A series of crippling London tube strikes due to start next Monday have been suspended following secret talks between Transport for London boss Mike Brown and union officials.

 
The RMT transport union had threatened to bring the Underground to a standstill in six separate walkouts planned for May and June following the dismissal of two drivers for alleged safety breaches. The move would have amounted to the longest ever series of strikes on the network.
 
But agreement has now been reached for TfL to re-employ one driver Eamonn Lynch, who will undertake a different job elsewhere on the Underground. Further discussions will also be held to try and resolve the case of a second driver, Arwyn Thomas.
 
The RMT’s general secretary Bob Crow said that the union had won agreement to “enter into further discussions with relation to Arwyn Thomas, aimed at resolving his unfair dismissal case in advance of his Employment Tribunal. As a result, we have agreed to suspend the action to allow those further discussions to take place over the next week”.
 
London Mayor Boris Johnson said: “I welcome the RMT’s decision to call off their industrial action and their recognition that flexing union muscle is completely unjustified and unnecessary.”
 
Elsewhere, however, such muscle-flexing appeared to have worked. The owner of the UK’s mainline rail network reached agreement with the RMT and Transport Salaried Staffs Assocation unions that there would be no industrial action during next year’s Olympic Games in return for an above inflation pay deal and a guarantee that no staff would be sacked during that time.
 
Network Rail will give workers a 5.2% pay increase this year backdated to January, and a 0.5% point rise above retail price inflation next year, in an arrangement that the RMT said was worth more than 10% over the two years.
 
Staff will also be paid a £500 bonus for working on Olympics-related projects and a premium of £3.50 per hour if they work beyond normal requirements during the Games. Any disputes, on the other hand, will be referred to the conciliation service Acas.
 
About 10,000 staff out of a total 35,000 are covered by the deal, including signallers, engineers and customer service personnel.
 
Network Rail’s chief executive David Higgins said: “This is great news for the millions of people who will use the trains to enjoy the Olympics. Travellers get the certainty that their journey won’t be disrupted by industrial action during the Games and our people get a fair deal linked to inflation and recognition of the vital role they’ll play in making this once-in-a-lifetime event a success.”