Unions Call Off Next Week's London Tube Strikes

A strike on London's Underground rail network over jobs and pensions that was planned for next week was called off on Friday after talks, the RMT union said.

The strike was to have run from 72 hours from Monday night.

Similar action this week caused chaos for millions of commuters for two days.

"The strike next week will not happen," an RMT spokesman told Reuters. "But the dispute is not yet finally settled."

About 2,300 staff at collapsed contractor Metronet walked out last Monday in a row over jobs and pensions.

The RMT wanted guarantees that the collapse of Metronet will not lead to job losses or pension cuts.

"We are happy with the situation regarding pensions. We are happy that ... job losses are off the table. But with regard to the situation regarding transfers, we are seeking further talks with the company," the union spokesman told Reuters.

"Once we have made progress on that score the dispute as a whole will be resolved. By and large we are on our way to a resolution," he added.

Transport for London (TfL) welcomed the suspension of next week's strike.

"All of the unions, including the RMT, were given firm assurances a week ago by ourselves, the mayor, the administrator and Metronet that there would be no loss of jobs or pensions or transfers imposed as a result of Metronet's collapse, a TfL spokesman said.

"We regret that Londoners had to endure two days of totally unnecessary disruption this week," he added.

Metronet went under in July after banks denied it access to funds amid a projected overspend of 2 billion pounds ($4 billion).

Metronet is responsible under a 30-year public-private partnership contract for the infrastructure of nine Tube lines.