Workers' Liberty

It is now five years since Network Rail replaced Railtrack – so why are workers still stuck on different terms and conditions according to which company or region you worked in half a decade ago?!

Obviously, it is in NR's interests to drag out the talks as long as possible, to delay improving anyone's T&Cs. They won't feel under any pressure to hurry up if the union simply goes along with time-consuming talks and does not involve its members in demanding action.

RMT’s priority should have been fighting to level up terms and conditions across the UK. So why is it taking so long? Maybe the union has relied too much on talks behind closed doors and not enough on mobilising members.

Members are becoming restless because of the lack of information. For many of us, the last thing we saw was the May 31st draft – and it was management who showed us that! It was totally unacceptable: go through it line by line and you will find objectionable proposals on virtually every line. Now there are rumours of a second draft, but no-one seems to have seen it!

RMT has produced a few newsletters, but they have not got out very widely, and are dominated by union officials imploring us to be patient while they plod through the torturous process of talking with the bosses. OK, there might be a lot of detail to wade through, but the core principle - equality - is simple, and we should not have to wait this long to achieve it.

RMT’s special engineering grades conference in 2006 laid down the guidelines for the union’s negotiators. Delegates also made it clear that if Network Rail does not budge, the union should call industrial action. Maybe that time has come.