Workers' Liberty

RMT train guards at Boston , Lincoln , Norwich and Nottingham (part of the old Central Trains franchise) have had 2 successful days of strike action and are due to hold a third on Saturday 21 June. Now working for East Midlands Trains (an amalgamation of them and Midland Mainline) the guards are engaged in a struggle to maintain the integrity of their grade and to stop new owners Stagecoach introducing committed Sunday working without adequate compensation.

Turn out on both days to the picket lines has been higher than in past disputes and this, in part, can be attributed to the very aggressive tactics management have employed during the dispute. Prior to the first strike there had been personal abuse; calling guards lazy and scruffy, threats to sack junior managers if they wouldn't perform guards duties during the strike and breaking agreements while at ACAS. On the day before the strike several managers descended on Nottingham messroom in an attempt to woo wavers but were driven away by the heated response they received there. Turn out on the second day of action was even higher because after the first one 2 reps were suspended for alleged intimidation of scabs (one rep had been reinstated).

The continuing suspension has also led to preparations for a ballot of all RMT members on EMT in defence of the rep and a rep's right to carry out their duties without management victimisation. This will be a good opportunity for building unity between workers who have until recently been working for separate companies and where divisions still exist. It will also be a chance for building unity with the other rail unions, ASLEF and TSSA. For instance, TSSA has put out a circular calling on its members to come to work but only to carry out their own duties. Therefore those driver managers in TSSA who have been forced to do the guard's job on strike days can use this to refuse to work trains and show their solidarity.

Most importantly it will allow the guards to consider their next steps; in particular if the Saturday strikes have been the most effective form of action. Having the strikes on Saturday has allowed Stagecoach to bring in strike breaking managers from their other rail franchise South West Trains. It is possible that having the strikes on a weekday will reduce the number of scab managers available; weekday strikes would also hit other businesses more and thus increase the pressure on Stagecoach to reach an acceptable settlement. The counter argument is that Saturday provides the most revenue and so Stagecoach loses the most on this day. There needs to be some clarification on this and whether the company gets compensation for lost revenue on a strike day.

Everyone who works for EMT owes the guards at the very least a vote of thanks for their brave stand in the face of a predatory and heavy handed management: they are in effect defending the rights of all grades at the moment. We know, for example, what has happened to bus drivers working for Stagecoach and how its business practices regularly runs foul of the regulatory authorities. If the guards are beaten Stagecoach won't stop there in their drive for profit at our expense. Witness a comment from Chief Executive Brian Souter who said; 'Ethics are not irrelevant but some are incompatible with what we have to do, because capitalism is based on greed.'

And it is this greed and disregard for ethics that drives them on to take what isn't theirs to take. The sooner everybody realises what we are dealing with and rallies around the guards the more chance we have of defeating these robbers.