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Katie Collins/PA

London commuters face chaos as unions call two-day tube strike

Workers are reacting angrily to a plan to cut 950 jobs.

LONDON FACES TRAVEL chaos tomorrow when workers on the Underground railway go on strike for 48 hours to protest the closure of ticket offices with the loss of hundreds of jobs.

Talks between the government and two unions behind the strike on the world’s oldest subway system broke down today without agreement.

It is the latest in a series of strikes on the “Tube” since Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservative-led coalition took office promising austerity measures to curb a record deficit.

London Mayor Boris Johnson, widely considered a party leadership rival to Cameron, has announced plans to close many of the Underground’s ticket offices and cut 953 jobs.

Two unions — the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) and the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) — called the strike in protest.

“We are prepared to suspend the industrial action if the mayor is prepared to suspend the job losses,” RMT general secretary Bob Crow told a news conference.

Underground staff will now go on strike from 2100 GMT on Tuesday for 48 hours and again at the same time the following week, union leaders said.

Most Underground lines will run heavily restricted services, with Londoners having to take to buses, bikes and even go on foot to beat the strike.

After today’s talks broke down, TSSA general secretary Manuel Cortes offered to meet mayor Johnson “anytime, anywhere” in the next 24 hours to try and reach a deal.

- © AFP, 2014

Read: Gardaí found a dog at the wheel of a squad car*

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    Mute dublinlad72
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    Oct 29th 2012, 2:38 PM

    Sandy sounds increasingly like my wife when she’s on the warpath!

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    Mute Stephen murphy
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    Oct 29th 2012, 2:41 PM

    It must get very windy in your house, does she blow hot or cold air?

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    Mute SeanR
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    Oct 29th 2012, 2:41 PM

    Dept of Foreign Affairs is kind of late to the party with that advice. The east coast airports are closed. People couldn’t travel even of they wanted to.

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    Mute Declan Noonan
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    Oct 29th 2012, 2:48 PM

    The first paragraph does not make sense because you won’t be able to travel to the US. All flights are cancelled to the north east.

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    Mute vv7k7Z3c
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    Oct 29th 2012, 3:06 PM

    To be fair, the advice is also intended for people who aren’t necessarily travelling directly from Ireland.

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    Mute Declan Noonan
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    Oct 29th 2012, 4:40 PM

    Gavan, true but you can’t travel without the plane.

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    Mute vv7k7Z3c
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    Oct 29th 2012, 7:53 PM

    No, but like I said, if you’re not currently in Ireland and happened to be, say, elsewhere in the USA, perhaps you were intending to drive to the north-east?

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    Mute Damocles
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    Oct 29th 2012, 3:40 PM

    People need to be told this? Anyone likely to look to see probably already has a fair idea of what’s going on there,

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    Mute Biggins31
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    Oct 29th 2012, 6:10 PM

    You’d be surprised (maybe not) at the stupidity of some people still.
    Some still have to be told these things sadly.

    Like the America packets of peanuts that has on the packets “Warning: Contains nuts” Loads of similar examples available).
    Silly to state these things but sadly have to still be done because people can be stupid.

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