国际英语新闻：London underground strike over jobs affects 3 million passengers

Crow said a big percentage of people cannot get online to get their ticket, and people with bad vision cannot use the machines and people like to see plenty of uniformed staff around the network because it makes them feel secure.

"It's being done purely for financial reasons and we believe it is the tip of the ice berg because we believe that the austerity cuts that are going to take place in October mean that there is more of this to take place," he said.

The aim of the strike is to get London Underground to "come to the negotiating table and start negotiating seriously with us," said Crow.

Boris Johnson, the mayor of London and a Conservative, said the strike was a "trumped-up and politically motivated" attempt to attack the new coalition government, whose major party is the Conservative Party.

Johnson has deployed 100 extra buses, escorted bike rides, marshaled taxi ranks, and more capacity on Thames commuter boats to help Londoners cope with the disruption.

However, many Londoners simply chose to take a day off work, some booking a holiday and others not getting paid. Some workers were able to take work home with them before the strike to do on the strike day.

Crow said there would be further strikes, "There are four more days -- the first week in October and two in November as well. Obviously we don't want to take action on those days. We want to get around the table and resolve our issues. The members have made it quite clear, they are in this for the long haul if need be and we will be out on strike again in October unless the company starts talking to us seriously."