Conference time always highlights the key issues that have
arisen in the last 12 months and the issues activists need to address in the
coming 12 months. This year’s ASLEF conference is no different. The biggest issue that could divide us is harmonisation of
wages and conditions. The basic principle should be that the hard fought-for
conditions that have been gained should not be given up. One driver should not pay to bring
another driver up to a better standard of conditions. This is just another way
for the railway companies to avoid paying and to improve their profits.

I have recently read ‘In the Cause of Labour’ (a history of British
trade unionism) by Rob Sewell. I must say it is an excellent read, in
fact one of the best books I have read in many years. The book covers
the history of British trade unionism from its early beginnings in the
1800s right through almost to the present day…

The New Labour government is on the rocks. The wreckage of
Blairism, under the leadership of Gordon Brown, was dealt a further crushing
blow at the Crewe and Nantwich by-election. A 7,000 Labour majority was turned
into a 7,000 Tory majority in a swing of 17.6%. It was the Tories’ first
by-election gain in 30 years.

Thousands joined the Unison rally on April 24 outside Birmingham town
hall as the fight against Birmingham City Council’s attempts to impose
Single Status (which means big wage cuts for thousands of workers)
continues.

As ‘Socialist Appeal’ goes to press, members of PCS, which represents
over 300,000 workers in the civil service and associated bodies, are
awaiting the full details of the agreement reached between the civil
service unions and the government via the Cabinet Office. There will be a significant number of PCS members out with the NUT on
24 April, but a national strike would have massively strengthened
teachers, civil servants and others in the public sector in our fight
to secure a fair pay settlement. Militancy pays and this the only way
we can break the 2 % pay cap.

Stock markets around the world have been rallying. They are up 15% since they hit a low for the
year in mid-March and they are now hardly down in value since credit crunch
began last August. Investor optimism is
rising that the great global credit crunch is nearly over. Now
that the financial sector is in trouble, the weakness of capitalism in its
downphase of profitability is being exposed. It is paving the way for a serious worldwide economic recession, despite
the current optimism of the stock markets.

Friday 16 May saw two unconnected judgements that
have put a spoke in the wheel of the UNISON bureaucracy’s witch hunt against
prominent lefts in the union. As we have explained before, the
UNISON leadership have a responsibility to stand up for the members - not
to waste their time policing the membership and attacking some of the best fighters
that the union has in its ranks. The members deserve better than that. We need
a fighting democratic union.

Gordon Brown was delivered a rap on the knuckles by the House of Commons transport committee. As Chancellor he insisted the contract to upgrade London Underground be awarded to private consortium Metronet. Predictably, Metronet went belly up last year amid much scandal leaving us with a £2bn bill. The committee denounced Brown’s “spectacular failure, ”  for which of course us taxpayers will be picking up the bill. Committee chair, old-style right winger Gwyneth Dunwoody, commented on the debacle, “Any reasonable person, looking at the current situation, would find scant evidence to sustain a dogma that the private sector will always […]