London Underground workers to launch 24-hour strike

Workers of the London Underground will begin on Wednesday a 24-hour strike calling for better pay and protesting plans to extend service hours.

The strike will begin at 5 p.m. and affect services all day on Thursday in light of failed negotiations between the management and trade unions representing about 20,000 employees, Efe news agency reported.

The strike will coincide with another one staged by workers of the First Great Western train service that connects London (from Paddington Station) with several cities in southern England.

This is expected to cause problems for millions of commuters who depend on the subway to go to work.

The London Underground has urged Londoners to try to leave work two hours before the strike is set to begin to avoid rush hour crowds.

Unions rejected the latest pay increase, offering a bump in salaries by 2 percent over the course of the year.

The rejected offer also included an additional pay raise for drivers who work at night, as of mid-September, when some metro lines will begin to operate all night on weekends.