Thousands of Tube workers are to stage two 24-hour strikes in March in a dispute over jobs, pay, pensions and conditions.

The RMT union has accused the Government of ‘engineering a financial crisis at London Underground’.

Its general secretary Mick Lynch said Downing Street was driving a ‘cuts agenda’ which would ‘savage’ jobs, services, safety, pensions and working conditions.

‘These are the very same transport staff praised as heroes for carrying London through Covid for nearly two years, often at serious personal risk, who now have no option but to strike to defend their livelihoods,’ he added.

‘The politicians need to wake up to the fact that transport staff will not pay the price for this cynically engineered crisis.

‘In addition to the strike action RMT is coordinating a campaign of resistance with colleagues from other unions impacted by this threat. The union remains available for talks aimed at resolving the dispute.’

The union has instructed all 10,000 of its members not to turn up for work on Tuesday, March 1 or Thursday, March 3.

RMT said a recent ballot saw 94% of members voting to strike, but Transport for London bosses hit back and said this figure was ‘incorrect’, claiming it was actually ‘fewer than 50%’.

TfL’s chief operating officer Andy Lord said ‘no proposals have been tabled on pensions or terms and conditions, and nobody has or will lose their jobs as a result of the proposals we have set out’.

He told MailOnline: ‘The devastating impact of the pandemic on TfL finances has made a programme of change urgently necessary and we need the RMT to work with us, rather than disrupting London’s recovery.

‘We’re urging them to do the right thing for London, talk to us and call off this unnecessary action.’

TfL sources said the transport body had not been officially notified by the RMT about the planned industrial action.

It follows reports that Mayor Sadiq Khan could shut the Tube for days on end and close bridges and tunnels due to a black hole of £1.5billion in London’s transport budget.

Lockdown left the capital’s transport system deserted for months on end, decimating income and sparking a row between Khan and central government over funding shortfalls.

Critics of the mayor claim his 2016 pledge to freeze fares contributed to Transport for London’s plight.

But Khan has accused the Government of ‘starving’ the network of cash despite reduced passenger numbers due to coronavirus measures.

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