River Thames or simply walk to work.
At London Bridge station, Kirbal Singh, 33, told msnbc.com how his usually straightforward 30-minute commute had turned into a two-and-a-half-hour ordeal involving a two separate trains and a bus.
The industrial action was in protest over 800 planned job cuts, mostly among station staff. But Transport for London, which runs the network – famously known as the Tube – says there will be no compulsory layoffs.
'Autumn of discontent'
As the U.K.'s center-right coalition government attempts to tackle a staggering budget deficit, government agencies are being pushed to suggest savings of up to 40 percent. Almost every department faces spending cuts of at least 25 percent.
The Rail, Maritime and Transport union said the Tube staffing cuts were just "the tip of the iceberg" and it seems almost inevitable that other unions will launch fights against the looming cuts.
Three more 24-hour strikes are planned in October and November – branded an "autumn of discontent" by Britain's tabloid newspapers. In 1978-9, the country was brought to a near standstill by a series of strikes dubbed the "winter of discontent."
"The station staff who apprehended a man carrying knives and loaded guns last weekend, along with the staff whose vigilance and skills averted major fire disasters at Euston and Oxford Circus (stations) recently, are the very personnel whose jobs are on the block," said Bob Crow, the RMT's general secretary.
When the coalition's cuts were announced in June, Crow called for a "sustained campaign" of strikes targeting the government's so-called "fiscal fascism."
He described the proposals as a "savage assault on jobs, living standards and public services" and urged other unions to take direct action to stop Prime Minister David Cameron's "cuts machine."
Little sympathy on streets
Mike Brown, London Underground's managing director, acknowledged that commuters were facing "disruption" but insisted that the city had not been left paralyzed.
However, most commuters had little sympathy for the striking workers on Tuesday. The London Chamber of Commerce estimated each day the Tube is shut down costs capital's economy 48 million pounds ($73.7 million).
"It doesn't achieve anything at the end of the day," said Sue Trewin, 65, as she waited for a pre-ordered taxi outside of King’s Cross station. "It paralyzes the city and people may not get paid if they can't get in to work. In the end I think it's a selfish act."
But others were not grumbling.
Shams Selahaddin, 37, who moved to London from Afghanistan 18 years ago, was waiting to pick up a passenger outside an apartment building in Borough, south London, on Tuesday morning.
"Everybody keeps calling this morning," the driver for a private car service said. "But we can't take any more people – we're completely booked!"
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WOW!!! What a burden on the people that are going to work.
Sounds like the head honchos have made up their minds to make the staff cut regardless of how many strikes are initiated. Nice of the striking workers to let the public know ahead of time, though, so other transportation arrangements could be made.
Maybe London should pass a "stimulus" to keep all the poor subway workers happy.
Borrow money, do whatever. As long as the government workers get their share!
Pay them! No problem paying the CEO!!!
The simple, logical, and just thing to do is to fire all of the striking workers immediately.
I take that back; they can't be called workers, because they don't work.
Strikers have rights. They are allowed to strike just like in the US.
Just because striking is allowed in the US doesn't mean that it is a good thing. The US is nowhere near being perfect so it's not a good idea to follow suit of what is done in the US. Sometimes good can come from striking, but in this case it seems like it is hurting more than helping.
Strikes are ultimately counterproductive. I am not unsympathetic to the legitimate concerns of the striking workers, but this transit strike won't help their cause much when everyone is struggling. Of course, it is something of a European tradition to strike at the drop of a hat. In the end, some kind of compromise agreement will be worked out, which is what would have happened anyway in the absence of a strike. In the meantime, I guess the taxi business in London will be booming!
What they need is a no strike claus in their contract. In short "You Walk" "You Keep Walking" as you no longer work here .
You may as well be a dictator Vern. If your job was on the line, that is if you work, whether it be from lowering your pay scale and keeping up with the times you'd be a happy and content worker, huh?
Spoken like a true subscriber to feudalism.
Thank god for unions. Without them I might be able to afford a new car, get decent hospital care, earn a living wage, and the Brits might get to work on time. Once again, unions cause more problems than they cure.
This is what happens when unions are involved. That's not to say that CEO's don't often get way too much money, but unions try to hold people hostage so they can get what they want. Not right at all.
Things could get to a point where no service is provided because it is all a waste of time and money. Unless it is for a rich person.
do what reagan did---fire all of them and hire all new people who want to work and not just play like most unions do
Get on your bikes and ride! as Freddie Mercury sang. Screw these out-of-touch union brats. Life's a bitch and it's hard times for everybody. Grow up, take a freakin qualude...go cry in your pint at the local pub.
Agreed ! It seems that whether it's in London, or in the U.S, municipal workers (and auto workers) are the biggest bunch of babies I've ever seen. Strikers should be fired, and replaced by people who would actually appreciate their job.
Although firing all union workers would be good, only a third of their number would be replaced. It take only one good worker to replace 3 union workers. Ball scratching, head rubbing and shovel leaning would be eliminated.
You're obviously not union, nor have you had to work in conditions so deploribable they were criminal. Non-union people seem to think unions serve no purpose---how do you think sweatshops were made illegal? Or forcing people to work w/o breaks or child labor?
Would you enjoy the work place going back to the dark ages? Maybe you wouldn't mind working 60 hrs a week but not being paid any overtime. Or maybe working 10 hours w/o so much as a 15 minute break, or no being allowed any time off for ANYTHING. If so, I'm sure a few of the 'third world' countries have just the spot for you. Well wait, you can probably get the same results if you went to Mexico to work----not at the unionized resorts or governments or, but in the fields or restuarants or non-union factories. Go ahead and earn a nickel ninety-nine working 10-12 hour days in oppressively hot and cramped areas -- try not to get bitten by the rats...because you'll have no medical insurance and no recourse.
Maria H. You tell it the way it is. All these whining "useful idiots" of the right don't seem to realize that the things they take for granted was delivered to them by progressives and unions.
Maybe all the workers, no matter the field, should just declare a national stay at home week...Then NOTHING would get done...
To the betterment of the general welfare!
This is nothing new. The UK has been plagued by strikes such as this for over a century. Hell, London even has, or at least had in the 1980s, a tourist restaurant chain called Strikes!
They should all be fired and replaced. They don't like a stable job in this economy, then they don't deserve one.
They are protesting lay offs. They need employees in the tube, they are not handicap friendly. And all the damn tourists wouldn't know what to do!
I think people that work in an industry that can affect so many other people should not be allowed to strike unless there are unsafe work conditions. If they strike over pay and such they should be all fired and not rehired ever again. How would these people that are causing so much problem for everyone else feel if suddenly the emergency services such as police or fire decided they didn't want to do their job when needed the most. These are the same people that would be whining and crying about it.
Reagan did that with the air traffic controllers. And he's vilified for it to this day- I don't get it.
This is where unions lose me. Having always worked in non-union jobs, I've always understood that raises come from hard work and the company making money. And I've always gotten raises. Not always as much as I might like but more is still better than the same or less to me. But unions say you should pay us more and we're not going to work until you do. And while we're not working, you're not making any money so now you have to pay us more with less. It makes my brain hurt trying to find logic in that.
I do not claim to know every thing that is going on in the UK but i did not see anything about demands for more money,i read that the goverment wants to cut spending by 40% and while i can under stand that it still means a lot of people will loss there jobs and that is what they are fighting for
selfish? no. a reminder not to take these kinds of modern essentials for granted, and pay the workers a decent wage. A lot of impact would happen in the U.S. if certain groups could AFFORD to strike even for one day, let alone a week - the cleaning crew and all the administrative workers at the University where I work, for one tiny example.
Oh no! The people of london might have to walk a couple miles, or take a bus! What has the world come to?
Everyone, whether it be your local garbage man or an air traffic controller, has the right to quit their job and walk away. Thats what we call "freedom of choice". If the company or government agency that uses their services cannot cope with the loss and have a contingency plan, then thats said companys' lack of foresight.
You cant force people to work in a free country.
The people of London get late to work, thus miss out on hours of pay, and when you mess with peoples paychecks they get pissed (which is why there is a strike yes, but unions are out of date and no one cares about them).
So what are these people supposed to do if they can't pay their bills? There is a reason they go to work, people who don't work go and trash and vandalize or get into nasty habits. People work to keep themselves busy and it's what keeps the country running when people earn money and spend it.
I'm an American living in London. Traffic was HORRENDOUS today! Its also tourist season, and the weather was fairly nice today. Needless to say, yeah, we had to work, dodging damn tourists and trying to cram onto over packed buses.
Unions should be illegal in Europe and US. They do nothing except force companies to off-shore and look for cost-effective labor. Having grown up and worked in the NE I've seen how it takes 5 union employees to change a flat on a dump truck, or how a manager can't push a cart out of the way in a warehouse that an employee who went on break left there, how rival unions sabotage each other's jobs, and how unions pay employees to sit and home and do nothing while there's no work. Sure, spoiled union people love it, but look no further than GM or Chrysler to see what Unions have done to America: over-priced inferior quality. Thanks unions!
Cost effective, as in working for pennies an hour, having no medical plan and being required to work 12-18 hour shifts.
Unions have caused more problems then they have EVER resolved... Granted, MANY years ago, during the dark age of the "Robber Barrons" there was a need for them... But with government regulations the unions have LONG OUTLASTED their usefulness... Now all they want is INSANE benefits that most ordinary people can only dream of at a time when most folks would simply be happy to HAVE A JOB... GREED and CORRUPTION from the TOP to the BOTTOM (Feeders that is)... I agree with MANY of the posts here, if you STRIKE you are FIRED... Walk... KEEP WALKING and I'll get someone who WANTS the job with the decent, NOT OBSCENE BACK BREAKING benefits these unions want... NO, beleive they are ENTITLED TO... BUST ALL THE UNIONS WORLD WIDE and watch the world get back on track economically...
you were obivously taught to spell by a non union teacher ...... what a moran
If you were taught to spell by a union teacher, you're certainly no better! [Try "non-union" and "moron."]
Strike? A selfish act? Ya think?
Clearly none of you who posted responses against the workers use public transportation to get to work. You all earn enough to own a car, and have no idea what you're bleating about. If a worker wants to protest the potential loss of 800 of his colleagues, thank God he lives in a country where he can responsibly protest about it. Indeed, if the inconvenience was so great upon these commuters (as it was on me who had to leave work early yesterday in order to dodge the shut down and make alternate plans today - and if I don't work, I don't get paid), then maybe they would be reminded of the importance of these 800 jobs and lobby to preserve them. If it were your job on the line, you would appreciate it if it was done for you.
I'm blind and deaf and haven't driven in 6 years, so I know public transit better than most, likely yourself included. Striking because 800 folks are getting canned? Wow, welcome to reality. I had to lay off a team of 13 and get laid off in the same day at a company who laid off 2100 that day. The reason governments run like crap, nothing gets done is due to these worthless unions that reward tenure instead of actual production. In the real world, if you suck at your job, you get fired. In the goverment, or in a union you don't get promoted as quickly. Whoopty do.
Transit and the gov. will realize what a stupid decision it was to make 800 redundant when the Olympics hit and there are even more stupid tourists in London to deal with.
Today was hell! But I support the cause. Much more than I do UNITE and BA's strikes.
Howdy, are you really blind? How did you read the article?
There is no reason to make obscene lies. Just state your opinion. Come on now.
I have Usher Syndrome. I have less than 10 degrees of vision left, hence how I can read, but not drive. Why don't you apologize for being ignorant.
Sounding more like Faux News each time I read comments. Jealous little? I think a lot of folks here are jealous of folks who have a union fighting for them. Corporate fat cats are the enemy, not the workers.
Unions = jobs that get outsourced. How is that pro-worker?
Unions=jobs that get outsourced,that is crap.There are thousands of companies that outsourced there work that did not employ union workers.I personally know of several of these companies that barely paid minimum wages and they outsourced those jobs for two reasons.One is that we have a government that wrote trade laws that reward companies for doing it.Second they knew that they could make more money by doing it period.They also knew that there where plenty of folks out there that would eat there own just for a chance at one of the left over slave wage jobs that they could use as leverage.Yes the unions in the past have been good and bad but they are not the sole cause of our problems and if you keep trying to blame them you are wasting your time.
I'm not blaming them as the sole cause of our problems, but I'm not ignoring the fact that at a study done by my company (2006) of a large auto maker showed the average salary (total comp) in Michigan was $86,500 including benefits. Average salary (total comp) at a plant in Mexico was $26,000, and in China, $4,000 (total comp); for the same work, yet better quality in China. Please allow me to ask what somebody without a highschool degree turning a screwdriver 10 times for 1000 cars is doing making over $50,000? I worked on the assembly line at BMW Dingolfing (5 Series). Germany has a far higher cost of living, yet their workers make about $50,000. Yes, please explain how Unions are at all relevant. Unions continue for greed and nothing else, because they're truly is no purpose for them any more.
Get over it people. Get a bike and ride it to work and burn off some of that lard a$$ you have built up over the years. The Transport industry could cut at least 25% from it's budget easily by laying off over paid employees like CEO's or by reducing their compensation by 20 to 30% and stop paying them bonuses. CEO's get paid a salery for working and doing their job. Why would you pay them a bonus for doing the job you have already paid them for doing and in many instances they haven't done well. Oh I know it may appear they have done a fine job but in reality, if they had done such a great job, would their companies be facing such a dire situation now?
Ken, I'm assuming you live in North Carolina. A LOT of people do ride their bikes in London, I, however, value my life and would never ride a bike in London. But I'd like to see you get around London without pubic transport, especially when you commute into the city to work.