Background:
Aslef has called strikes of LUL drivers on 8 April and 4 May. The strikes are in protest at LUL’s refusal to drop plans to radically reform drivers’ terms and conditions as part of their “Trains Modernisation” scheme. Aslef also wants annual refresher training for drivers restored to pre-pandemic levels.
Let’s start with the basics: if these strikes go ahead, every driver, whichever union we’re in, should participate. It is, or should be, a sacrosanct rule of trade unionism to never cross a picket line. Sadly that rule is not always upheld and many of us have numerous experiences of members of other unions crossing our pickets (and let’s not be coy, it’s invariably Aslef or TSSA members crossing RMT pickets). But we need to “be the change we wish to see” on this one, so all out on 8 April and 4 May!
It's right to strike “preemptively” against Trains Modernisation, while it is still in a provisional form. RMT has taken a different tack, with leading trains reps insisting that as there’s “nothing on the table” — i.e., LUL hasn’t made a formal, concrete proposal via the collective bargaining machinery — it’s premature to strike.
But this is a potentially self-defeating approach. Invariably, by the time a proposal from the company becomes concrete, it’s too late to stop it. Tubeworker has always advocated “preemptive self-defence”, striking as soon as an attack is announced, even in provisional form. RMT made a lot of missteps in the 2013-16 fight against “Fit for the Future — Stations”, but one of the things it got right was going into dispute and balloting as soon as the scheme was announced in late 2013, rather than “exhausting the negotiation process” and waiting for the company to table its “final proposal”. The reform package as eventually implemented, whilst a significant setback for station staff, was less bad than it might’ve been because negotiations over it had taken place under pressure from an ongoing dispute and several rounds of strikes. Now we’re faced with what is essentially “Fit for the Future — Trains”, we need the same approach.
We all know there is also a significant element of inter-union jockeying and posturing in what Aslef is doing. In fact, RMT has struck against Trains Modernisation, albeit indirectly. It is part of the package of reforms RMT has opposed with its “Jobs, Pensions, and Agreements” dispute, as part of which there have been eight strike days over the past two years, seven of which involved drivers. Aslef took part in just one of those, on 15 March 2023. Many Aslef members crossed RMT picket lines on the other six strike days.
Aslef leaders were also thoroughly embarrassed over pay recently when, having persuaded their members to accept LUL’s meagre initial offer of 5%, RMT’s threatened five-day strike produced concessions meaning drivers will now get an increase of around 6.6%. There is undoubtedly an element of saving face involved in the decision to call strikes over attacks on drivers’ conditions. If RMT now doesn’t support those strikes, Aslef can use that fact to argue to drivers swayed by the pay settlement that their interests lie with a sectional union more narrowly focused on drivers’ perceived special interests. It is also likely that Aslef is manouvering to contrive separate negotiations with LUL, as declaring their own industrial action gives them a route to single-union talks at Acas where they will seek to shut RMT out. This only benefits the bosses; workers are strong when we are united.
Another important point to note is that two 24-hour strikes, whether supported by one union or both, will not stop the company here. RMT won significant concessions on pay because its strikes threatened to shut down the job for a week. That’s the level of action we need to force the company back, not the odd day’s strike here and there. So whilst striking preemptively against Trains Modernisation is good in principle, we need to build up to more sustained action as quickly as possible if we actually want to win.
So what should happen now? Tubeworker believes RMT should call parallel strikes with Aslef, using the existing ballot mandate from the “Jobs, Pensions, and Agreements” dispute. That would need to happen by Monday 25 March to ensure sufficient legal notice for the 8 April strike. Some have argued that the wording of RMT’s ballot precludes this, because of the issues it covers. This is a red-herring; any union with a live ballot mandate can call action at 14 days’ notice.
If that doesn’t happen for any reason, then RMT must issue a clear instruction to all driver members not to cross Aslef picket lines. There’s no denying the bad blood in some depots where Aslef members have routinely, and sometimes apparently gleefully, crossed RMT pickets, but those of us who aspire to a better culture can only build one by putting it into practise ourselves.
More broadly, we need to start building a real fightback against impending attacks on drivers’ conditions — one that starts now, rather than waiting for the company to get its ducks in a row. With its all-grades organisation and ballot mandate, RMT has the power to situate that fightback in the context of all-grades resistance to job cuts and attacks on conditions, which could also take up issues such as the current plans for job cuts in Fleet. The “rope-a-dope” strategy of hanging back and soaking up our opponent’s punches before bursting into action might’ve worked for Muhammad Ali, but it won’t work for us. In class struggle, it’s generally better not to wait until after you’ve been punched before fighting back.