27.07.1995

Railworkers need to reorganise

Rank and file must lead

DRIVERS and engineers in both Aslef and RMT unions on the railways and London Underground are furious at the sell-out and incompetence of their union leaders.

An angry Aslef branch meeting in Manchester saw the district secretary harangued by drivers who have had their strike called off for a vague promise of a two-hour reduction in the working week to be negotiated with the operating companies by May 1997. “This is not worth the paper it is written on” responded one driver.

He told us:

“It’s all very well talking about a reduction in the working week being a great victory, but we could have gone for so much more. RMT members were looking to us for a lead and in Manchester had already committed themselves to not crossing picket lines. Our last strikes were 100% solid and with the prospect of a joint rail and tube strike we had the government on the run.

“As far as I’m concerned, the only reason for this sell-out can be to avoid embarrassing the Labour Party, at a time when Blair is promising to attack us as viciously as the Tories.”

The three percent pay ‘offer’ is even less than the 3.3% the BRB had budgeted for.

The ‘suspension’ of British Rail strikes was closely followed by the calling off of the tube strike due for Thursday. London Transport used the anti-trade union laws to stop the Aslef strike. An injunction was brought since the union’s ballot had been to secure an improvement of the pay offer. London Transport increased its offer by 0.25% to 3%. RMT engineers on London Underground were left completely isolated, finally calling off their action only seven hours before it was due to go ahead.

It is clear that the anti-trade union laws can be manipulated by the bosses whenever they like. Effective trade unionism is now to all intents and purposes illegal. But trade unions will remain shackled to these laws until workers organise themselves - independently of leaders concerned to stay within the laws and not upset the boss-friendly Labour Party.

With strong, independent, organisation we know that laws are irrelevant. The class struggle is then fought out on the streets, not in the courts.

Telecoms workers on British Rail are to go ahead with the first of a possible series of one-day strikes on Thursday August 3. Although the overall ballot for action among RMT members in the five operating companies was lost, Telecoms produced a positive vote. One railworker told us: “If we organise ourselves, workers can turn this strike into a full scale attack on privatisation. Other railworkers need to support their action and not cross picket lines.”

Aslef is planning to reballot its members on the new deals. But management and the government have obviously won the first round and, as a result, the previous strength of railworkers has been severely weakened.

Railworkers must turn this tragic farce around by campaigning for a decisive ‘No’ vote to BRB’s so called ‘offer’.

Linda Addison