PARLIAMENTARY COLUMN

Parliamentary column RMT helpline 0800 3763706 :: january 2011 :: RMTnews 9 The national mood is darkening as the consequences of the coalition’s ferocious attack on public services and working people begin to hit home. Although they didn’t persuade sufficient numbers of Lib Dems to defeat the massive rise in tuition fees, the student protests in Westminster reminded us all of the necessity of public protest when faced with a government pushing an extremist agenda that it did not campaign on in the general election. In the New Year we expect the RMT parliamentary group’s programme of work to grow, as the government’s policies on rail, buses, shipping, offshore energy, London Underground and other areas become clearer. We must enter the New Year with confidence and with the belief that we campaign to win. The union and its parliamentary group has secured a victory over the government on the Royal Fleet Auxiliary just before Christmas. I secured an adjournment debate on the future of the RFA and, with the support of some unlikely allies on the Tory back benches, persuaded the government to back away from privatising this vital service. This puts us in a strong position to argue against job losses in the RFA, although we are now talking smaller scale job cuts than would have been the case if the MoD had forced through George Osborne’s preferred option of privatising the RFA. On rail, the McNulty Review into the future of the railways will be published in March and Sir Roy has agreed to attend the annual RMT rail seminar which we will organise to coincide with publication of his report. We do not expect good things from McNulty or this government. The report was meant to be making comparisons with railways in Europe, which as we know tend to be cheaper to travel on and cost less to run because they are far more integrated than our railways. Instead McNulty’s interim report makes worrying comments about ‘incentivising’ train operating companies by bringing track and passenger services ‘closer together’. This sounds like a recipe for breaking up and selling off Network Rail and we stand ready to oppose a Railtrack two with every means at our disposal. Bus services and jobs could also face a major onslaught from government austerity measures and the RMT group will be hosting a parliamentary seminar on the future of the bus industry on February 1 at which the Buses Minister, Norman Baker MP, will be speaking, along with the main industrial figures, from other unions and passenger transport groups. We have already secured a slight victory in reducing the anticipated cut to the bus grant but, make no mistake, we have a major fight ahead on the buses. There was also some movement on the campaign to address poverty pay on UK- flagged ships in UK internal and territorial waters. The working group on applying the national minimum wage for seafarers set up by the outgoing Labour government, following prompting from the RMT parliamentary group, met on December 20. Following agreement from shipping minister Mike Penning representatives from RMT, Nautilus, the TUC and government solicitors met and we look forward to building on those initial discussions. The fallout from the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico in October has intensified the debate about safety in the UK offshore industry and the parliamentary motion tabled by my colleague Alex Cunningham MP, calling for greater powers for offshore safety reps in line with European best practice, has certainly woken a few up in the industry and we will be pressing home the issue in the New Year. It is impossible to mention safety without paying tribute to the magnificent solidarity displayed by RMT and TSSA members on the London Underground. They are an inspiration to us all and I am confident they will secure the successful outcome to their dispute that their determination deserves. Solidarity, determination and a belief we can win should be our guiding principles for 2011. Happy New Year. John McDonnell MP for Hayes and Harlington FIGHTING TO WIN