国际英语新闻：Three million London commuters hit by Tube walkout

LONDON, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- A strike by workers on London's Underground system, the Tube, affected three million commuters on Monday, as leaders of business and the mayor of London called for new laws to make it harder for strikes to go ahead.

Workers in two unions -- the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT), and the Transport Salaried Staff Association (TSSA) -- called members out on strike over cuts in staff levels that will see 800 jobs disappear.

The jobs are in ticket offices, which are less busy now after new ticket machine and technology were introduced. The 24-hour strike began on Sunday evening.

The strike, the second in just over a month, was criticized by the mayor of London, Boris Johnson, who said the strike was " irresponsible" and "politically motivated".

Johnson, a member of the Conservative Party which is the senior party in the coalition government, called for laws to curb the powers of strikers, and said strikes should not be allowed unless 50 percent of members had backed them. Currently, a strike vote needs only a majority of those who voted to succeed.

The coming year is likely to see an increase in strikes across the country. The new coalition government is to tackle the record public spending deficit with the most drastic cuts seen since the Second World War.