RMT Rule Books meeting - report

Posted in Tubeworker's blog on ,

On Thursday (17th May), 50 RMT reps and activists turned up to a meeting to discuss how the union should fight LUL’s imposition of its lethal new Rule Book. With LUL going full steam ahead, and little response from the other unions, much of our hope for defeating this attack lies with an effective response from RMT.

Reps and activists know what a disaster the new Rule Books are. As one rep said, the New Rule Book is the No-Rule Book - it doesn’t even contain rules, only guidance. It is all about ‘efficiency’, saving money and maximising profits for the Infracos. It is being imposed in an utterly ham-fisted way: not only has ‘consultation’ been ignored, but trainers - who are expected to teach courses about it from 29th May - have not even got the books yet!

From the top table, Executive member Olly New introduced the discussion, then Assistant General Secretary Pat Sikorski outlined his ideas of what to do. However, these were ideas that did not impress the people at the meeting. AGS Sikorski felt that we needed to go back to more meetings with management before getting off the starting blocks for a dispute - but members pointed out that management had not shown us the courtesy of ‘seeing out the talks’ before steaming ahead with their implementation. He argued that we could not compile a full list of problems with the Books until 29th May - but reps argued back that we knew plenty about what was wrong with them already! He argued that you need to prepare for an industrial action ballot - of course this is true, but in an urgent situation, you need to prepare for it with urgency. Sikorski even used the failures of the last two LUL disputes (on pay and the stations 35-hour week) to justify his caution - when one of the main failings in those disputes was dragging them out and failing to act quickly and decisively.

Reps and activists, on the other hand, had good ideas for defending ourselves against the new Rule Books: getting information out amongst the workforce and the public; linking the issue to the fight to stop ticket office closures; looking at how we might refuse to work to the new Books. Apparently, one of LUL’s big cheeses has said that if people don’t feel comfortable with the new Rule Books, they can work to the rules in the existing Working Reference Manual. But working to two Rule Books is a recipe for disaster - and quite possible, death.

The meeting was united in wanting an immediate move forward, suggesting that the union write to management the next day giving them seven days to withdraw the Books or face a dispute. Everyone rejected the more cautious approach from the union leadership. So activists were appalled when Sikorski replied to the discussion not by agreeing to follow the strategy outlined by reps and activists, but by defending his own views against criticism and disagreement from the rank-and-file that he is supposed to represent!

Meetings like this are supposed to enable rank-and-file members to tell union officials what to do, not the other way round. Unfortunately, this meeting left activists no clearer about what head office’s strategy actually is. It will need strong rank-and-file organisation to put on the pressure and take control of this dispute.

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