Merseyrail Drivers Show the Way!

Posted in OnGuard's blog on ,

On 13th March, all traincrew at Merseyrail stuck together. Despite a circular from ASLEF advising members to work normally (which the union does to protect its legal position rather than to encourage its members to cross picket lines), all Merseyrail Drivers refused to cross the picket lines and the only trains to run anywhere on that franchise that day were driven by Traction Inspectors.

So what happened to the Drivers?
Were any of them disciplined? Did any of them get threats from trigger-happy managers looking to intimidate people? Of course they didn't. Merseyrail management have left them well alone. They know that if they touch a single ASLEF member they will end up dragging ASLEF into the dispute and they don't want that. And all the while, the RMT's negotiating position is massively strengthened by the solid unity between workers.

Workers United
Respect for picket lines is a long-established trade union principle that can play a huge part in making strikes effective but is getting harder and harder to uphold due to a complex web of anti-union laws, coupled with lower trade union membership and less workplace militancy. On the railway, though, it is still relatively easy and is much safer when we do it in numbers.

No victimisation
Our unions can still be relied upon to defend us when we are victimised - Northern ASLEF Drivers who respected the RMT picket line that day have received no disciplinary action, despite threats. We've all heard the slogan "the workers united will never be defeated". All workers at Northern have an interest in seeing that Guards stay on all trains, either because their job security and quality of working life depends directly on trains having two Safety Critical staff on board or because heavy defeat for train-crew grades will have a knock-on effect for how they are treated later and the strength of their unions to fight back.

  • Keep the Guard on the train!
  • Railworkers stick together!
  • Join the strikes or respect the picket line!
Trade Unions

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