Vol. 81/No. 17      May 1, 2017

 

Rail workers in UK strike over bosses’ moves to cut crew size

 
WIGAN, England — “Our strike is solid,” Rail, Maritime and Transportation union member Neil Sharples told the Militant April 8. “Across Northern Rail there are 1,250 guards [conductors]. On March 13, the first day of strike action, only five crossed the picket line. None of the 60 guards here crossed today.”

RMT members at Northern Rail, Southern Rail and Merseyrail are fighting the introduction of driver-only-operation on passenger trains. Northern Rail plans to cut guards on 50 percent of services, Merseyrail on all trains.

Members of the drivers union ASLEF — the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen — also oppose driver-only-operation.

“You need the second person for safety,” said Wigan train driver David Mulvey. “I had a woman try to kill herself in front of my train. We needed the second safety person to call the right people, tell signals where the train was and deal with the passengers while I saw to the woman.”

Moves to impose driver-only-operation are being driven by government cost cutting. A 2011 government-commissioned report said costs on Britain’s rail network had to be cut by 30 percent.

“We have got to break them,” said Department for Transport government official Peter Wilkinson last year, referring to the train drivers. “They have all borrowed money to buy cars and got credit cards. They can’t afford to spend too long on strike. … They will have to decide if they want to give a good service or get the hell out of my industry.”

“There’s definitely an element of union busting,” said striker Sharples.

Further protests are set April 26 outside Parliament at noon, followed by rally at Central Hall Westminster at 2 p.m.
 
 
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