Tube strikes: RMT cancels London Underground action Published duration 23 June 2011

Three planned Tube strikes have been called off after the driver at the centre of the row was given his job back by London Underground (LU).

Arwyn Thomas has been reinstated after a tribunal said he was unfairly sacked.

LU had said he was dismissed for alleged unacceptable behaviour towards staff but the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union insisted his role as its representative was to blame.

The RMT said it would not go ahead with walkouts scheduled from next Monday.

Union members were also due to begin action next Wednesday and Friday.

Next week's strikes would have coincided with the second week of the Wimbledon tennis championships in south-west London.

A series of walkouts has been staged this year, the most recent last Sunday.

'No justification'

The tribunal found Mr Thomas was partly to blame for his sacking but said options other than dismissal should have been explored to discipline him.

Mr Thomas's return to work would be accompanied by conditions which "recognised the seriousness" of his actions, said a spokesman for Transport for London.

image caption The union called a series of strikes over the sacking of Arwyn Thomas

"Mr Thomas will not return to his previous work location, and will be re-employed in a non-operational role, which does not involve customer-facing duties," he said.

London's mayor, Boris Johnson, said he was "delighted" the strikes were off.

"There was never any justification or need to wield industrial muscle to pre-empt a proper disciplinary procedure," he said.

Earlier Mr Crow said the tribunal found that "no reasonable employer" would have dismissed Mr Thomas.