The RMT is to stage a series of ‘rolling strikes’ on London Underground for seven days from 5 September.

The walkouts are the latest development in the RMT’s dispute with Transport for London over pay, fatigue management, ‘extreme’ shift patterns and a reduction in the working week. The union has also accused TfL of failing to honour previous agreements.

The union said that the ‘dismissive approach’ adopted by management has ‘fuelled widespread anger and distrust among the workforce’.

The Underground action will also coincide with a week of strikes on the Docklands Light Railway from 7 September, in a separate RMT dispute over pay and conditions.

The Underground walkouts will affect the network in various ways. For example, track access controllers will walk out all day on 7 September, while signallers will strike on the ninth and again on the eleventh. The absence of various key groups of workers at different times threatens to disrupt services.

Managers at Ruislip depot, which maintains trains for the Central Line, are involved in a separate dispute over pay parity and will strike from 18.00 on 5 September for 24 hours.

RMT general secretary Eddie Dempsey said: ‘Our members are doing a fantastic job to keep our capital moving and work strenuous shift patterns to make sure Londoners get to their destinations around the clock.

‘They are not after a King's ransom, but fatigue and extreme shift rotations are serious issues impacting on our members health and wellbeing- all of which have not been adequately addressed for years by LU management.

‘Coupled with the fact there are outstanding issues around staff travel arrangements, an atmosphere of distrust has been created, where our members feel like no one is listening to them.’

He added that the RMT ‘will continue to engage LU management with a view to seeking a revised offer in order to reach a negotiated settlement’.

Transport for London responded: ‘We urge the RMT to put our fair, affordable pay offer to their members and to continue to engage with us. We regularly meet with our trade unions to discuss any concerns that they may have, and we recently met with the RMT to discuss some specific points.

‘We are committed to ensuring our colleagues are treated fairly and, as well as offering a 3.4 per cent pay increase in our ongoing pay discussions, we have made progress on a number of commitments we have made previously.

‘We welcome further engagement with our unions about fatigue and rostering across London Underground, but a reduction in the contractual 35-hour working week is neither practical nor affordable.’

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