Tube workers and managers are to hold last-ditch talks to try to prevent a 48-hour strike on the underground.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport union will meet bosses from Transport for London, the capital's transport authority, and London Underground to try to resolve the dispute.

The union is demanding a five per cent pay rise. It is also accusing London Underground of backing out of an agreement to rule out compulsory redundancies.

If the talks fail, Tube staff will begin a two-day strike at 6.59pm on June 9.

Bob Crow, RMT General Secretary, said: "It's taken a while, but RMT are pleased that our efforts to smoke out the London Mayor Boris Johnson and his senior managers have been successful, and we can now get down to meaningful talks on the issues at the heart of this dispute.

"We hope that the Mayor, who was full of praise for his transport staff earlier this year when they struggled against the snow to try and keep London moving, will issue a clear mandate to his senior staff to lift the threat of pay cuts and compulsory redundancies and rebuild the industrial relations machinery on the tube."

A Transport for London spokesman said: "We've always made clear that we're ready to meet with the RMT any time, anywhere.

"We are already fixing up a meeting with the RMT and all our other unions, who are not in dispute with us and with whom we have been continuing to negotiate."

London MP John McDonnell accused city mayor Boris Johnson of provoking the decision to strike.

Speaking in a Commons debate, he said: "On London Underground, the objective of saving £2.4 billion announced by Mayor Johnson in November 2008 has been achieved mainly through large-scale job losses and the scrapping of projects.

"Up to 3,000 jobs could be at risk, and the Mayor has moved to compulsory redundancies and the tearing up of some existing union agreements.

"That has provoked strike ballots, which have come in at five to one in favour of strike action to demonstrate the strength of feeling of London Underground and Transport for London workers."

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