Rail unions

British Rail privatisation is the most unpopular government policy in a generation. Opinion polls repeatedly show that around three-quarters of the UK population want the whole railway industry brought back into public ownership immediately. That is not surprising. Dozens of people died at Ladbroke Grove, Hatfield and Potters Bar in crashes that can be directly attributed to privatisation. The service has worsened whilst prices have risen. And just to rub people's noses in it, fat cat rail company directors have paid themselves huge bonuses. But behind the headlines, what has life been like...

This article is reprinted from the June 1997 issue of 'Off The Rails', a rank-and-file bulletin produced by Workers' Libety and others which will shortly be re-launched. 'Fat Controller' was a regular feature of 'Off The Rails', casting a satirical eye at the antics of the rail employers. It was written by Rob Dawber, a long-standing Workers' Liberty member and RMT activist, who died in 2001 from mesothelioma caused by expsoure to asbestos while working in the railway industry. ---------- Hi There. Fat Controller here! Good to speak with you again. There have been some changes since we last...

By a London Underground worker Simultaneous Tube and rail strikes are now confirmed for the end of June. On 29 and 30 June 7,500 workers at London Underground and the privatised contractor Metronet will be striking over pay and working hours, while on 30 June a similar number at Network Rail will take action over management's decision to close the company's final salary pensions scheme. The decision to co-ordinate the action gives RMT members in both sectors a fighting chance, as long as we fight with a clear strategy. The Tube strike comes after management responded to the union's demand for...

This (long) article tells the story of New Labour's 'Public-Private Partnership' for London Underground. Announced in 1998, it was originally scheduled to be implemented by 2000, but the strength of the campaign against it forced that back by three years. But the campaign against it was flawed. This article forms the major part of the Workers' Liberty pamphlet, 'Tunnel Vision'. Part one takes us up to the height of the struggle against PPP in spring 2001. You can read part 2 here . PRIVATISATION ANNOUNCED New Labour's intention to invite private-sector involvement in the Tube leaked out in...

The second part of this article takes us from the RMT settling its strike action in late spring 2001 through to the Government's eventual victory in 2003. You can read part 1 of this article here . THE DEMO AND THE DEAL 9 May 2001 - RMT announces further strikes on 4 and 6 June The RMT General Grades Committee meeting which had decided to suspend the 3 May strike had also decided that should reps reject the offer, strike action would go ahead on 15 May. But when it named new strike dates, 15 May was dropped, and action would not resume until June. It was a good idea to target General Election...

As we publish this pamphlet, London Underground is one year into the Public-Private Partnership. Everything that PPP's opponents, especially the unions, said about it has proved true. Major safety incidents, the biggest headlines coming on the one weekend in October 2003 when two trains derailed at Hammersmith and Camden. The performance figures for the Infracos, which showed they had paid out loads more money in penalties than they had 'won' in bonuses. The smaller-scale cock-ups, from brackets left sticking out of tunnel walls to snow left blocking the tracks. The everyday inadequacies of...

RMT's strike on London Underground has been supported solidly by RMT members - and has received widespread support from members of other unions too. According to the BBC , London Underground Ltd. claims that 30% of services are run. But this statistic is produced by manipulating the figures by counting trains that only run short shuttle journeys at the end of a line. The truth is that during this morning's peak period, several lines had no service at all, and the others were severely disrupted. RMT members heeded the strike call. This is not surprising, as we had voted by 80% to take strike...

Just say 'no'? A positive alternative From the Workers' Liberty pamphlet Tunnel Vision: London Underground's Public-Private Partnership and the fight against it . Year on year, we have faced attacks both by management and government. The result is that we have had to fight a series of defensive battle, to at best just stand still. We are always responding to management's agenda, rather than putting our own needs and views across. So we are stereotyped as 'dinosaurs' who just say 'no' all the time. If the question is "Is it OK to attack pay and conditions and cut corners on safety?", the only...

One of the reasons that Blair was able to push through PPP is that the trade union bureaucracy allowed him to. RMT's Vernon Hince gave Blair an easy ride during his years on Labour's Executive. Although there was more protest noise during Mick Rix's reign, ASLEF has put up little fight within Labour. And TSSA has been so compliant that the Government has rewarded its former General Secretary Richard Rosser with a seat in the House of Lords. This weak and deferential betrayal of rail workers looks set to continue with TSSA's and ASLEF's new General Secretaries, unless members force a change...

What kind of union do we need? The story of the fight against PPP shows up the strengths and weaknesses in our current union set-up. Union officials will often have you believe that things can only be done the way they are done, because ... well, because they have always been done that way. We do not agree. We have made several serious criticisms of the unions in this pamphlet, so it is only fair that we set out in more positive terms what our ideal union might look like. Let's call it the Fantasy Union of Railworkers (FUR). Some of the good things about this fantasy union could be put in...