Tube strike could be 11 September

The major Tube union is considering the sensitive date of 11 September as the first possible time for strike action over pay.

Pat Sikorski, second-incommand of the RMT, said union leaders were looking at the anniversary of the US terror attacks as the " earliest" date for strike action.

He refused to comment on whether 11 September was under consideration because it would cause maximum disruption.

The news comes after train drivers' union Aslef, which counts 2,200 Tube staff among its members, yesterday convened its executive committee to pave the way for a strike ballot.

Sources within both unions say a united vote for strike action is " overwhelmingly" likely - and combined action from the most powerful Tube unions would bring London to a standstill on the most politically sensitive day of the year.

RMT workers brought London Underground to a halt last month with a 24-hour strike over safety concerns, but the latest dispute is over demands for a 5.7 per cent pay increase and a 35-hour week.

The RMT is considering calling for a 48-hour strike in an attempt to double the damage.

The choice of 11 September was widely condemned. Shadow transport spokesman Tim Collins said: "What all of us should be doing on that day is remembering the victims, not indulging in cynical actions like unnecessary strikes."

Transport expert Tony Travers, of the London School of Economics, said: "A strike on 11 September would say a great deal about the RMT's attitude to life in big cities. It would be wilful in the extreme to call a strike on a day when in London and New York there will be millions of people making efforts to remember the dead."

Mr Sikorski said: "The earliest date would be 11 September. The ballot papers will be returned by 4 September, after which we have to give employers one week's notice of strike action.

"There will be much more widespread strike action than before," he added. "There does seem to be a lot more support for strikes this time."