THE ASQUITH XAVIER STORY

19 A squith Xavier came to Britain from Dominica as part of the Windrush generation and immediately started work for British Railways as a porter, working his way up to rail guard at Marylebone station. The infamous Beeching rail cuts led to the part closure of the Marylebone main line. As a result, guards were no longer required and were being transferred to stations like Euston. However, Mr Xavier, an experienced guard, received a letter telling him that he had been rejected for a job at Euston. He showed the letter to local NUR branch secretary Jimmy Prendergast. Jimmy was a life-long anti-fascist who had fought in Spain with the International Brigades and had served in the RAF against Hitler’s Luftwaffe. Jimmy knew that fellow NUR member Tony Donaghey had been offered a guard position at Euston. When Tony was informed by Jimmy about this blatant racism and the treatment of his friend Asquith, he withdrew his application in protest and took up a guard’s position at St Pancras. Jimmy led a local delegation to union headquarters at Unity House and then NUR general secretary Sid Greene contacted the British Rail Board about the racist policies being practised in their name which had been a longstanding problem. Jimmy knew that fellow NUR member Tony Donaghey had been offered a guard position at Euston. When Tony was informed by Jimmy about this blatant racism and the treatment of his friend Asquith, he withdrew his application in protest and took up a guard’s position at St Pancras. Jimmy led a local delegation to union headquarters at Unity House and then NUR general secretary Sid Greene contacted the British Rail Board about the racist policies being practised in their name which had been a longstanding problem. In 1952, National Union of Railwaymen general secretary Jim Figgins and area representative John Shearer intervened to end an unofficial strike at King’s Cross goods depot over the promotion of West Indian railway worker Stephen Salmon. For the NUR ‘any form of colour bar’ was against union policy and Figgins words and actions in ending the King’s Cross strike even inspired a young railway worker Charlie Mayo to write the song ‘The Colour Bar Strike’ which was later recorded by Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger: My union badge shows two joined hands With a lighted flame in common fight But trouble’s brewing in the sheds For both these working hands are white But working hands are white and black And the work they do is all the same But prejudice and fear come in To break the grip, and dim the flame… After Asquith took up his duties in 1966 an inquiry into discrimination found that colour bars were in place in several London stations and BR promised to lift these as well. The government was also forced to act with changes to the first Race Relations Act passed in 1965 which made it illegal to “refuse anyone access, on racial grounds, to public places such as hotels, pubs, restaurants, cinemas, public transport or any place run by a public authority”, but the legislation did not apply to the workplace. As a result, the new 1968 Race Relations Act now made it illegal to refuse housing, employment or public services to people because of their ethnic background. Tony Donaghey also said that the union can be proud of the role it had played in exposing and defeating discrimination. “Asquith was my mentor at Marylebone and he taught me a lot as a young man on the railway coming into the industry and he deserved to be treated with respect. “I would also like to pay tribute to Asquith’s NUR rep Jimmy Prendergast - when he saw an injustice, he would not take no for an answer particularly when defending his members regardless of their colour or creed,” he said. THE ASQUITH XAVIER STORY Eddie Dempey and Tony Donaghey with members of Asquith's extended family in 2023 when a train was named after him