21.11.1996

Coordinate rail action

Solidarity action needed as railworkers face dismissal

Despite all the threats and intimidation that management can throw at them, members of the Rail Maritime Transport union in Scotland are determined to press ahead with their five-day strike next week.

Scotrail, the only former British Rail subsidiary not to have reached agreement with the union, has threatened to dismiss all 650 RMT ticket examiners, conductors and drivers if they walk out. A 10-week overtime ban and several one-day actions have failed to force the company to agree a settlement along the lines of the deals struck in England and Wales, where progress was made in achieving payment for past productivity and in winning extra rest breaks.

Last week an enthusiastic meeting in Glasgow of around 350 members overwhelmingly resolved to continue the fight. Management’s hopes of demoralising the membership through its intimidatory tactics proved to be ill-founded, as the last 24-hour walkout on Monday November 18 demonstrated.

In another blow to Scotrail, the main drivers’ union, Aslef, announced earlier this week that its Scottish members have voted 577 to 90 (an 86.5% majority) in favour of strikes. Unfortunately, instead of leaving the nature of the action open-ended, the ballot question asked the membership to agree only to “24-hour discontinuous action”, which rules out joint RMT-Aslef action for more than a day at a time.

Alan Pottage, an RMT national executive member from Scotland, told me that the action would go ahead despite management bluster: “We are rock solid. It would take at least three months to train a new workforce. But we are not bluffing.” Referring to the lack of union coordination, Alan said:

“We need one union for one industry, yet we still have two separate unions. There is always bad blood between Aslef and the RMT, but we are much more powerful when we are united. We could cripple the industry if we acted together.

“Nevertheless our strike will go ahead, come what may. We have confidence in our own power. I have been attending meetings with the members right, left and centre to make sure the action is solid.”

The RMT is looking for solidarity from other workers, particularly in the event of Scotrail carrying out its threats to sack the strikers. The immediate need is for financial donations, as members are beginning to feel the pinch after 10 weeks on basic pay.

Peter Manson