The London Underground shuddered largely to a halt on Monday, as one of the world’s biggest public transit systems was hit by a labor strike that is scheduled to continue until Friday morning, affecting millions of travelers.
Stations on the underground network, known as the Tube, were shuttered, and buses and trains running above ground were more crowded than usual, while many commuters walked or cycled into the city. Trams and the Elizabeth line, a relatively new route running from the east to the west of London, were operating on Monday.
Still, with more than four million Tube journeys made every weekday, stores, bars, restaurants and other businesses were braced for financial losses if, as expected, more people work remotely and avoid central London.
Against a backdrop of rising food and energy costs, labor unrest has afflicted several parts of Britain in recent years, including a long-running dispute by garbage collectors in Birmingham, the country’s second most populous city.
The strike on the London Underground mainly centers on a push to improve conditions and eventually to move to a 32-hour, four-day workweek.
Drivers of Underground trains earned around 65,000 pounds in 2024, worth about $87,000 today, a salary that is above the average in Britain. But many work undesirable hours, with some beginning at 4 a.m. or finishing at 1 a.m., and spend their shifts underground without any access to natural light.
The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers, which represents a range of transportation workers, said it was pushing for Transport for London, the city’s transit authority, to start reducing the working week for drivers to 32 hours from 35.
The union argues that the health and life expectancy of its members was affected by the irregular shift patterns, exposure to dust particles and the psychological impact of suicides on the underground system.
The union also argues that the transit authority ran a surplus of about 160 million pounds ($216 million) last year and that the number of employees working on the network is 2,000 less than in 2018.
Transport for London has rejected the union’s demands.
“Any reduction in working hours is impractical and absolutely unaffordable, with costs that could run into the hundreds of millions of pounds,” the transit authority said in a statement, adding that it had made a “fair offer” of a 3.4 percent pay increase for all London Underground staff members, in line with inflation in February.
Claire Mann, the chief operating officer, called on the union to suspend the strike and to put its offer to members.
With companies often adapting work practices since the Covid-19 pandemic, and many more people able to work from home, London’s travel disruption may have less economic impact than it would have in the past.
But, blaming “insufficient transport options,” Coldplay rescheduled two concerts at Wembley Stadium — one example of the strike’s impact on the entertainment and hospitality sectors, which are expected to take a financial hit.
“At a time when the nighttime economy is still extremely fragile, this level of disruption could not be more untimely,” Michael Kill, chief executive officer of the Night Time Industries Association, a group that promotes entertainment and nightlife businesses, said in a statement before the strikes.
“Our sector is already under immense pressure from rising costs and reduced consumer confidence,” Mr. Kill said. “To now face a week of transport chaos will devastate businesses, staff and customers who depend on safe and reliable late-night travel.”
On Monday Downing Street bemoaned the effect of the disruption on Londoners but took a neutral stance, urging both sides to come to the negotiating table.
That contrasts with the position taken earlier this year by the former deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, who angered a leading trade union when she urged striking sanitation workers in Birmingham to accept a deal and end their strike.
Any economic dislocation will be unwelcome to the government, which is struggling to re-energize a sluggish economy.
After taking office last year, Prime Minister Keir Starmer offered above-inflation pay increases to some public sector workers, and offered to raise the average salary of doctors more than 20 percent over two years, ending a long-running series of strikes. However, that dispute has rumbled on and doctors walked out again in July, while several other groups of workers have threatened or taken strike action.
Kemi Badenoch, leader of the opposition Conservative Party, said in a statement that Mr. Starmer had given “huge inflation-busting pay rises to the unions, promising this would end strikes,” adding, “but here we are a year later with doctors voting to strike for the second time this summer and London Tube drivers have walked out, piling more misery on all of us.”
In a statement, Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London who also chairs Transport for London, said that “nobody wants to see strike action or disruption for Londoners,” adding that “strikes have a serious impact on London’s businesses and commuters.” He urged the trade union and employer to “get around the table to resolve this matter,” and reopen the network.
Stephen Castle is a London correspondent of The Times, writing widely about Britain, its politics and the country’s relationship with Europe.
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