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RMT on the frontline
NOT SINCE Margaret Thatcher declared class war on the trade
union movement in the early 1980s have Britain’s unions faced such a challenge
to defend workers’ interests. Tony Blair’s New Labour party is attempting to
carry through the next phase of the neo-liberal project, which poses three
immediate tasks before the trade union movement. Firstly, to conduct an
offensive to increase wages and improve conditions at work (including reducing
working hours). Secondly, to stop the privatisation programme that has been a
disaster for public services. And thirdly, to build a new party to represent the
working class, independent of big-business interests.
No union is currently better placed to drive on this project
than the RMT (National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers). Together
with the train drivers’ union, Aslef, the RMT has embarked on a round of
aggressive pay disputes which have succeeded in ratcheting up the pay rates of
train drivers. The RMT is also to the forefront of combating New Labour’s
privatisation drive. The public/private partnership (PPP) scheme for London
Underground (LUL) represents half the cash value of Blair’s entire PFI/PPP
programme. RMT members on the Tube have no illusions in the government and most
find it unbelievable that our union is still giving members’ money to New
Labour. With a new general secretary, Bob Crow (who has never been in the Labour
Party), the possibility exists for the RMT to take a lead in calling for and
organising a new workers’ party.
Bob Crow’s election reflects the combative mood of RMT
members. There is no doubt that they knew what they would be getting. National
and London newspapers ran prominent pieces calling for an anti-Crow vote and did
their utmost to initiate a red scare. Part of the criticism was Crow’s failure
to fully support New Labour but this rebounded as opposition to the government
is just what members want to see. Right-wingers in the Trades Union Congress (TUC)
briefed journalists and produced a ‘secret’ report outlining opposition to
Crow’s policies. In the event, he won by a three-to-one majority over all
other candidates combined. This was a victory not only for Bob Crow and the RMT
but for the whole trade union movement. Together with the election of Mark
Serwotka (PCS), Mick Rix (Aslef) and others, this victory demonstrates that
union members, especially in the public sector, are not prepared to accept
leaders who act as poodles to New Labour.
At present, rail unions are able to use the shortage of
staff, especially of qualified drivers, to extract some significant pay rises.
One challenge for the RMT is to attend to the needs of lower paid members in
station, engineering and ancillary grades. This year’s pay claim on LUL must
avoid adopting sectional claims for different groups of workers and base itself
on the real cost of living, including London housing costs.
But the most pressing struggle facing rail workers is over
PPP. This is not only a matter for LUL workers but for the whole union. A defeat
for Blair over PPP would make it almost impossible to return Railtrack to the
private sector and would create a momentum to force the full re-nationalisation
of the entire rail network. This means the union must prepare now for further
strike action.
Last year, RMT and Aslef members took two days of action
against PPP and brought the Tube to a standstill. Despite legal threats against
both unions, and even individual reps, members stood firm and LUL conceded a ‘no
compulsory redundancy deal’ under direction from the government. Union
officials, including Bob Crow, urged members to accept this offer to safeguard
engineering workers’ jobs. But a meeting of reps threw out the deal, making it
clear that the fight to end PPP must go on. Unfortunately, the leadership had
already called-off the action once and, by now in the run-up to a strike in
general election week, the government came back with a re-worded offer on
redundancy. Further action was again called off and the critical momentum
dissipated. Activists were split but, with leading regional and national
officers – including many of ‘the left’ – supporting the offer, the deal
was done.
Even at that time, the wording suggested several escape
routes for LUL and the private ‘infracos’ (infrastructure companies) but no
one expected it to fall apart so soon. Yet it is unravelling already, as LUL has
failed to include the agreed terms in its contracts with the infracos. This is
an opportunity to organise new strike action which could destroy the whole PPP
project, but it also presents a potential problem. If the RMT, hopefully
alongside Aslef, conducts a successful dispute demanding the original deal, the
government could settle while still proceeding with PPP.
Of course, the ideal option would be for a strike against
PPP as a whole, and to hell with the anti-union laws which rule that anti-PPP
action would be a political (and illegal) strike and not an industrial dispute.
Had this been embarked on last spring, when confidence and determination amongst
the members were high, it could have succeeded but the national executive would
not have sanctioned such a move.
The right-wing controlled executive remains a barrier but
with Bob Crow now at the helm we must demand the executive fights to smash PPP.
Privatisation must be opposed on every front. We should explain that we are
fighting it on grounds of safety, working conditions and cost to the public. The
union’s officers, in conjunction with its lawyers, should quickly agree on
legal wording for a ballot that makes this a dispute to stop the privatisation
of the Tube.
Tube workers are aware that PPP is at source a political
dispute. Hostility to the government is growing. Last year’s national
conference agreed to review our support for New Labour unless it changed its
anti-union policies. Now an extensive debate will be required to reach agreement
on how we should respond.
During his election campaign, Bob Crow argued to remove RMT
sponsorship from some Labour MPs, including John Prescott, former secretary of
state for transport. Already he has written to every Labour MP inviting them to
act as union-sponsored MPs through opposing PPP and supporting the union’s
aims. But supporters of this approach counterpoise this kind of campaign of
fighting for union policies within New Labour to a clear strategy of breaking
from Blair’s party and establishing a new, independent, workers’ party. They
don’t explain to union members what influence they believe we will receive
from New Labour in return for our money. Last year’s Labour conference did not
even discuss PPP because there was insufficient support to get it on the agenda!
There is a mistaken view amongst some activists that RMT
members are not ready to break away. This confuses the mind-set of activists who
have lived with a Labour/Tory political landscape for many years with the
attitude of those members who are indifferent, at best, or just contemptuous of
Blair and New Labour. The RMT could use its authority as a major trade union to
call together all those to the left of Labour – the Socialist Party, Socialist
Alliance, Socialist Labour Party and, most importantly, others who are not
members of left groups – into the nucleus of a new party. Nevertheless, even
the limited demands to review our sponsored MPs and open up possibilities of
funding non-Labour Party candidates in elections would be a step forward if
adopted.
This new phase of trade union struggle presents new
challenges and responsibilities. Signs are that a new industrial militancy has
arisen in response to a nakedly pro-business New Labour regime. Those who seek
to build this resistance in the RMT need to come together to organise. A united
rank-and-file structure is required both to prevent any counter-attack from the
rightwing and to build the positions of those officers who want to support
members fighting back. Moreover, an organised left is needed to discuss tactics
within the union. There is, of course, still room for groups of workers
affiliated to one or another organisation to meet together. But a new
organisation, open to any member who wants to fight privatisation and build a
democratic union controlled by the members, is an urgent requirement.
Jared Wood
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