AGM REPORT 2006

15 AGM REPORT DUBLIN 2006 DEFENDING PENSIONS HALT CUTS AND LINE CLOSURES KEEP EAST LONDON LINE PUBLIC GIVE US A BREAK TRANSPORT WORKERS AT RISK VIOLENCE IN THE WORKPLACE PARLIAMENTARY REPORT KEEPING PEACE IN IRELAND ON TRACK WORKING CLASS REPRESENTATION NO TO SERVICES DIRECTIVE RMT News reports on another successful AGM RMTnews :: july/august 2006 :: www.rmt.org.uk 16 DEFENDING FINAL SALARY PENSIONS AGM unanimously agreed to fight employers’ attacks on final salary pension schemes across the transport industry. Newcastle Rail and Catering delegate Mick Thompson insisted that “we must remain resilient in our pensions campaign as this will ensure that unscrupulous employers are unable to close and weaken this hard fought for condition.” Manchester South delegate Michelle Rogers urged the AGM to ensure that “no one should be sold down the river due to their pensions – due to employers taking monies that wasn’t theirs. “And let’s make sure that the people who deserve this money get it back and they get it back in the right way, and that’s through their pension,” said Michelle. “Let’s not have anyone in the rail industry, bus industry, road transport or any other industry suffering and worrying about how they’re going to deal with old age.” Bassetlaw delegate David Gott rejected employers’ claims that they could not afford final salary schemes because “they’ve got big current problems.” “They’ve got very big current problems mainly due to five, ten years ago employers having pension holiday after pension holiday when we had big surpluses,” he said. David urged the union to “campaign along every avenue we can” to make it illegal for companies to take pension holidays. DEFENDING BUS PENSIONS Delegates unanimously agreed that RMT has to make it clear to all bus companies that it will strike in defence of its members’ pension rights. Poole and District delegate Pete Gale noted that the subject of pensions had transformed in the last year from one that caused “eyes to glaze over” to “big news.” Pete said: “It’s the big thing, it’s the club that employers are beating the workers with at the moment.” He warned that the issue did not just affect bus workers but was a major threat across the transport industry – but bus privateers such as Stagecoach, First Bus and Go Ahead were all trying to slash benefits. East Midlands Bus delegate Graham Geliher said that pensions were “deferred wages” and not a gift. “We contribute towards pensions and lower wages are tolerated in order to get a decent pension. “Young and old need to fight to retain our pensions,” he said. South Devon Bus delegate Paul Rossiter blamed the Blair government for the crisis, noting that “the writing was on the wall” when Chancellor Gordon Brown introduced “stakeholder pensions” and reduced the need for bosses to offer an adequate scheme. Senior assistant general secretary Mick Cash agreed that pensions were “a big issue across the country”. He hailed the union’s good track record in defending pension rights, but agreed with Pete that “if we don’t get members’ support we can’t defend pensions.” RESTORE THE PENSIONS LINK AGM backed the TUC campaign for the immediate restoration of the link between the state pension and average earnings and called for the cost of higher pensions to be met by a tax on excessive profits and high earners. LUL Signal Electrical and Track delegate Paul O’Brien rejected the big business claim that the only way out of the “pensions crisis” was for people to work longer, or for people to make individual arrangements. Paul said that the root of the crisis lay with the bosses, who neglected to pay into schemes when the stock market was booming – only to “cry poverty” when the market fell. “They had the option but they chose not to, now they want us to pay for it,” he said. AGM 2006 DEFENDING PENSIONS Graham Geliher Peter Gale D elegates attacked the ongoing programme of line cuts and closures taking place at the behest of the government. AGM unanimously condemned the 2005 Railways Act, which seeks to cut the level of government subsidy by replacing rail services with bus services. Under the Act, the retention of existing services is subject to the same skewed “cost-benefit analysis” as new builds. Manchester Victoria delegate Alex Holden also noted that its criteria for “minor changes” includes station closures and the axing of signaling equipment. “The cuts already happening – in South West England, services in the branch lines of Devon and Cornwall were slashed,” he warned. “Cuts do not encourage service use – quite the contrary.” Jubilee South and East London Line delegate Bob Law pointed out that the more rail services that get cut, the more incentive there is for people to drive – increasing pollution levels and road deaths. “Even under privatisation, the railway is safer than car travel, there are some 3,000 deaths a year on the roads. That is the cost of not having a proper transport system.” Cinque Ports delegate Mike Sargent recalled last year’s Rail Against Privatisation march, in which he participated. “One of the main things people asked us about was line closures,” he said. Preston No. 1 delegate Trevor Jordan noted that the notorious Beeching cuts of 1963 were preceded by the decimation of Ireland’s rail services. Trevor showed himself to be a mine of knowledge on railway history, detailing many line closures that have occurred since the 1960s. He warned that England faced the prospect of another swathe of cuts and closures, adding that Labour governments had a worse record for closures than the Tories. Trevor also warned against government support for “micro- franchises”, run by rail buffs and enthusiasts, stressing: “It is no substitute for fully integrated, nationalised British railway”. He warned that there is “a Beeching” every few years nowadays, with services axed and “closures by stealth” - the steady running down of lines until they can be painted as “unviable”. Assistant general secretary Pat Sikorski noted that rail subsidy is five times what it was before privatisation – some £5 billion a year. “It is no secret that the Treasury wants to get rid of £1 billion of that subsidy as soon as possible,” he said. Pat said that the union had made some progress in preventing cuts over the past year – as RMT activists had united with local people to oppose closures - but agreed that vigilance was necessary and said that the fight goes on. Bristol Rail delegate Robin White condemned former Transport Secretary Alistair Darling for complaining that many rural services were merely “carting around fresh air”. He asked “whose fault is it?” that rural services were underused, arguing that, rather than disparaging the rail network, the government should be encouraging rail use, through subsidised fares and better services. General secretary Bob Crow added that privatisation must be brought to an end and replaced with “real public control” - with rail workers having a real say in the running of a publicly-owned and publicly-accountable network www.rmt.org.uk :: july/august 2006 :: RMTnews 17 Owen Doogan of the Australian Rail, Tram and Bus Union is no stranger to RMT. In fact, he worked at Unity House in the industrial relations department for six years from 1984 to 1990. His experiences as an active RMT member stood him in good stead when he relocated to Queensland, Australia and went to work for the RTBU. Owen joined the union at a difficult time when it was losing members due to restructuring of the transport sector in Australia, including privatisation, contracting out and the casualisation of labour. “We experienced a 20 per cent drop in membership and we had to go out and become an organising union. “Now our membership has stabilised and we have created a new pro-active and positive outlook,” he said. The sheer size of his beat, including a 3,000 mile trip to service one particular branch, is staggering. His members are involved mainly in freight, moving huge amounts of coal and other minerals extracted from the mines that dominate the region as well as various commuter services. He says that the experience gained with RMT had proved invaluable and it was always a pleasure to visit. “The way RMT has adapted itself to the new, more hostile environment is very similar to our own experiences,” he says. New draconian anti-union laws brought in by the Conservative government has also made it difficult for the Australian trade union movement. Owen says that the response of the Australian Council of Trade Unions had been to go out and fight. “Instead of hiding behind illusions of ‘social partnership’ with bosses, the ACTU has launched a high-profile campaign to mobilise the membership to fight for trade union” he said. AGM 2006 HALT CUTS AND LINE CLOSURES FORMER RMT STAFF MEMBER ADDRESSES CONFERENCE Pat Sikorski Robin White Mike Sargent RMTnews :: july/august 2006 :: www.rmt.org.uk 18 A GM backed calls for clerical and supervisory staff to receive the same “safeguarded” travel facilities as other staff. Manchester South delegate Michelle Rogers said: “When the railways were government-run we all had free travel – since privatisation we now only get travel with our specific companies. “It’s more than poor – it’s diabolical,” she said, adding that even this was denied many grades. A GM threatened strike action across the entire network unless Transport for London (TfL) shelves plans to privatise the East London Line. Unanimously backing an emergency resolution, delegates condemned the scheme, which would see the line handed over to privateers when the line re- opens in 2010 after extension work is completed. When the line is closed for extension on December 2007, staff are to be forcibly transferred to other depots, with no say in where they are to go. Jubilee South and East London Line delegate Bob Law warned: “Privatisation is dangerous - we’ve all seen the disasters on the mainline railway and more recently the problems caused by PPP on the Tube”. He questioned why London Mayor Ken Livingstone was backing the privatisation plans when he had been such a vociferous opponent of PPP during his campaign for mayor - but he also blamed the privatisation-obsessed new Labour leadership. Bob said that a campaign was already underway, involving local councillors and community groups - plus the RMT parliamentary group - but warned that strike action might become necessary. Such action would have to involve the entire network, he said, warning that “if we go down then the next attack will be on your line”. Plymouth No 1 delegate Nick Quirk urged the union to write to every branch secretary in Britain and mobilise them for a massive national campaign. He said that such a campaign should include a demonstration outside London’s City Hall, pledging: “We’ll stay there all day if we have to.” General secretary Bob Crow promised a national campaign to save the line from the privateers, on the grounds of safety and affordability. “We don’t want this cancer spreading on the London Underground,” he said. S wansea No. 1 delegate Mandy Evans said that catering staff on trains find themselves working up to 11 hours with no opportunity for a break – although legally they are entitled to a 20 minute break. “There’s a health issue here, and it is taking away our human rights,” she said, pointing out that employers are ignoring the provisions of the Working Time Directive. Senior assistant general secretary Mick Cash said that RMT needed to fight this issue on two fronts – firstly by fighting industrially to prevent the problem arising and secondly by making challenges under working time legislation. Mick argued that the first way was the most effective, as the EU directive allowed for a whole range of exemptions. G eneral Secretary Bob Crow presented LUL customer services agent Priscilla Dada with this year’s John Cogger award for young members. Priscilla is already a learning rep and a member of the Young Members Advisory Committee. She is also a trustee of the Jubilee South and East London branch and attended this year’s Young Members’ Conference. In her spare time she helps with the running of the local youth football team. Bob presented her with the award in the form of a clock, as well as a cheque. “There’s no doubt that the caliber of candidates we had was excellent. “We have future generations who are going to take this union forward,” he said. Priscilla thanked the union and said how proud she was to win the award. KEEP EAST LONDON LINE PUBLIC YOUNG WINNER AGM 2006 Nick Quirk Give us a break TRAVEL FACILITIES FOR ALL Mandy Evans www.rmt.org.uk :: july/august 2006 :: RMTnews 19 A GM witnessed a new first this year as father and son team Pete and Steven Skelly both attended as delegates. Steven, age 29, works as a guard and is a member of Cardiff Rail branch while his dad Pete of Bridgend branch is a full-timer convenor at Network Rail. Pete, a veteran of six AGMs, was even more shocked when he discovered that Steve topped the poll in the election for delegates in his region to go to Dublin. He said he was “very proud and happy” to see his son addressing conference, seconding a motion for a campaign to fight rail cuts and on defending the rights of Iranian trade unionists. Steven took the whole experience in his stride after six years in the union and a mother who is also involved in the PCS civil service union. AGM 2006 O IL union Norway NOPEF president Leif Sande told delegates how his members enjoy some of the best conditions in the sector across the world – but are being forced to take strike action to defend those conditions in the face of ‘globalisation’. “We are in the middle of a strike right now to defend conditions won over a long period,” he said. He praised the Venezuelan and Bolivian governments for resisting the privateers by refusing to let them operate unless they pay proper taxes in those countries and urged unions everywhere to fight for their country to adopt the same policies. Violence in the workplace S wansea No. 1 delegate Mandy Evans led calls for more protection for workers after warning that “in recent years the overall number of reported incidents of violence towards staff within the transport industry has steadily been on the increase.” She noted that employers had a legal duty to protect their staff, but were falling down on this – with workers facing verbal and even physical abuse almost every day of the week North Clyde delegate Janet Cassidy complained that staff who tried to defend themselves against attacks often found themselves facing disciplinary action or even assault charges – “the victim becomes the perpetrator.” Janet also warned that the increasing tendency to centralise the British Transport Police was leaving dangerous gaps in police cover. A GM condemned the counter-productive “war on terror” and accused it of placing transport workers at risk. On the anniversary of the July 7 bombings, delegates warned that the Iraq war and threats against other countries had greatly increased the risk of another terrorist atrocity on the network. Bakerloo Line delegate Brian Munro attacked government attempts to interfere with the safe operation of the Tube during the second wave of attacks on July 21. Brian noted that the entire Tube network was evacuated on July 7, but two weeks later a “secret mob” – the government security committee COBRA - overruled London Underground and insisted that only three lines needed to be closed. “They seized operational control from London Underground to create the impression that everything was normal,” said Mr Munro. “It is a disgraceful way to treat both the Tube workers and the people of London”. Hammersmith and City delegate Josie Toussaint- Pinnock observed that many trains still did not have radios – leaving them dangerously incommunicado in an emergency. General secretary Bob Crow warned: “Until this country stops going around and bombing other countries - unleashing our own terrorist attacks on them - we will face more terrorism.” TRANSPORT WORKERS AT RISK NORWEGIAN FIGHT FOR DIGNITY Like father, like son RMTnews :: july/august 2006 :: www.rmt.org.uk 20 D elegates heard an address from veteran communist Gordon Norris, who told spoke movingly about the 1966 seamen’s strike for a 40-hour week. Gordon revealed how the “reactionary” leadership of the National Union of Seamen had agreed to a 56 hour week - despite huge opposition from seafarers. Mr Norris was expelled from the NUS for campaigning against the move, but readmitted in time to become one of the “politically-motivated men” named by the then prime minister Harold Wilson as the source of the 1966 dispute. After six weeks of action, which saw over 28,000 seamen take action and over 900 ships tied up, the men returned to work. “However, there were no scabs and it was the first national seamen’s strike which changed the union for the better,” he said. After the strike undemocratic practices, such as multiple votes for longer serving members, were abolished. Mr Norris had advice for today’s trade unionists: “Without struggle there is no progress, nothing is given to you, you have to fight for it”. Gordon invited delegates to find out more about the dispute by looking up the parliamentary debate in Hansard for June 28, 1966. “There you will find illuminating debates which tells the story of the 1966 seamen’s strike,” he said. He won a standing ovation and was presented with a commemorative badge to mark the 40th anniversary of the strike. R MT Parliamentary Group chairman John McDonnell gave his report to the AGM along with a warning that new Labour is giving the Tories an open goal at the next general election. He said that he was proud to represent the union’s “voice in parliament”, but warned that fresh battles lay ahead – such as the plot to privatise the East London Line. John went on to warn that new Labour is leading the party to disaster. “They talk of a smooth transition from Blair to Brown - but the danger is that we will see a smooth transition from Blair to Brown to Cameron,” he said. John revealed worrying data gathered by pollsters MORI. Its analysis of the May local election results found that after losing support, Labour’s “bounce back” in subsequent general elections has decreased every time since 1997. The latest indications are that the next general election will see “either a hung parliament or Labour out of office,” he warned, adding that MORI had found deep anger and dissatisfaction over the NHS, schools and levels of basic trust in the government‘s honesty. The public now trust the Tories over Labour to protect the NHS and the education system, found MORI – a situation which Mr McDonnell called “unbelievable.” AGM 2006 REMEMBERING THE 1966 SEAMEN’S STRIKE RMT broke new technological ground at this year’s AGM by broadcasting the conference live on the Internet. Proceedings have since been archived and can be viewed at www.rmt.org.uk and logging on to the members area. Once logged on, simply choose Conference Webcasts from the options in the members menu to begin. The initiative forms part of RMT’s commitment to making internal union democracy and decision-making more accessible to the members. AGM ON THE WEB Parliamentary report R MT delegates honoured Bob Doyle -the last surviving Irish member of the International Brigades which fought in defence of Spanish democracy in 1936– and pledged to continue the fight against fascism. Mr Doyle was born in 1916 and grew up in conditions of great poverty. Sporting his International Brigade beret, he told conference how he had become politicised as a merchant seaman and felt compelled to travel to Spain to fight the fascist armies of General Franco. He thanked RMT for its hospitality and for its ongoing progressive campaigns. Replying, general secretary Bob Crow saluted Mr Doyle, noting that the National Union of Railwaymen and National Union of Seamen had sent over 130 members to fight in the International Brigades. “These people gave up everything - including their lives - for democracy,” he said. BOB DOYLE – ANTI-FASCIST FIGHTER www.rmt.org.uk :: july/august 2006 :: RMTnews 21 KEEPING PEACE IN IRELAND ON TRACK AGM 2006 R MT delegates unanimously condemned infamous EU “liberalisation” directives which force EU member states to hand over vital public services, such as railways, to privateers. Bristol delegate Robin White warned that the proposed services directive was designed to hand pension provision, healthcare and other services over to the private sector. He said that it was attempting to give bosses the ability to move production where it was cheapest regardless of the consequences for workers. He warned that it was recipe for “rampant privatisation and social dumping” across the continent. Bob Law said that the failed EU constitution had sought to undermine democracy and turn Europe into a “fat cats’ playground”. He welcomed the French and Dutch people’s rejection of the neo-liberal charter – but warned that the EU was reintroducing many parts of it by other means. General secretary Bob Crow recalled the myths which surrounded the introduction of the EU ‘single market’ in 1992. “We were told that the single market would solve all our problems - we’d get better pay like the Germans and better pensions like the French,” he said. “The reality is that it meant the wholesale sell-off of our public services. “Our railways were first to be sold off – we were an experiment for the rest of Europe,” he said. D elegates voted to continue a flexible policy of giving support to political organisations that reflect the aims of the union and to hold further conferences to address the crisis in working class representation. Delegates welcomed the RMT conference in January, which discussed the crisis and backed plans for further national conferences and meetings via regional councils and branches. They also backed calls to develop a new national shop stewards’ movement to bring the trade union rank and file into campaigning around various issues. Bakerloo Line delegate Brian Munro launched an attack on new Labour’s support for big business, privatisation and war. “We are not calling for a new party right away, we are just saying that we deserve better than new Labour,” he said. However, EPS delegate Mick Lynch warned against falling into the “trap” of tying the union to yet another new socialist party, noting that there was already a plethora of such organisations that “pointlessly contests elections”. “I carry the current RMT policy into the voting booth and vote for the candidate that is closest to this union’s policy,” he said. Dorset Rail delegate Peter Brown said that his branch was affiliated to the Labour Representation Committee which was fighting inside the Labour Party for socialist policies and a change of direction. General secretary Bob Crow insisted that the resolution merely restated current RMT policy - support for any candidate that backs the union’s aims. “The present policy allows to gives support to the LRC and other organisations that support us,” he said. More AGM reports will appear in next issue of RMT News RESISTING BRUSSELS NEO-LIBERAL AGENDA WORKING CLASS REPRESENTATION S inn Fein leader and MP Gerry Adams invited RMT to join a new British campaign to win support for a united Ireland in an historic address to the AGM. Mr Adams thanked the union for its long tradition of support for the cause for Irish unity, recalling that the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants first organised in Ireland in 1885 when the country was still ravaged by the effects of “The Great Hunger” and British imperialism. Later, in 1953, RMT recognised the right of Irish workers to organise themselves and withdrew from Ireland, but continued to offer solidarity with the civil rights movements. “Since then RMT has been foremost in pressing for the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. That is why I am here, to thank you,” he said. Mr Adams offered conference a “challenge” - to help build support for a united Ireland across Britain. “This is something that republicans have overlooked until now,” he admitted, but stressed that trying to influence British public opinion would place pressure on the British government to do the right thing. He argued that the campaign will succeed eventually, but stressed: “It will succeed more quickly and with less trauma for those who fear change if we all get involved”.