PARLIAMENTARY COLUMN

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: october 2012 :: RMTnews 9 Parliamentary column If we fight we can win, that’s the message of recent victories for RMT and wider trade union movement. Last month the Con Dem coalition was forced into a retreat over their plans to introduce a regulation that would remove almost half of injuries completely from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme and reduced the compensation for most other injuries. If these proposals had been enacted it would have meant rail workers who have suffered psychological injuries for example by witnessing suicides would no longer be entitled to compensation while victims of violent crime at work would also have had their ability to claim compensation weakened. As you would expect the proposals met strong resistance from the unions and Labour MPs including from the RMT Parliamentary group with my colleague Kelvin Hopkins MP being particularly active in his opposition. The strength of opposition was such that when I attended the parliamentary committee to oppose the changes, armed with examples why these protections are so important to transport workers, it soon became apparent that there was also opposition from even the government’s backbenchers. The government did not have the numbers and pulled back from putting the regulation to the vote. We will have to fight again of course. The government will be seeking shortly to reintroduce the regulation and for now ministers have only confined themselves to saying: “We have listened to the views expressed in Parliament and will now consider our next steps". Some overdue listening also seems to be taking place in the Scottish government who for some time have been threatening to break up and tender the Cal Mac Clyde and Hebridean Ferry routes. This would directly affect the welfare of many of my constituents with both the Largs to Cumbrae and Ardrossan to Brodick routes in my constituency being separately hived off to the private sector. Now campaigning by local communities and the unions seems has paid dividends with the Scottish government confirming that there will be no break up of Cal Mac services and the tendering of the service has been put back for three years. This creates space for a renewed campaign to put the privatisation of Cal Mac services permanently on the back burner. These are just a few of perhaps the more high profile examples that demonstrate that we can turn the tide. But of course everyday up and down the country activists and trade union reps are fighting back and in many cases achieving significant victories that make all the different to a work place or community. And they all have the same lesson. If we fight we can win, there is hope and there is an alternative. The October 20 demonstrations against austerity in London, Glasgow and Belfast present an historic opportunity for all those who are fighting back and all those want an alternative to come together to say we will carry on the fight and we will win. Katy Clark Labour MP for North Ayrshire and Arran and a member of the RMT Parliamentary Group FIGHTING TO WIN M illions of people risk being plunged into debt because of the high cost of travel which is worsening the work prospects of the unemployed, according to a new report. Cycling charity Sustrans warned that more than one and a half million people in England are at "serious risk" of being cut off from work and healthcare because of the rising costs of owning a car, and the lack of alternatives. The report revealed that a growing number of people are suffering from ‘transport poverty’, often forced to run a car they cannot afford because of soaring rail fares or cuts to bus services. Sustrans chief executive Malcolm Shepherd said: "For many people owning a car is a source of debt and poverty, and this is unlikely to change in the long term with fuel prices going up and up. "For decades ministers have made decisions based on everyone having easy access to a car, forcing many of us into car ownership we can barely afford and leaving others stranded. "We need a transport system that works for everyone - not one designed to best suit those who can afford a car,” he said. Rail passengers face "eye watering" increases in the new year, while bus services are being cut across the country, said Sustrans. Two-thirds of jobseekers do not have access to a car, making it harder for them to find work, the report added. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that “this timely and important” piece of research revealed that the failure of government policy had left millions cut off from vital transport lifelines that many take for granted. "The poisonous combination of fare increases, cuts to bus services and the relentless attack on household budgets has conspired to leave some of the most vulnerable isolated and unable to access basic services. “This report will be important ammunition in the fight for a wholesale change in transport policy," he said. TRANSPORT POVERTY