Union rights / President’s column

24 T HE United Campaign for the Repeal of the Anti-Trade Union Laws organised the event to highlight its demands for employment protection for all from day one and legal recognition of the right to strike, including taking solidarity action. Chairing the summit, RMT general secretary Bob Crow called for “direct action to win back our rights”. Urging support for action by workers, he recalled that Britain’s trade unions had been “born out of illegality” and that the best way to beat bosses was to “hit them on the quick” Mr Crow called on delegates to win the widest possible support for the campaign and its aims. “It’s not only union leaders,” he said, “the bricks and mortar of trade unionism are the workplace branches and shop stewards committees. We need to link them up right across the country.” Rights QC John Hendy insisted that the campaign should call for collective, trade union rights rather than just individual, employment rights. He quoted Prime Minister Tony Blair’s statement before the 1997 general election that “the changes that we do propose would leave British law the most restrictive on trade unions in the western world”. Mr Hendy reminded delegates that the proposed constitution for the European Union would not provide a framework for overturning Britain’s anti-union laws. He pointed out that the Charter of Fundamental Rights contained within the constitution did not ensure the right to strike as some had claimed. He said that the explanations of Article II-28 of the constitution says that the “limits for the exercise of collective action, including strike action, come under national laws and practices”. In other words, Britain’s anti-union laws would remain enforceable unless they are removed from the statute books here. Strike Civil servants union PCS leader Mark Serwotka detailed the difficulties that his union had encountered in organising a national one-day strike against job cuts on November 5. “We had to hold 160 separate ballots across the civil service,” he recalled, “and we still had to defend a legal action by the Learning and Skills Council, who claimed that there was ‘no trade dispute’.” Mr Serwotka pledged to use “all in our armoury” in the fight to restore workers’ rights, predicting an upsurge in unofficial strikes across Britain. “We’ve seen it in the civil service, on the railways, the Post Office, at the airports and on the building sites,” he noted. FBU president Ruth Winters slated the new Fire Services Act, which gives employers the right to impose changes on their workforce. “The Act offends several international Unshackle the unions FIVE general secretaries and leading members of three other major unions vowed to “fight and win” a new charter of rights for Britain’s workers at a key campaign conference last month in London Paula Mason QC John Hendy Workers march for trade union rights RMT sends season’s greetings to all our members A S WE come to the end of 2004 I would like to thank all our members for their support over the past twelve months. It has been a busy year with many issues confronting transport workers and our union. The biggest challenge and one of our biggest victories this year was the attempt by Network Rail to close the final salary pension scheme. The determined pressure of this great union forced Network Rail to rethink their rash and grossly unfair decision and to reverse it. Our campaigning strategy was widely admired but it was a very simple one – we will stand together and withdraw our labour if you attempt to rob our members’ pension. Robbing is a strong word to use but that is what it would have amounted to. Pensions are deferred wages. Imposing an inferior purchase scheme would have left members out of pocket in retirement and exposed to the vagaries of the casino known as the stock market. This simple fact is not lost on other workers whose pensions rights are coming under attack. The lesson learnt at Network Rail should never be forgotten. Another significant breakthrough was on travel facilities at Network Rail. We have started the balling rolling by winning a 25 per cent discount for those members that were previously not in receipt of them. We will continue to press for ongoing improves in the years ahead. Following the return of track maintenance back in-house, your union has has been in continuing negotiations to standardise and improve procedure agreements with Network Rail. The privatisation of most modes of transport has meant continual and increasingly dangerous fragmentation. However, RMT has continued to fight for the best possible pay, working conditions and working hours possible. At the same time we are putting forward arguments wherever possible to renationalise the rail network and begin to put together a fully integrated transport network that utilises all modes of transport. In the new year RMT is organising a nationwide march to demand an end to rail privatisation in the run up to the next general election expected sometime in 2005. The effective renationalistion of South Eastern Trains has shown better value all round since it was taken out of the hands of the privateers. It is shocking that the government appears to be embarrassed by SET’s very real successes in the public sector, where it belongs. Bus members have also had some successes throughout the year on pay and conditions. There was also a significant victory for our seafarer members earlier this month when Scottish members of parliament to back the privatisation of Caledonian MacBrayne ferry services. It just shows what can be achieved with the will and determination not to put up with injustice. The democratic process can be used to defend our members’ interests and it would be unbelievable if the Scottish Executive chose to ignore the depth of feeling in Scotland over the issue. Despite this victory P&O has shown contempt for its workers by withdrawing sea routes and imposing cuts at Dover, Portsmouth and Hull and that struggle to protect seafaring jobs is ongoing. The fight at rail freight company EWS to protect working conditions is also developing. We have achieved much this year but we still have a lot to do in 2005. RMT president Tony Donaghey Twelve months of unity treaties and breaches ILO conventions,” she said, adding that it had been brought in to attack the FBU, which had taken lawful action with a nine to one majority vote on an 84 per cent turnout. Ms Winters insisted that “now is the time, in the run up to the election, to put the pressure on to get the changes we need”. Strong trade unionism Journalists union NUJ general secretary Jeremy Dear stressed that “strong unions remain the best protection for workers,” adding that unionised workplaces pay, on average, 17 per cent higher wages than non-unionised firms. Urging a stepping up of the campaign, Mr Dear said: “We must organise the unorganised and show that our collective strength can deliver. NUM leader Steve Kemp reminded the conference that, in Britain, only 24 per cent of workers belong to a union. “We need to inspire people to join, by fighting and winning,” he insisted. Speaking for communications union CWU, NEC member Maria Exall explained that the “new Labour neo-cons” had retained the anti-union laws because trade unions were “an obstacle to their agenda of privatisation”. Urging full support for the recently formed Labour Representation Committee (LRC), she insisted that “the LRC does give that political voice to the trade unions and the CWU, RMT and FBU are all affiliated to it.” Prison officers’ union general secretary Brian Caton reminded delegates that his union had had its rights taken away by the Tories back in 1993, but that legislation to restore them had been promised. “We could not have got this far without the support of this campaign,” he said. Mr Caton stressed that his union had throughout its history led attempts to improve prison conditions, both for officers and inmates. End Tory laws The campaign’s legal adviser Steve Cottingham highlighted the ease with which workers taking legal strike action can be legally dismissed. “Normal contracts of employment should be suspended during strikes,” he argued, as happens in France. Honorary presidents the ‘Pentonville Five’ ex-dockers’ leader Vic Turner and veteran left-winger former minister Tony Benn brought the campaign their fraternal greetings. Mr Turner said that the campaign was “vital for the emancipation of the working- class,” and Mr Benn insisted that “this campaign is about re-establishing the Labour Party as well as the trade union movement.” 25