Rail unions

Rail, Maritime and Tranposrt Union (RMT); Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF); Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA)

ASLEF's General Secretary - Loyal to Blair

Visiting ASLEF's website today, looking for an explanation for their appalling deal with Heathrow Express, I stumbled across Keith's column, where General Secretary Keith Norman pens a truly awful piece pledging loyalty to Tony Blair and denouncing all those who want him to go.

This concept of...

Organising in the unions

The next month sees two important trade union events for socialists who want to organise for a fighting labour movement. The first is the RMT-sponsored conference for a “national shop stewards’ movement” on 28 October; the second the Respect-initiated “Organising for Fighting Unions” conference on 11 November. Supporters of Solidarity and the AWL will be attending both events, but our attitude to them is different. The “shop stewards” conference has been pushed for by sections of the RMT union and that shows there is eagerness to go beyond semi-syndicalist (and highly limited) militancy to...

RMT President: vote John Leach

RMT members will soon get their ballot papers in the election for National President.

Tubeworker’s vote will go to John Leach, because we believe that he has the most commitment to rank-and-file members and to fighting the employers. He has a record of doing this, including leading unofficial...

Rail union disaffiliates from SSP

On 26 October the RMT voted to reverse its 2003 decision to affiliate to the Scottish Socialist Party. The decision was another knock-on effect from the destructive decision of former SSP convenor Tommy Sheridan to pursue his own personal success in a libel case against the News of the World at the expense of splitting the SSP. John Milligan, a leading figure in the RMT in Scotland, was close to Sheridan in the row in the SSP about the libel case. He attended the SSP conference on 7-8 October, after Sheridan had split away, but announced there that the RMT was "consulting" its Scottish...

Strike ballot over sacking

Tube drivers on the Jubilee Line are to be balloted for industrial action because of the unbelievably unfair sacking of a colleague. Raj Nathvani is a RMT member with driving experience of over eight and a half years and an exemplary safety record. Despite this he was sacked after he reported he had overrun a signal — and did not follow procedures exactly. This overlooks the fact there are other drivers who made similar mistakes, learnt from them and are still driving today. London Underground breached their own procedures by refusing him a union rep until his actual disciplinary hearing and...

Tube Pay: Time To Fight

We are heading for a strike ballot over the pay claim. More than ever, we should be prepared to dig our heels in and reject LUL’s derisory offer.

Firstly, we must not accept performance-related pay (PRP). The unions negotiate our wages collectively, and argue for a proper, basic, pensionable rise...

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