Bob Crow, union leader who shut London's tube, dead at 52

LONDON -- Bob Crow, whose willingness to call strikes as leader of Britain's Rail, Maritime and Transport Union made him a hated figure for commuters and a hero for its members, has died. He was 52.

"It is with the deepest regret that RMT has to confirm that our general secretary, Bob Crow, sadly passed away in the early hours of this morning," the union said in a statement on its website, without providing details of his death. Crow had led the union since 2002.

Last month, an RMT strike brought the London Underground, the subway system better known as the Tube, to a standstill for two days, forcing people onto the streets of the capital and creating gridlock on the roads. In an interview broadcast Monday, Crow defended his tactics as delivering results.

"Our members, in the main, have had pay rises every single year right the way through austerity," Crow told BBC Radio 4. "They have got good pensions, good holidays." Under his leadership, membership of the union rose from 20,000 to 80,000. Crow, who in an interview with the Guardian newspaper in 2009 described himself as "Communist stroke socialist," was often depicted with unflattering photos in newspapers that opposed his tactics. The publicity didn't faze him.

On Feb. 4, as the strike deadline approached, he arrived at City Hall as Boris Johnson, the Conservative London mayor, was conducting a radio phone-in. Crow called the radio station demanding that he meet with Johnson.

"Bob Crow was a fighter and a man of character," Johnson said Tuesday in an emailed statement. "Whatever our political differences, and there were many, this is tragic news. Bob fought tirelessly for his beliefs and for his members."