LONDON, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- Officials of the London Underground system have gone to court to prevent a strike on Boxing Day by drivers, authorities said.
Members of the train drivers' union say they are planning a 24-hour walkout on the Dec. 26 public holiday after negotiations about holiday pay failed, the BBC reported Thursday.
Drivers were asking to be paid triple time and given an additional day off for working on Boxing Day.
Transport for London officials said they were seeking an injunction against the "completely unnecessary" strike.
The drivers union called the injunction request "disappointing".
In 1996 the union signed an agreement to consider Boxing Day a normal working day in return for higher pay and longer holidays.
However, increased Tube services on government holidays meant drivers now had to work more public holidays than was the case when the agreement was signed, union officials said.
Mayor of London Boris Johnson, commenting on the strike threat, said, "All it succeeds in doing is alienating Londoners, stopping people from going about their jobs, impeding our great city from leading the country out of recession". UPI
