In the last week, after months of strike action on Southern rail against job cuts and threats to health and safety, ASLEF union leaders and Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) management reached an “agreement” to end the dispute, with the support of the TUC. If this deal is accepted, it will represent a harsh defeat for railway workers.
In the last week, after months of strike action on Southern rail against job cuts and threats to health and safety, ASLEF union leaders and Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) management reached an “agreement” to end the dispute, with the support of the TUC. The deal, in which the ASLEF leadership accept a whole range of degrading concessions and attacks, will now be put to union members. If it is accepted by the membership, it will mark the end of the dispute and a harsh defeat for railway workers.
RMT union leaders have quickly (and correctly) condemned the deal, with Mick Cash – general secretary of the RMT – releasing the following sharp statement:
“This so-called agreement is a shocking and historical betrayal – presided over by the TUC – of not only the conductor grade and drivers , but also passengers, including disabled passengers, who have lost the guarantee of a second member of staff on their trains.
“This abysmal document lists a whole host of areas where a train can leave without a second member of staff, which will leave both the driver and passengers exposed and vulnerable and which also represents a thin end of the wedge that will lead to the destaffing of trains.
“Loyal and dedicated conductors, who have fought for safety for over a year have had the legs kicked from under them by those who are supposed to be on their side. Passengers and staff alike have been sold out by a stitch up cooked up in Congress House by the TUC and the bosses, whilst Southern, one of the most anti-union and hated companies of recent times, is laughing all the way to the bank and have been given a free run to rip up the safety rule book in the name of profits.
“This is not a deal – it is a disgrace and the RMT dispute remains on and we will fight this shocking betrayal with every tool at our disposal.”
With the strike now divided, the future for Southern rail workers hangs in the balance. Whatever happens, direct and indirect action and solidarity from the rest of the labour movement will be needed. After all, as the old saying goes: an injury to one is an injury to all.
We publish here an article about the Southern dispute by Sandra Weil of the Sussex Marxists.
The strike by workers on Southern rail, regardless of how it has been presented by the mainstream media, demonstrates what capitalism is and does: prioritise profits ahead of people.
In the longest train dispute that the UK has seen in decades, Southern Railway wants to replace the guards by installing the Driver Only Operation system, known as DOO. However, as one of the two National Health and Safety Officers of the RMT, Garry Hassell, has pointed out: the introduction of the DOO system will mean a huge increase in profits for Southern, as guards will no longer be needed. Moreover, and more importantly, this will also mean that commuters and railway workers will no longer be safe in the case of an emergency, which the guards are trained for to deal with.
As seen in the Watford Tunnel derailment and collision in September 2016, guards play an extremely important role in terms of safety. In this case, the driver was trapped in the cabin, so the guard, a migrant woman and also a member of the RMT, proceeded to evacuate the train. Nevertheless, Southern maintains that posters inside the train demonstrating emergency procedures are a better method for organising an evacuation than a person trained and able to provide leadership. The former will definitely be cheaper for the big transport franchises, but it will never be safe for passengers who, for example, might not understand the language in which the posters are printed.
The Southern rail dispute has been one of the most vivid demonstration of workers struggle in recent times. As Peter Wilkinson, managing director of rail passenger services at the Department for Transport, publicly stated in 2016 when talking about railway workers: “they have all borrowed money to buy cars and got credit cards. They can’t afford to spend too long on strike and I will push them into that place”. Moreover, he also called union members “muppets” and stated that anyone who disagreed with the Department for Transport’s agenda could “get the hell out of my industry”.
Although Wilkinson later apologised for his words, the intentions of the bosses is clear from these comments. Firstly, they want to smash the unions, and consequently the workers, who only have one weapon against capitalism: strikes. Secondly, management want to divide the public – who are affected by the dispute – by blaming the rail workers, who are in fact striking over legitimate concerns about safety.
Garry Hassell recognises that the longer the strikes goes on, the more difficult things will be for commuters. However, the support from members of the public, other unions, and Jeremy Corbyn has been inspiring (despite some unions – such as Unite – refusing to say anything about the dispute). Although the mainstream press has unfairly (and unsurprisingly) misrepresented the conflict, the Labour leaders could be doing far more on this question, standing up for striking workers and making the obvious case for the renationalisation of the railways – immediately and without compensation!
At the end of the day, it is up to workers and youth everywhere to help and support other workers in struggle. For instance, on 21st January, coinciding with the Women’s March that took place in London, a demonstration took place in Brighton as part of the Sussex in Defence of the NHS campaign. This protest finished at Brighton station, in support of the rail workers and their strike, which in the final analysis is a struggle against the profiteering and parasitic capitalist system.
