HOLD ON TIGHT - BOOK REVIEW

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: february 2016 :: RMTnews 26 This fascinating and rewarding book from longstanding union activist Martin Eady charts the history of the London Transport system and its predecessors, from the point of view of the staff, placing events in their historical context. It documents the struggles of the trades unions and their members across the ‘Combine’ following the development of the bus companies, trams and Underground. But it’s not a dry academic study. It’s written from the perspective of a rank and file union activist who has a real command of the historical development of London’s transport network and of the workers’ movement within it. Martin Eady was an NUR/RMT activist for 35 years as a Representative in the tube engineering sector and was elected to the National Executive. His narrative, insights and analysis provide a valuable guide to the development of the system and the parallel responses of the unions. The volume ranges from the early struggles with the private companies and the development of public ownership to later attempts at re-privatisation through Private Finance Initiatives, the Public Private Partnership and outsourcing. In doing so it provides a social history too – outlining the introduction of women and immigrant workers and the struggles for equal pay, as well as the abolition of train guards and bus conductors, in the drive to cut costs. The book also highlights the divergent approaches of the bus unions and their rail counterparts and the consequent gradual reversal of fortunes, from the early position where the bus workers considered themselves the aristocrats of labour with higher wages, to the present, where the relative positions in terms of pay, conditions and union strength seem to be reversed. This is a “warts and all” account and while it outlines the often hard-nosed approach of both the public and private versions of the transport companies, and while it charts the strikes, disputes and campaigns, it has its’ fair share of critical analysis of the unions. As well as the historical perspective, the book is also bang up to date with a final section on current and recent disputes, including Night Tube. It is also obvious that Martin Eady has a real fondness for London’s transport system, documenting not only the development of the core bus and tube services, but also the rise and decline of the tram, trolleybus and Green Line bus services which have come and gone. The book is also lovingly illustrated throughout with fantastic photos of transport workers on the system and deserves to be widely read by those with an interest in the transport industry and labour movement. Publisher: Capital Transport Publishing Ltd Price: £19.95; 240 pages R MT held a ceremony 12 years after the Tebay disaster on February 15 2004 when a runaway rail wagon fatally struck four railway workers Colin Buckley, Darren Burgess, Chris Waters and Gary Tindall. The union led a long battle to get the secondary protection which is now mandatory where a worksite may be at risk of runaway if it sits on track at a gradient of 1 in 100 or steeper or is within five track miles of such a gradient. Tebay survivor and Lancaster branch member Tom Angus thanked the union for their support in the campaign for secondary protection particularly the Liverpool office. RMT assistant general secretary Mick Lynch reviews a new book by Martin Eady on London Transport and the Trade Unions HOLD ON TIGHT REMEMBERING TEBAY