The Boxing Day Tube strike will go ahead after London Underground today failed in a High Court challenge to prevent it taking place.
Shoppers now face disruption on one of the busiest sales days of the year. Football fans will also be affected - Arsenal have already postponed their home game to Wolves because of the industrial action.
Tube drivers will walk out for 24 hours in protest over Bank Holiday pay. Aslef union bosses had demanded three days wages, £365, and a day off in lieu for working Boxing Day but were refused. Further strikes are now planned for Monday, January 16, Friday, February 3 and Monday, February 13.
Drivers belonging to the rival RMT union, which is not involved in the dispute, could refuse to cross picket lines adding to the disruption.
Mayor Boris Johnson today accused strikers of lacking Christmas spirit. He said: "I am bitterly disappointed. This disgraceful strike is inexcusable and I urge anyone taking part to think long and hard about their fellow Londoners, economic climate and indeed, dare I say, the Christmas spirit."
Tube bosses pledged to run as many services as
possible, with managers holding private talks to attempt to persuade drivers to turn up.
Howard Collins, London Underground chief operating officer, said: "Londoners will share our disbelief at these outrageous claims by Aslef's leadership for even more money to work on a day for which their members are already being paid."
He added: "LU has a long-standing agreement with all its trade unions which covers working arrangements on public holidays, and Boxing Day is included in that. The Underground is a public service that should be playing its part in helping Londoners and the capital have a happy and prosperous Christmas, and we will take every possible step to ensure that happens."
LU lawyers had challenged the lawfulness of the union's ballot at the High Court, but were overruled. Mr Justice Eder refused to grant an injunction blocking the action. A similar bid by LU failed last year. It is not yet known whether there will be an appeal. A spokesman for Aslef, which controls more than half the Tube's 3,200 drivers, said: "We did not expect the challenge to be successful.
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"It would have been much better for passengers, London and its economy if LU had concentrated its efforts on settling this dispute rather than pouring money into the pockets of barristers."
He said the challenge would "increase ill-feeling making agreement more difficult to secure."
An Aslef spokesman said: "We are very pleased that we have won this case but we regret that we have had to spend the last two days in the High Court instead of sitting around a negotiating table trying to work out a settlement."
