London Underground workers to strike for much of November after unions reject pay offer
Tube workers in London will strike next month in a dispute over pay, two unions have announced.
The strikes will take place from 1 to 16 November after members of both ASLEF, the train drivers’ union, and the RMT, representing most other Tube workers, rejected a pay offer from Transport for London (TfL).
London Underground drivers, instructors, managers, and engineers who are ASLEF members will strike across four days between 1 and 16 November.
They will also not work any overtime on different days, depending on their jobs.
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Maintenance and engineering staff, controllers, emergency responders, signallers and fleet and engineering staff who are members of the RMT union will also strike on various days between 1 and 8 November.
• Engineering drivers and maintenance staff will strike on 1 and 2 November – with no overtime until 8 November
• Track access controllers, control centre staff will strike from 6.59pm on 3 November to 6.59pm on 4 November
• Emergency response unit staff will strike all day on 4 November
• Fleet, engineering, stations and trains staff will strike all day on 5 November
• Signallers and service controllers will strike all day on 6 November
• Train drivers, instructors, and managers will strike on 7 and 12 November
• Managers will not work any overtime on 3 and 16 November
• Engineering drivers will be on an overtime ban on 1 and 8 November.
Commuters and tourists will not be able to use the Tube for much of November. Pic: PA
ASLEF members voted overwhelmingly for the action, with 98.8% wanting strike action, with a 68% turnout.
Finn Brennan, ASLEF’s London Underground organiser, said: “We don’t want to go on strike – we don’t want to make travelling in and around the capital more difficult for passengers and we don’t want to lose a day’s pay – but we have been forced into this position because London Underground management won’t sit down properly and negotiate with us.”
He said Transport for London’s (TfL) pay offer of 3.8% plus a variable lump sum “means Underground drivers will stay on a lower salary than drivers on other TfL services while working longer hours”.
ASLEF said TfL management has refused to discuss key issues, including reducing the working week and introducing paid meal times to bring drivers in line with those working on the Elizabeth line and London Overground.
London’s roads become clogged during Tube strikes and buses are often packed. Pic: PA
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “No trade union can accept any pay proposal where management decide which of our members gets a pay rise and those who do not.”
“We remain open to negotiations, but London Underground must come back to the table with a comprehensive, consolidated offer that respects the rights of all our members. Until then, our industrial action will continue as planned.”
A TfL spokesperson said: “We have held several constructive discussions with our trade unions and, after considering their feedback, have made a revised offer with an average uplift of 4.6% which rewards our staff for their hard work and benefits the lowest-paid staff the most.
“We are engaging with our unions in good faith, having increased our offer since talks began, and have invited our unions to meet again next week.
“Our offer is fair for our people and affordable for London, and we urge our unions to continue working with us to support London and the wider economy.”
A spokesman for Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: “The mayor urges ASLEF and TfL to work together to avoid this industrial action.”
Britain should have access to the EU’s rearmament fund before the end of the year but “wounds of Brexit” mean some member states want it to be limited, the bloc’s foreign affairs chief has said.
Kaja Kallas told Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby that the “technical details” of Security Action for Europe (SAFE) still need to be sorted out.
SAFE is a €150bn (£126bn) fund to provide loans to EU nations and other participants to bolster their defences.
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As part of Sir Keir Starmer’s new reset deal with the EU, a new defence partnership was struck that will allow the UK to access it.
Asked when this might be, Ms Kallas said: “The SAFE instrument has just been finalised between the institutions but it also needs approval from the European Council. And when that is done, we also move on with the implementation of that, and that is in the coming months.”
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Asked about reports that some member states think there should be a limit on what the UK can access, she said: “ Of course these discussions are there. We have the wounds from Brexit very clearly.
“I mean you wanted to exit the European Union and then there are many voices who say that you shouldn’t have the same benefits from the European instruments that the European Union countries have.”
According to The Times, France is pushing to freeze the UK out of 85% of the fund.
Kaja Kallas, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs. Pic: Reuters
Asked if Britain’s access should be higher, Ms Kallas said her personal view is that given the current climate “we should do both. We should invest more in European industry. But we should also cooperate with our outside partners like the UK”.
She added that the EU hasn’t had discussions in terms of percentage, because the fund is “down to the capabilities”.
“That is, I think, more important than numbers,” she said.
Speaking to the BBC, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said that the UK was in a “better place than any country in the world” on trade.
She said that under Labour, Britain has “the first deal and the best deal so far with the US, we’ve got the best deal with the EU for any country outside the EU, and we’ve got the best trade agreement with India”.
“Not only are these important in their own right,” she added, “but it also shows that Britain now is the place for investment and business, because we’ve got preferential deals with the biggest economies around the world.”
The UK government has said accessing SAFE will support thousands of British jobs.
Defence was one of the many areas that has been agreed as part of the new UK and the EU trade deal struck by Sir Keir Starmer – five years after Brexit kicked in.
A key part of the deal involves giving European fishing boats a further 12 years of access to British waters.
In return, there will be increased access to EU eGates for British passport holders in Europe, no health certificates every time pets travel to Europe and the removal of red tape from most UK food and drink imports and exports.
Genesis has launched a pair of lawsuits against its parent company, Digital Currency Group (DCG), and its CEO, Barry Silbert, accusing them of fraud, reckless mismanagement and siphoning more than a billion dollars in value from the now-bankrupt crypto lender.
On May 19, the Delaware Court of Chancery unsealed a complaint detailing how DCG allegedly used Genesis as a corporate ATM, draining funds through self-serving loans and concealed transfers while presenting a false image of financial health.
Through their court-appointed Litigation Oversight Committee (LOC), Genesis creditors claim that over a million digital coins — worth about $2.1 billion — were funneled away, even as Genesis edged toward collapse.
As per the complaint, Genesis creditors are still owed around $2.2 billion worth of crypto assets, including 19,086 Bitcoin (BTC), 69,197 Ether (ETH) and over 17.1 million other tokens, along with significant unpaid fees and interest as of Feb. 9, 2025.
At the core of the lawsuit is the claim that Silbert and other insiders ignored basic risk controls and pushed Genesis into reckless lending practices that ultimately served to benefit DCG’s crown jewel, Grayscale Investments.
DCG withdrew $1.2 billion from Genesis before bankruptcy
The complaint describes Genesis as having operated without a board or independent oversight, with key decisions made to enrich DCG at the expense of depositors.
“In particular, Silbert, Kraines, and Murphy orchestrated sham transactions at the end of the second and third quarters of 2022, when Genesis’s books closed, to deceive Genesis lenders into believing that DCG was providing liquidity and equity to Genesis,” the complaint states.
Genesis also said it was forced to accept illiquid Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) shares as collateral and was barred from selling them, creating major valuation risks.
“GBTC was illiquid because it could not be sold for six months after its purchase due to a lockup period imposed by the SEC, and DCG prohibited Genesis from reselling GBTC even after the lockup period ended,” the complaint states.
The complaint names DCG, Barry Silbert, former Genesis CEO Michael Moro, former DCG chief financial officer Michael Kraines, DCG President Mark Murphy and DCG’s investment banker Ducera Partners as defendants.
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A second complaint, filed in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges that DCG and its affiliates withdrew over $1.2 billion in US dollars and cryptocurrencies during the year leading up to Genesis’s bankruptcy.
These withdrawals, the LOC argued, were timed around major market events such as the collapses of Terra-Luna, Three Arrows Capital, and FTX — moments when Genesis was already insolvent.
Internal filings suggest insiders recovered 100% of their funds, while retail and institutional creditors were left exposed.
Genesis seeks to recover billions
In total, Genesis is seeking to recover more than $3.3 billion through the two lawsuits.
In April 2025, a New York judge ruled that most of the New York Attorney General’s civil fraud lawsuit against DCG, Silbert, and former Genesis CEO Michael Moro can move forward.
The suit accuses DCG and its bankrupt lending arm Genesis of misleading investors after the collapse of crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, allegedly masking a $1 billion shortfall with a 10-year, low-interest promissory note.
While Gemini and Genesis have settled, DCG and the executives have fought the charges.
Genesis filed for bankruptcy in early 2023 with $14 billion in outstanding loans.
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A second man has been charged in connection with a series of fires linked to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
Romanian national Stanislav Carpiuc is accused of arson with intent to endanger life, the Metropolitan Police said.
He has been charged with conspiring together with Roman Lavrynovych, 21, and others unknown to damage by fire property belonging to another, intending to damage the property, and intending to endanger the life or another or being reckless as to whether the life of another would thereby be endangered.
The 26-year-old, from Romford, was arrested at London Luton Airport on Saturday and is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court this morning.
The charge relates to three fires.
A forensics officer outside the house in Kentish Town. Pic: PA
Pic: PA
Two of the fires took place in Kentish Town, north London. One occurred during the early hours of 12 May at the home where Sir Keir lived before he became prime minister and moved into Downing Street.
A car was set alight in the same street four days earlier on 8 May.
The other fire took place on 11 May at the front door of a house converted into flats in Islington.
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Following Carpiuc’s arrest by counter-terrorism officers, he was held in police custody after a warrant of further detention was obtained.
Lavrynovych, a Ukrainian national from Sydenham in southeast London, has already been charged with three counts of arson with intent to endanger life in connection with the fires.
He denied the charges in a police interview.
Lavrynovych appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday and was remanded in custody until a further hearing at the Old Bailey scheduled for 6 June.
A third man, aged 34, was arrested in Chelsea in southwest London on Monday on suspicion of arson.
He remains in custody, the Metropolitan Police said.
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