PARLIAMENTARY COLUMN

RMT helpline 0800 3763706 :: february 2009 :: RMTnews 9 Parliamentary column Despite the chair of the RMT's Parliamentary group, Labour MP John McDonnell’s absence from the Palace of Westminster — exiled from the House of Commons for his dramatic protest against the government's approval of Heathrow's third runway — many MPs joined together with union leaders last month to launch his initiative to give unions a stronger voice in Parliament. Representatives of transport workers, firefighters, journalists and bakers declared their support for the Trade Union Co- ordinating Group (TULG), which intends, as Mr McDonnell’s fellow Labour MR Neil Gerrard emphasised, “to be the political expression of workers in Parliament”. “It makes sense for unions to have campaigning MPs on their side in this current climate. And it makes sense for MPs to have unions aiding our debates and arguments in Parliament,” he said. The TUCG brings together seven unions - BFAWU, FBU, NAPO, NUJ, PCS, POA and RMT - with the objective of co-ordinating campaigning activities on many of the key issues facing union members and giving the movement a new and stronger representative voice in Parliament. The meeting built on the original launch of the group at last year’s TUC Congress, where a packed rally packed agreed to approach MPs friendly to the labour movement in order to try to combat the neoliberal arguments dominating debate in the House of Commons. John McDonnell MR said that with people struggling to make ends meet, save their jobs and keep a roof over their heads the Labour movement urgently needed a consistent voice in Parliament that would fight against the attacks on welfare, ongoing privatisation, and campaign for peace, the restoration of and civil liberties and trade union rights. As a result seven union leaders took the offensive into Parliament to demand that MPs stand up for workers and challenge ministers. NUJ general secretary Jeremy Dear said that “those MPs who are timid in the face of power, those who put privatisation and profit above the right to dissent. We hope that this new group will reverse that orthodoxy”. Fire Brigades Union leader Matt Wrack added that his members were “suspicious of politicians”. But he said that the union had decided to become involved because “our work with John McDonnell has convinced us that we can have an impact in challenging ministers”. NAPO general secretary Jonathan Ledger and bakers’ union leader Joe Marino both emphasised that workers need representation “more than ever,” while RMT general secretary Bob Crow pointed out that unions were not “relying on MPs to change things for us. “We will be organising outside Parliament, too, to change things for ourselves. But this initiative is a great step forward and we should make the most of it,” Mr Crow insisted. Civil Service union PCS leader Mark Serwotka agreed, adding that the “significance of this meeting is its optimism. We are saying that we can hold the government to account — and we will,” he said. NEW PARLIAMENTARY TRADE UNION LIAISON GROUP LAUNCHED Companywatch NATIONAL EXPRESS MAY QUIT RAIL N ational Express could quit the train business altogether if its £1.4 billion east coast franchise places too great a strain on group profits, according to The Guardian newspaper. The news came after the Department for Transport revealed that five franchises - out of 19 across the UK - have been classed as "red" under a "traffic light" system monitoring the financial health of rail contracts. National Express agreed to pay the DfT £1.4 billion for the right to operate trains between London and Edinburgh until 2015. Since the deal was struck in August 2007, when passenger numbers were rising and the privateer was allowed to impose inflation-busting fare rises. However, a note published this month by the investment bank JP Morgan said that the east coast contract could miss revenue targets this year and make an underlying loss of over £26 million. National Express needs revenue growth of about 10 per cent to meet targets this year but this looks increasingly unlikely, raisng the prospect of the National Express ‘handing in the keys’ of the franchise. National Express also owns the National Express East Anglia and c2c franchises, which expire in 2013 and 2011 respectively. JP Morgan described the east coast franchise as the "key swing factor" in its parent group's fortunes. National Express has a stock market value of about £530 million and its debt burden of £1.1 billion is a cause of concern to analysts, standing at more than three times projected earnings for 2009. Alongside its rail operations, National Express owns coach and bus businesses in the UK, Spain and the US. National Express abandoned its train and tram operations in the Australian city of Melbourne back in 2002 following the group's failure to squeeze more subsidies from the state government of Victoria despite more than a year of negotiations. RECEPTION: from left to right Joe Marino, general secretary Bakers, Food and Allied Workers' Union (BFAWU), Matt Wrack general secretary FBU, Jeremy Dear general secretary NUJ, Neil Gerrard MR, Bob Crow general secretary RMT, Mark Serwotka general secretary PCS, Jonathan Ledger general secretary NAPO. Picture: PCS/Photo Fusion