14.05.1998

Opportunity for rank and file

An Aslef militant looks at the reality behind the defeat of Lew Adams

Dave Rix’s election as general secretary of Aslef has thrown the bourgeois press into apoplexy. The reason is not hard to find. Just about every media commentator has read the last rites over socialism and dismissed trade unions as relics of a bygone age. Then out of nowhere comes a leading member of the Socialist Labour Party who deposes John Prescott’s confidant and creature, Lew Adams. What rubs salt into the wound is that Adams had to face an election because of Tory anti-union laws that were supposed to stop candidates like comrade Rix. Laws incidentally that the Labour government refuses to repeal and trade union leaders such as Adams refuse to fight.

The bourgeois press are heavily hyping the SLP connection and implying that some conspiracy is being hatched by Arthur Scargill and SLP members within the rail unions. All the papers have suggested that an alliance will be made between Aslef and the RMT and a campaign of political industrial action launched. Unfortunately all this is just fantasy. Comrade Rix’s success owed nothing to his SLP membership, which was not mentioned in his election address.

Rix won due to the anger felt by drivers at the way Adams had been instrumental in forcing through productivity changes against their wishes - for example through ‘driver restructuring initiatives’ (DRI) agreed with the new private operators. Although these deals gave drivers a large increase in basic pay, a sizeable portion was not reckonable for pension purposes. The working week, although reduced to 37 hours, involved shifts of up to 12 hours. ‘On call’ was introduced and ‘lodging’ (compulsory stay-overs between shifts) came back. Adams was also blamed for the defeat of the 1995 industrial action over pay when he ignored a ballot result rejecting a renewed offer and accepted terms worse than what had been tabled before the action started.

There is also growing concern with the relationship between Adams, Prescott and Richard Branson. Aslef was praised by the government earlier this year for going into business with Branson to form Millennium Drivers, a company set up to train new drivers for the private operators. Profits are to be split between the two. While Adams turns Aslef into an employer, Branson has started to show his anti-union credentials within Virgin Trains. Senior conductors (guards) at Birmingham who have been active in or supporters of the RMT and who will not be pushed around, are told to apply for redundancy or they will be targeted for dismissal. Drivers applying for vacancies at Manchester who have any record of trade union activity have been rejected out of hand. One of them was told by a manager that Virgin did not want any “Jurassic Park drivers”.

The election of Rix however does represent a major change within Aslef. Comrade Rix was well known as a leader of the unofficial left opposition and was a star performer at conference, responsible for many of the progressive policy decisions taken. He is a member of the SLP and was elected onto its first NEC. Comrade Rix has been heavily influenced by ‘official communism’ and has been a long-standing supporter of the Morning Star. He has been the main negotiator within Regional Railways North East and was responsible for producing one of the best DRI deals, containing safeguards on working hours and 100% pensionable pay.

Dave Rix has promised a lot, not least a more robust attitude to negotiations and towards the anti-union laws and this government. Aslef drivers will be expecting him to deliver on these promises when he takes office in January. The rank and file must organise to make sure he does.