BY CELIA PUGH
AS WE GO TO PRESS:
Strikers won a victory November 25 when the company climbed down and agreed to reinstate the 12 victimized workers.
LONDON - Five hundred electricians are picketing 10 construction sites on the 10-mile extension to the London Underground Jubilee line. The strike began November 16 against the victimization of workers protesting safety violations.
The events that led to the strike began when electricians working at the London Bridge site were not able to hear fire alarms. Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union (AEEU) shop steward Keith Knight told the Militant after an evacuation, 60 people were left "down the hole." AEEU electricians on site refused to go back underground until the alarms were made effective and tested. Management then picked the 12 most vocal workers for transfer to another site, including the union safety steward.
"This is a message that if you speak out for safety you will be moved," Knight said. Union members do not oppose transfers but demand that they be based on volunteers, most recent hires, or "out of a hat," he added. They want guarantees that fire safety violations are corrected. While backing off on the transfer of the union safety rep, the company has rejected other demands.
Dave Trotter, a picket at Southwark, declared, "This is victimization. The company wants to keep us down, they want to show who is in charge. But they can't break the union because we're sticking together. We are not easily trampled on."
The strikers are employed by contractor Drake and Scull. They report that electricians from other contractors have refused to cross picket lines. This includes 80 workers employed by Waverley who have also elected a union steward and organized a union shop.
Gov't, bosses, and press slander union
The Jubilee Line Extension (JLE) is a key piece of
government plans for a millennium jamboree centered on a
specially built Millennium Dome at Greenwich. A new North
Greenwich Jubilee Line underground station, the biggest in
Europe, is designed to take 22,000 passengers an hour to the
Dome. The March 1998 deadline for JLE completion has passed,
and speculation mounts that Jan. 1, 2000, will pass without an
underground link to the Dome. The London Times editorialized,
"This will be the worst public relations disaster imaginable."
Prime Minister Anthony Blair told London Weekend Television news "We will take every step" to open on time. The Independent quotes Blair asserting, "It is not banging a few heads simply, it is making sure that the management is allowed to get on and do their job." These pro-business newspapers blame low productivity and union militants. Three days into the strike, the Times editorial blamed delays on "...the wrong kind of electrician." The Mail on Sunday headlined a smear article of union steward Terry McBride titled "Return of the Wreckers"
JLE bosses have made highly publicized claims of vandalism by strikers, including the alleged cutting of electric cables to fire sprinkler systems. An editorial in the Evening Standard conceded, "The delays and mounting expenditure were evident before any workers downed tools, or there was any talk of `sabotage,' " citing planning and design fiascoes.
In September the government brought in a trouble shooting company Bechtel to take over the management of the JLE, oversee productivity, and ensure completion of the dome by October 1999. Bechtel executive Cliff Mumm is quoted as saying the "illegal walkout... cannot be allowed to continue."
Strikers refute accusations of sabotage, noting that union members employed by Drake and Scull had no access to the alleged vandalized areas and were not at work on the weekend JLE claimed this took place. Since early October the AEEU- organized Drake and Scull electricians have refused to work weekends. This is part of a fight for the right to refuse work over 48 hours, as allowed by the new European Working Time Directive, and to get enhanced overtime payments if they choose to work the 66-plus hours demanded by JLE.
Bechtel's claim that the strike is illegal is based on legislation that demands a postal ballot for industrial action. After a positive strike vote, the union must give seven days notice before taking action, which must take place within 28 days. The strikers argue that this law does not apply to immediate action taken over health and safety. The AEEU nationally has not officially endorsed the strike. A letter to strikers from AEEU head office has declared it "unofficial" as there has not been a ballot. Press speculation that strikers are due to receive sacking letters has not yet materialized. Pickets say such intimidation only strengthens their determination to defend conditions and their union.
Union fights for safety underground
The strikers dispute the company's claim that their action
is motivated by greed for pay topping more than 1,000 per week
($1,600). Such levels are exaggerated, the electricians said,
and as contract workers they rely on periods of higher pay to
cover times of unemployment, sickness, or lower-paid contracts.
Conditions underground are dangerous and arduous. There is poor
lighting and ventilation, diesel fumes, and sometimes rats.
Workers say their union action to protect safety has so far
prevented any death on the job, unlike many other underground
construction projects like the Channel Tunnel, where the union
has not been organized.
Alan Knowles is chair of the union shop of electricians at Drake and Scull on the JLE. On the picket line he told the Militant when the Jubilee Line Extension began there was little union organization. "When we started we tended to see ourselves as `subbies,' [sub contractors] who just looked out for ourselves. Then we realized we had to start looking out for each other." That's when the union shop began to be organized. "When we mouthed off they sacked 11 of us," claiming there were no more jobs. In May 1997, "180 `sparks' [electricians] downed tools for 10 days demanding our reinstatement," Knowles said. "We called this our battle of Waterloo," referring to the name of their work site. "We got our jobs back after (the arbitration service) ACAS found we were unfairly dismissed for trade union activity. Our union shop was stronger out of that strike. Íd not seen such strength for over 10 years. We were 100 percent on the picket line, including new younger workers." Since then the union shop has regular mass meetings for all members.
Trade unionists from other workplaces and industries are looking to the Jubilee Line strike. Drivers passing picket lines honk their horns and many train passengers are positive about strike leaflets explaining the issues. Pickets at Waterloo station were visited by a group of 11 workers employed by South West Trains at the same station in a show of solidarity. Strikers agreed to attend a meeting organized by the local branch of the Rail Maritime and Transport union (RMT) to explain the issues in their fight.
Celia Pugh is a member of the AEEU at Prestolite in west London. Pamela Holmes an AEEU member at Prestolite contributed to the article.