Tube strike February 2016: RMT calls off 48-hour walkout after 'progress' in private talks

The RMT union has suspended its planned 48-hour strike – planned to start 6 February – on the London Underground (LU) after private talks with management. The union's station staff members had originally planned to walk out from 9pm GMT on 6 February to protest against job cuts under the Fit for Future Stations programme, which has seen booking offices shut down across the network.

But the RMT suspended the industrial action on 5 February. A spokesman for the union told IBTimes UK: "‎ As a result of a long and hard-fought campaign we have been able to make significant progress in the talks, which has enabled us to now suspend all industrial action in the station-staffing dispute.

"The breakthrough has been secured through the solidarity of the workforce and their willingness to take industrial action to defend jobs and safety."

But the development comes on the same day that the RMT announced almost 1,500 maintenance and renewals staff on LU will strike seven times between February and June in a row over safety

The union claims some staff have been "left at risk" from moving trains under the regime and Underground bosses have allegedly ignored their concerns, leading to the strike ballot.

Steve Griffiths, chief operating officer at LU, said: "Talks are already planned with the RMT union next week at [mitigation service] Acas to resolve this issue. Safety is always our top priority and we have robust and comprehensive procedures in place to ensure that any staff working on the track are kept safe and are aware of any train movements.

"We have talked to our trade unions extensively about the changes we have made to track access for engineering work and will continue these discussions next week."