Hospitality industry bosses have urged trade unions to abandon a wave of London Underground strikes, warning they will put jobs at risk and businesses at risk of collapse.
Sky News has seen a letter sent by Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UK Hospitality, calling on City Hall and the ASLEF and RMT unions to negotiate a deal to avoid strikes due to begin this week.
Transport for London said that if the strikes continue, Tube services will be affected for ten days, until November 13.
Unions have called strikes amid what they say are inadequate wages and working conditions for subway drivers and other employees working on the network.
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In her letter, sent to ASLEF chairman Mick Whelan, Mick Lynch, general secretary of the RMT, and Seb Dance, deputy mayor for transport, Ms Nicholls said previous strikes had cost the economy up to £50 million a day.
“In London, many companies expect to generate up to 40% of their annual revenue in November and December.
“These seasonal events are more sensitive to strikes.
“A strike called off at the last minute may have been too late to stop the negative impact.”
She went on to say: “Businesses that were relying on Christmas income will risk closure and job losses.
“It is axiomatic that at-risk jobs are disproportionately held by young people, part-time workers, low-income people, women, people of color and others whom we want to protect from economic harms.”
Negotiations over TfL’s latest offer were due to continue on Monday.
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