RMT is set to abandon its dispute and accept LUL's appalling pay offer. Many workers were willing to strike, feeling they had come too far and waited to long to give up now. But others felt too demoralised to carry on. And the union took its lead from those who did not want to fight.

TSSA and ASLEF played an absolutely appalling role during the dispute. Accepting the deal was bad enough. But their collaboration with the company in arranging for their members to get a pay rise while it was denied to RMT members [1] was a disgusting breach of the most basic principles of trade union solidarity.

The whole trade union movement should denounce them for it. If such treachery takes off, then employers the length and breadth of the country will have a new weapon to use to divide and defeat workers.

RMT will rightly point the finger of blame at ASLEF and TSSA. But it also needs to take a long, hard look at itself. Tubeworker said last year that its 'waiting game' strategy was a risky one [2] - it failed to force an improved pay offer from management, and it left members desperate for their money. We also said that the union was not doing enough to keep staff informed [3] about the issues. If there had been the same flurry of leaflets over the last year as there has been over the last six weeks, then members would have been clearer and more confident.

The sad fact is that the union has repeated mistakes it made in previous disputes. Rank-and-file activists need to get organised, so that the union does not repeat those mistakes again next time round. Tubeworker aims to ensure that this happens, and invites those who share our view to contact us [4].