Workers' Liberty

Thursday 18th January came and went ... and LUL management didn't even bother replying to RMT's demand that the company give us our long-overdue pay rise. You might think that you hear the words 'scandal', 'outrage' and 'disgrace' rather too often, but these words are actually not strong enough to describe management's deliberate policy of impoverishing us over Christmas to force us to accept more impoverishment in the future.

We have now not had a pay rise since April 2005. That's nigh on two years ago. And since prices have been steadily rising since then, that means that in real terms, our wages have been falling.

On July 7th 2005, LUL told the world that its staff were heroes. But we have had no pay rise since then, and they are treating us not as heroes but as villains. Don't bother praising us if you're not going to pay us!

So why not accept the company's offer so we can get our pay rise? Because it binds us into a three-year deal with pay rises only a sliver above inflation each year. That small fractional rise could easily be wiped out by a rise in your Council Tax, and your pay rise would then be a pay cut. And what kind of union accepts a pay cut?!

On top of that, management's offer comes with the arbitrary and divisive 'customer satisfaction bonus', refuses to rule out more draconian attendance and discipline policies, and requires us to drop our demand for door-to-door staff taxis under later running. It seems that Norman Tebbit may now be working as a consultant for LUL, as the company suggests that staff finishing work at 2am may like to "get on your bike" to get home!

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There is only so long that you can let you employer take the pee before you have to fight back. Tubeworker reckons that time elapsed some months back, but at last, we are now heading for the strike ballot we need to force management to pay up.

Talking has failed to get us our pay rise. No judge or arbiter is going to make management pay up. The only choice left to us now is to surrender or to fight.

Everyone should vote Yes in the forthcoming RMT strike ballot.

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Some of management's propaganda has been laughable - for example, the idea that it is some big deal that BTOG has accepted their offer. That's a 'union' has virtually no members in the grades affected, and which most Tube workers have never even heard of!

The company is also calling on RMT to put their offer to a vote of members rather than a strike ballot. Hang on, a strike ballot is a vote of members. If you think the company's offer is top-notch, you'll obviously vote No to strike action against it! But how many of us think paltry pay rises over several years and no protection from attacks on our rights is something worth accepting?! Not many!

And even if you are tempted to think this, just imagine how management would react to a No vote - or even a low Yes vote. They'd see it as a green light not just to stand fast over this current derisory offer, but to launch an all-out assault on our working conditions. If you are worried about losing a few days' pay by striking, then think about this: you'll lose a whole load more if you don't.

One particularly nasty piece of management spin is the rumour that this strike is just about drivers. No it's not. It's an all-grades strike ballot about an all-grades pay claim. It has been management, not the unions, who have insisted on tying later running for drivers to the pay talks. And even if that issue were resolved, we would still not accept their lousy pay offer.

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ASLEF remain spookily silent about pay, an d rank-and-file members must now turn up the pressure on the union's leaders to join the RMT in taking action. If they don't, then ASLEF members should join the action by respecting RMT picket lines. The ever-compliant TSSA has, pathetically, accepted the company's offer, but members who can see through it, and who want to fight for more, should join up to the RMT at least for the duration of this dispute.

RMT itself needs to get around the workplaces countering management's spin doctors. Reps and activists need to be talking - and listening - to workers of all grades, and putting out leaflets that take up the points that those workers raise. The union also needs to produce a leaflet for the public, to counter the press attacks that we will inevitably face.

We have justice on our side, and a workforce furious at being starved of its pay rise, but hard work and organisation will be the key to an effective strike. As this is an all-grades strike, it will have more impact than last year's stations-only action, and hopefully, it will be better-organised too, so we should be able to win.

If the company does not back down if the face of the expected Yes vote, then we will have to plan strikes. Most people now know that one-day strikes are often not enough, because the company can use managers, admin and scabs to keep some services running. But with more concerted action, there is very chance we can win. The first step is to get the maximum turnout and the maximum Yes vote.