PRESIDENT’S COLUMN

services and stock. This means there is no single Eurostar “corporation” operating centrally, able to plan strategically and operate the service autonomously. Eurostar is a brand operated by three separate railways in partnership. Decisions about marketing, maintenance and operations have to be agreed through a partnership arrangement with the partners extracting revenues or paying-in, according to complex contractual arrangements based on sales, mileages, crewing, maintenance etc. The Eurostar strategy is to create one entity in the three countries that will become the sole owner, operator and employer of the assets, rolling stock and staff. In the UK we are familiar with this through sub- contracting, where franchises are given out, assets transferred and staff are TUPE’d over. But this would also directly import the neo-liberal economic model and the contract culture onto the French and Belgian rail networks – something their rail unions are opposed to. SNCF has always been the largest shareholder of EUKL as well as being its “partner” as an operational railway. SNCF President Guillaume Pepy, who has been chairman and board member of EUKL for many years, wants to use this international privatisation as a test bed for future SNCF privatisations and contracting out of rail services in France. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that RMT would be working closely with the French and Belgian unions to coordinate resistance to a privatisation, paid for by the UK taxpayer, which would inevitably involve cost-cutting, job cuts and attacks on terms and conditions. “The simpler resolution would be to place the whole group into direct public ownership,” he said. EUROSTAR TRAIN MANAGERS BALLOTED FOR ACTION OVER IMPOSED ROSTERS R MT and TSSA rail unions urged nearly 100 Eurostar train managers to vote for industrial action after the company imposed new rosters, breaching an agreement which requires new shift patterns to be negotiated and approved by reps. RMT and TSSA called ballots after the company sidestepped procedures and posted new rosters without consulting local reps. The unions urged the company to withdraw the disputed rosters and to avoid industrial action in the run-up to Christmas by staff that play a pivotal safety role on Eurostar trains. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: “The company’s own policy clearly states that local working arrangements are discussed at local level, but it has completely disregarded agreements, bypassed levels of negotiation and sought to impose unfair rosters. “Our members are angry that the company is attempting to undermine their ability to balance their working and home lives, and it is time for Eurostar to step back and talk.” TSSA general secretary Gerry Doherty said: "We are very disappointed that managers based on this side of the Channel are being treated so unfairly given all the co- operation and flexibility they showed in getting services back on track after the recent tunnel fire”. In the depth of the worst global capitalist crisis in living memory, it is appalling to see all three major parties support billions of pounds being poured into the banking sector without even a promise of any real protection for working people. While working people lose their jobs, homes and pensions, demands for more tax cuts and attacks on the weakest in our society is just not good enough. The only guarantee, it seems, is that the Tory Party is demanding even more vicious attacks on working people. The immediate task of this union is to protect our members, whether in defence of pensions or other terms and conditions, from the ravages of this deep recession we are facing. We must also challenge claims from well-heeled politicians that workers must pay for this crisis and put forward socialist alternatives. If the market has failed in the banking sector, which it clearly has, and requires public money to put it right, what about other areas of the economy such as transport? We must say loudly and clearly that job losses and huge public spending cuts are not a natural solution to the crisis that capitalism has created. If we can use public money to bail out bankers that caused this crisis in the first place, we can have democratic control over that money and defend working people and their families. If millions can be found for the banks then no one in our society should ever suffer from poverty and want. As a result our socialist demands are more relevant today than they have ever been and the renationalisation of our railways and other utilities has never been more popular. Yet, sadly, that message is still falling on deaf ears. At a meeting with the new secretary of state for Transport Geoff Hoon recently, our delegation demanded that any plans to privatise the Tyne and Wear Metro be dumped and it should remain in public ownership Incredibly, he claimed that that privatisation had brought “innovation and good practice” into the rail network including cheap fares! Yet the very next day ATOC announced huge, inflation-busting, fare rises of seven per cent on top of ticket prices that are already the highest in Europe. Needless to say this union will continue the fight and reverse privatisation. In January the union will see six members of the Council of Executives return to work, to be replaced by new representatives elected by members of their respective regions. Those returning to work are Jack Jones from North Wales and North West, Pete Rowland from Manchester and North West, Donny Shannon from Scotland, Del Marr from London and Anglia, Paul Burton from South East and Dave Nelson from Region 2 Shipping. All of these members have played a vital and constructive part in the government of the union, the Council of Executives, which took well over a thousand decisions last year. This principal of fixed terms of office is, I believe, vital as it ensures members keep their feet on the ground and the full-time executive remains fully accountable to the members that it represents. On behalf of the union, I wish them all the very best for the future in the knowledge that all of them will still contribute in the fight for justice in the workplace. Six new elected members will replace them in the new year and they too will have a vital role to play. 2009 will bring many challenges and our union will never cease in its responsibility to put the wellbeing of members and their loved ones at the centre of every decision that we make. I wish you all seasonal greetings and a safe new year. John Leach President’s column THE CREDIT CRUNCH AND RMT RMT helpline 0800 3763706 :: november/december 2008 :: RMTnews 19