London Underground (LU) says it is prepared to meet the RMT rail union at Acas, the arbitration service today. But the RMT, which has called a December 31 strike of its Tube station staff, says it sees no point in attending after LU rejected a compromise move in the dispute over the implications of a new 35-hour week. Although it has agreed to the shorter working week, the RMT is unhappy at the implementation of new rosters which it says will compromise safety.

Yesterday LU rejected the RMT's offer to suspend the New Year's Eve strike if LU suspended the introduction of the new rosters.

Station staff are due to walk out from noon on New Year's Eve to noon on New Year's Day in an action which will lead to a complete shutdown on the network. As usual at new year, it had been planned to keep the Tube running all night on New Year's Eve, with the service free from 11.45pm on December 31 until 4.30am on January 1. A Tube strike would create travel difficulties for thousands of new year revellers.

The RMT has also called a 24-hour strike from 6.30pm on Sunday, January 8 to 6.30pm on Monday, January 9. The strikes were announced last Thursday and talks at Acas the following day ended without agreement.