High court refuses to halt Boxing Day London tube strike
Disruption looms for football fans and shoppers after court refuses injunction against drivers' union ballot
A strike by London Underground drivers on Boxing Day will go ahead, threatening disruption for football fans and shoppers, after the high court refused to halt the walkouts.
London Underground (LU) had argued that the Aslef drivers' union broke the law by balloting employees who will not be working on 26 December, but Mr Justice Eder did not grant an injunction against the poll. It was a rare setback for employers, who have been using the 1992 Trade Union and Labour Relations Act with increasing success in transport disputes and have averted strikes at British Airways and Network Rail over the past two years by arguing that strike votes did not follow strict guidelines.
Mick Whelan, Aslef's general secretary, said: "We are incredibly pleased. We believe this is the right decision." He added: "We are very pleased we have won this case, but we regret that we have spent the last two days in the high court instead of sitting around a negotiating table trying to work out a settlement."
Howard Collins, chief operating officer at LU, said the organisation would consider whether to appeal once the judge revealed the reasons for his verdict later on Thursday afternoon.
"The judge has done the right thing and told both parties early but cannot give us the reasons, and we need them to understand whether an appeal is worth pursuing. At that point we and our legal team will consider them and, if we believe we have a strong case, we will appeal." Collins has warned that a strike, which follows an Aslef walkout on Boxing Day last year, is likely to cause "serious disruption".
The ruling means that unless there is a last-ditch resolution Aslef members will refuse to work on 26 December, 16 January, 3 February and 13 February. Chelsea football club have already announced that their match with Fulham on Boxing Day will go ahead but Arsenal have rescheduled their game against Wolverhampton Wanderers, moving it to 27 December, because supporters rely heavily on public transport to travel to the Emirates Stadium.
The strikes were called in a dispute over payment for working on Boxing Day and whether the roster for that day should be covered by volunteers. Of the 3,500 drivers employed by LU, 2,200 are Aslef members. The RMT, the second most powerful drivers' union on the tube, is not involved in the dispute.
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