STATE OF THE UNION

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: july/august 2011 :: RMTnews 14 A t RMT's Annual General Meeting in Fort William recently, Bob Crow warned delegates that the McNulty Review was the biggest attack on railway workers since the 1960s when Dr Beeching axed a third of the rail network. Meanwhile this government is putting train manufacturing in Britain on death row by handing the Thameslink contract to German company, Siemens. So I asked Bob Crow why these attacks were happening and what the union can do to defend transport workers now and in future? “The McNulty Review is being used as an instrument by both the Con Dem government and the Labour Party that commissioned this report to break up the railways, emasculate trade unions, get rid of jobs wholesale and attack the terms and conditions of workers. “Putting the Thameslink contract out to Siemens in Germany is further evidence of their desire to de-industrialise Britain and to dilute the strength of the trade union movement without a democratic mandate to do so,” he says in his usual direct manner. The AGM was also abuzz with talk of a possible merger with sister rail union TSSA to create a new all-grades union. TSSA general secretary Gerry Doherty has invited RMT for formal talks so the only question really is where do we go from here? “I hope we have a full-blown merger. “The only question to ask about a trade union merger is: “will it increase the strength of the workers? “And the answer is yes, that's why the bosses’ right-wing press are attacking the idea. “We will go into talks with TSSA on a positive note and RMT members will have the final say on any proposed merger between our unions in a secret ballot,” he says. Bob is clear that the benefits of a merged industrial union will include the fact that where TSSA and RMT members work alongside each other, the bosses won't be able to divide them. “It will mean all of the resources we have between both unions can be used for one purpose - defending workers against the bosses and improving their pay and conditions,” he says. RMT and TSSA members working for Network Rail, Train Operating Companies and London Underground already have a good history of campaigning together against cuts in recent years. Moreover a larger industrial union would help other transport workers including for example bus, taxi and road freight workers, shipping and offshore energy members all of whom face cuts to public spending, wages, pensions and jobs. “It has been proved that by TSSA and RMT campaigning alongside each other trust and faith in each other’s abilities has come about. “We are two specialised transport unions, so other groups of transport and energy workers will naturally fit into what is already well-known as a fighting democratic union. “This unity will increase our industrial strength as well as our political clout as the size of our Parliamentary group of Labour MPs will increase along with our political influence,” he says underlining the theme of unity that has marked out his tenure RMT president Alex Gordon interviews general secretary Bob Crow about the state of transport sector and future possibilities for building the union STATE OF THE UNION