RMT AGM 2005 REPORT (PART 2)

september 2005 :: RMTnews 13 Conference unanimously backed calls for a multi-union campaign to publicise Britain’s “shameful” lack of workers’ protection and New Labour’s refusal to do away with Tory- era legislation. It welcomed the TUC position on the need for repeal of the anti-union laws and their replacement with a Charter of Workers’ Rights, but stressed that this must be linked to active campaigning. Camden No3 delegate Paul Schindler said that current legislation still hamstrung a unions’ ability to take effective industrial action, yet a recent review by the Department of Trade and Industry had concluded that there was “little evidence” that any change was required. Paul welcomed TUC condemnation of this review, noting that the DTI had been unduly influenced by heavy lobbying from big business. But general secretary Bob Crow said that not only had the TUC failed to gain repeal of the anti-union laws, it was also witnessing the steady erosion of the right to collective bargaining. “We are now eight years into a Labour government and even after the Warwick agreement the government is still not any closer to repealing the laws,” he said. Bob demanded the right for unions to organise their own affairs without interference, the right for workers to take solidarity action and for workers to have full employment rights from day one. Presently, rights are only granted after a year’s service, but he asked why “after 364 days an employer can abuse you and you can’t do anything about it, yet a day later you can take them to court?” Backing calls for a vigorous campaign, he insisted that “it’s about time the TUC told the government that if it doesn’t stand up for workers’ rights it will no longer support them.” Delegates also unanimously backed calls for an end to “gagging clauses” in employment contracts which threaten workers with disciplinary action - or even the sack - for speaking freely on industrial issues. Carlisle delegate Craig Johnston said that freedom of speech was a myth as long as workers were banned from speaking the truth because of bosses’ claims that “it might damage the industry.” London Underground delegate Lewis Peacock said that everyone knew that rail and Tube privatisation had been a “disaster“, yet his workplace was still being subjected to endless sell-offs, cost-cutting and sackings under the guise of “streamlining” the workforce. Delegates agreed, condemning new Labour ministers for arrogantly ignoring their own party’s policy on rail renationalisation. They unanimously backed calls for the extension of public ownership throughout the rail and bus industry, rejecting claims that this was unaffordable. Conference pointed out that - as had occurred in the past - the government could issue government stocks to corporate and individual shareholders based on the sale price at the time of privatisation. Such a move would also ensure the long-term viability of company pension funds as a stable financial return could be guaranteed for pension funds. RMT general secretary Bob Crow agreed, but said that manufacturing concerns and financial institutions should also be handed over for the public good. London Underground delegate Bill O’Dowd led calls for an end to the economic madness of Private Finance Initiative schemes to fund public works. PFI was merely a means for “the Jarvises and Balfour Beattys” to “siphon off money - making the rich richer and the poor poorer,” he said. “The attacks on us are being made continuously - under Thatcher it was slash and burn, under Blair it is singe and trim.” Mr O’Dowd called for a TUC- led campaign against PFI, insisting that “they’ve bled us dry, now its time to turn the tide”. AGM 2005 Delegates at this year’s AGM in Exeter called on the TUC to lead a high profile campaign to abolish Thatcherite anti-union laws. No more privatisations Delegates called on the Labour government to restore industries privatised under the Tories to public ownership and an end to the ongoing privatisations being carried out by New Labour. DRUG AND ALCOHOL TESTING Delegates condemned the creeping practice of “random” drugs and alcohol testing throughout the transport sector amid warnings that it was far from random and was being used to target union activists. Conference unanimously called on the executive to investigate Network Rail’s policy on drug testing, following revelations that workers were being detained out of hours for such tests - on pain of the sack - and subjected to invasive and undignified procedures with little justification. Fort William delegate Stephen Wallace agreed that nobody wants people operating the rail network under the influence, but said that current procedures frequently amounted to nothing more than false imprisonment. Waterloo delegate Greg Tucker said that one of his colleagues was held and tested for drugs following a malicious call from a disgruntled passenger. “It is clearly another way of harassing our members and we need to do something about it,” he insisted. RMT general secretary Bob Crow agreed that the matter was a serious one, questioning the “random” nature of the tests. “Some managers want some people selectively picked out,” he said. “They are creating a climate of fear - they want to control our lives in the workplace and out of it as well,” - he added, warning that the union would have to “take industrial action on this at some stage.” FIGHTING ANTI-UNION LAWS RMTnews :: september 2005 14 ABUSES OF PT&R Delegates called for a union investigation into abuses of the PT&R arrangements, especially concerning grade transfers to Trackman. The AGM heard that workers were being denied transfers or promotions, or being offered new posts huge distances from where they lived. Stephen Wallace said that his members had suffered from such abuses, as had himself. Many people were spending half their wages just to get to work. Preston No1 delegate Trevor Jordan said that there was an unofficial national “blacklist” in operation amongst rail companies, East Midland Central delegate Danny McNichol explained how he had been told he was “unsuitable” for four nearby vacancies. Mick Cash said that such treatment was “unacceptable” and revealed that he would be raising the matter with NR bosses after AGM. “As a union we will use every tool at our disposal to deal with this problem - including legal and industrial action,” he said. Whatever the reason for absence, staff are expected to ring an “adviser”, who could dispense medical advice and recommend over the counter medication - although they would have no knowledge of the employee’s medical record. Details of every call are passed on to the company and after three days they will call on you at home to check up on your “progress”, revealed Mary - adding that all of this information is kept on file for ten years. Mary said that as the RMT safety rep, C2C had promised to “consult” her over the plans. Instead she found herself mysteriously made redundant - the policy was implemented the next day. “We have to put a stop to this,” she insisted, warning that other TOCs were watching C2C with interest to see how the scheme worked out. Bristol Rail delegate Robin White warned that the aim of such schemes was not just to cut costs, but to make workers too scared to legitimately report in sick. Pat Sikorski said that RMT was not just prepared to monitor this development, it was already taking action, most notable in the case of Mary Dwyer, where the union‘s members at C2C were currently being balloted for industrial action. M anchester South delegate Michelle Rogers led calls for decent toilet facilities for women workers pointing out that women are routinely neglected on the issue of basic facilities. “Its about time male members realised what women have to deal with on a daily basis. We’re not asking for much, just a decent toilet with some proper facilities in every depot,” she said. Greg Elliot pointed out that it was not just about depots, noting that many bus drivers were out on the road for up to five hours at a stretch. Bob Crow said that he would write to the companies urging them to ensure that there are sufficient toilet facilities, particularly bearing in mind the increase in female staff. “They talk about the RMT being dinosaurs but they are the ones forcing women to work in prehistoric conditions,” he said. Women’s Toilet Facilities PRIVATISATION OF ABSENCE MANAGEMENT Delegate Mary Dwyer warned that her employer was proposing to hand over responsibility for sickness management to privateer health contractor, Active Health Partners. AGM 2005 Mary Dwyer Michelle Rogers september 2005 :: RMTnews 15 A GM agreed that it was vital for the union to push for strong childcare policies and workplace nursery provision, particularly in the face of government inaction over giving workers the statutory right to flexible working. Birmingham Rail delegate Julie Cooney said that it was very difficult to get ordinary nursery places when you worked in the rail industry due to factors such as long hours and difficult shifts. She said there was no guarantee that these nurseries would even be open at the right times - there was not even any guarantee that private childminders would be available. Bob said that that the issue of childcare would be a key part of the RMT Women’s Charter, but agreed that a full- scale campaign was needed. He pledged to raise the matter at the TUC, stressing that “its not just about facilities at work, it’s about rest time after work”. ANTI-TERROR LAWS The AGM strongly rejected the government’s misnamed “anti-terror laws” and pledged to campaign against this “unprecedented attack on our civil liberties.” Senior assistant general secretary Mick Cash said that internment without trial, the limiting of lawful protest and the treatment of the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay was unacceptable in a civilised society. Stratford No 1 delegate Bill O’Dowd said the Prevention of Terrorism Bill was a misnomer, designed to “scare people into fighting terrorism when it should be called the ‘Destroy Civil Liberties Bill’.” He warned: “Be in no doubt that these powers will be used against trade unionists in dispute, as have past laws.” Robin White noted that the Bill came up for renewal annually and urged RMT to mount a vigorous campaign each time that this occurred. T he AGM declared its full support for the right to self- determination for the Palestinian people and deplored their treatment under the illegal Israeli occupation. Delegates called for the “immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Israeli troops from all the territories” and urged the British government to put the maximum “diplomatic, political and economic” pressure on Israel to ensure that a viable, independent Palestinian state could be possible. Central Line West delegate Jon Abdullah argued: “If we are a truly socialist union we must recognise this and oppose the Israeli government’s goals”. EPS delegate Mick Lynch said that images of violence in Palestine had been a staple of news reports for anyone growing up in the 1960s, 1970s or 1980s. Such a long-term problem had made many people numb to the ongoing suffering, he said, arguing that it “almost becomes wallpaper for most people”. Such weariness belied the truth of the matter, he said, with thousands dead, the Palestinian economy in ruins and disease and malnutrition rife amongst its children. Mick noted that on top of this, Palestinians now faced the “disgusting edifice” of the separating wall, carving up homes and communities. Bob Crow said that during visits to Israel he had seen rich neighbourhoods where Arabs and Jews appeared to live side by side with no friction whatsoever , leading him to believe that the conflict was “about power and bigotry”, rather than religion. “The ruling class has no problem living next to each other and that ought to be the case with working people too,” he said. AGM 2005 FLEXIBLE WORKING AND CHILDCARE ARRANGEMENTS RIGHTS FOR THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE Mick Lynch Julie Cooney RMTnews :: september 2005 16 A ustralian Bus, Rail and Tram Union president Bob Haydon told AGM of the attacks that the right-wing Australian government was launching on its working people, through a set of harsh new labour and anti-union laws. Although recent years had seen his transport sector privatised - 80 per cent of the freight sector and 70 per cent of the passenger sector so far, Bob said that this “paled into insignificance” compared to the laws which were poised to come into effect. “Howard’s Tory government is going to take control of both houses of parliament, giving his government unlimited power for three years,” he said. He said that the new laws would force all workers on to so-called “independent” contracts - effectively abolishing the right to collective bargaining and making all workers responsible for such things as their own pensions arrangements. All companies would be required to offer every worker an “individual contract” - whether they want to or not. Bob also revealed that the laws banned union reps from entering sites more than twice a year, and placing severe restrictions on them during those visits. It would also become easier for third parties to sue trade unions over legal industrial action. He said that all protection for sacked workers in small firms was due to be abolished and legal limits on terms and conditions were to be “cut to the bone” - with no trade union rights, overtime rates and no more than four weeks leave guaranteed. “Under these laws big unions will suffer and small unions will die,” warned Bob, but said that the Australian labour movement was fighting back. A national week of action had begun during the RMT AGM and a week of industrial action took place a week after that. Bob said that he was inspired by RMT’s non-sectarian approach and said that all transport grades belonged in same union for the betterment of all. A GM condemned the “disgusting media witch hunt” against refugees and immigrants and reaffirmed the union’s commitment to fighting racism and fascism in all its forms. Piccadilly & District West delegate Ollie New said that the only reason for such hysteria in the right wing press was racism - condemning the Blair government for pandering to such hysteria with increasingly repressive legislation. Ollie said that the Harmondsworth detention centre for asylum seekers- in RMT MP John McDonnell’s own constituency - had recently been doubled in capacity. “There always seems to be public money for war and for locking up foreigners,” he noted, warning that such harsh policies simply “opened the door” for the fascist BNP. Greg Tucker said that racism found easy expression in a divided society, when workers denied decent pay or jobs started casting about for a scapegoat. “The likes of the Daily Mail are happy to help this, letting bosses off the hook,” he said. General secretary Bob Crow agreed, stressing that the only way to truly defeat racism and fascism was to heal society’s divisions, which were the real causes of joblessness, poverty and crime. Carlisle City delegate Craig Johnston warned that many people - even union members - still held unacceptably racist, sexist or homophobic views. “This is one of the biggest challenges that our movement faces,” he stressed. T ransport Workers Union local president Roger Toussaint brought fraternal greetings from his home city of New York, where his union was founded by Irish militants fleeing the consequences of the Easter Rising in 1916. He hailed Britain’s rail workers as being on the “frontline of resistance” to the scourge of privatisation and globalisation, revealing that “we have followed your Rail Against Privatisation campaign with interest”. Roger said that “privatisation strikes against common sense, jeopardising the safety of passengers and workers alike - to add insult to injury, subsidies are three times what they were before”. He said that in the US the rail network is still nominally publicly-owned, but it is treated as a “cash cow” for greedy subcontractors. As public subsidies shrink, passengers are forced to pay the difference in higher fares. “We need a worldwide fight back”, argued Roger, looking forward to the day when union campaigners would join forces across all countries to become “a single torrent against the neo-liberal onslaught”. AGM 2005 Australian workers under attack GREETINGS FROM NEW YORK NO TO RACISM Ollie New Bob Haydon september 2005 :: RMTnews 17 AGM 2005 T UC general secretary Brendan Barber congratulated RMT for the “genuine progress” the union had made over the past year. He said that RMT had “focused on what you do best – winning for members”. “You achieved a remarkable victory with the Network Rail pension scheme. “You showed real tenacity with the campaign to keep Caledonian MacBrayne and South Eastern Trains public. “You secured an overwhelming “yes” vote in the political fund ballot, with the second highest turnout in any union, and your membership broke the 70,000 threshold,” he said. Brendan reiterated the TUC’s commitment to working for justice for seafarers and an end to discrimination on board UK- flagged ships “The government now realises that it botched its amendment to section nine of the Race Relations Act in 2003. “It has perpetuated discrimination on pay rates against non-UK national and even the government’s own advisers have said that section nine has to be reviewed. “For the TUC, equality should apply whatever the nationality of the seafarer concerned. Indian, Filipino or other non- EU nationals working on UK ships deserve the same rates of pay as UK workers or other EU nationals,” he said. On the Tonnage Tax, there needs to be a binding employment and training link to the scheme. Brendan said that the union faced many challenges elsewhere in the transport sector. “Take public-private partnerships on the London Underground which, as RMT rightly says, has been a disaster for both the public and the public purse. “It creates an expensive, inefficient system where contractors rake in 20 per cent returns,” he said. He said that the TUC supported the campaign for a publicly-owned, publicly accountable railway. “It’s clear that rail privatisation has been a disaster, with early £4 billion of annual subsidy from the taxpayer which dwarves anything given to British Rail. “Opinion polls show the public want rail renationalisation and two thirds of Labour delegates backed your position at last year’s conference. “There is a clear financial argument for public ownership, as the recent study by Catalyst made clear,” he said. He said that the new Railways Act was a missed opportunity to legislate for a publicly owned railway. “The transfer of safety from the HSE to the Office of the Rail Regulator is a particular cause for concern. “Financial and safety regulation do not mix – nor should we separate worker and passenger safety. “Overall, it’s clear our transport system desperately needs a rail renaissance. This must include more freight on rail, which has much lower carbon dioxide emissions than road transport,” he said. He said that if we are to win these campaigns the movement must be stronger. “If the rest of the movement had matched your performance we would have an extra million members,” he said. TUC LEADER APPLAUDS RMT Incorporating The MacPhail Lawrence Partnership. 65 Bath Street, Glasgow G2 2DD. 22 Pavement, York Y01 9UP e-mail: mail@drummond-miller.co.uk website: www.drummond-miller.co.uk > Injuries at work > Post traumatic stress disorder > Repetitive strain injury > Road traffic accidents > Vibration white finger > Criminal injuries claims Experts in Employment Law, Accident and Injury Claims > Asbestos related diseases > Unfair dismissal > Discrimination > Conveyancing - Estate Agency > Wills & Executries > Family Law Telephone 0141 332 0086 - Glasgow 01904 - 674061 - York Drummond Miller Drummond Miller ARE PLEASED TO OFFER OUR CONTINUED SUPPORT TO THE RAILWAY, MARITIME & TRANSPORT WORKERS’ TRADE UNION. Legal services helpline for Scottish & North East England members - freephone 0800 328 1014