A Shovelhand THE RAILWAY maintenance engineers dispute is a struggle for justice against the hodge podge of rip off merchants who have dived into railway and track maintenance since spring 1996.
The dispute in some areas has sharpened markedly. GTRM maintains the of Carlisle and other areas in the Midlands East and West.
Steve Hedley, a very good rep, has been sacked by them on trumped up charges, despite an inquiry which exonerated him on all four counts brought against him by management.
Steve, who is Irish, was among other things, accused of calling breaker "a Catholic bastard."! Apparently the complainant believed that he was Protestant because he has a strong Northern Irish accent.
CCTV showed his clothing to be totally different from a description of him at the picket line incident when a contractor's van went through a picket line at Steve's London depot.
Accusations that Steve crossed a running railway track with high-visibility safety vest on were contradicted by one manager.
This charge is especially nasty as Steve has built a deserved reputation as a stalwart on health and safety issues, yet our brother remains dismissed despite police withdrawal of any charges.
Steve's and others' victimisations in the private companies of growing importance not only to the RMT but to nies (not only in maintenance areas) the RMT can only point to the facts and urge working class people to draw their own conclusions and to act on them. The cowboy firms can no longer be allowed to "brass it out" as they are clearly trying to do. An article in June 1998 Labour Research warns: "Railtrack, which aims to save £80 million in maintenance costs (i.e. to increase| profits from state subsidies) this year, bears prime responsibility for the dangerous and chaotic state of affairs on the rail system. They must be forced to shelve their plans on maintenance and to concede the demands enshrined in the "Blue Book"
which the RMT presented in April this year."
There is confusion amongst some right wingers within the RMT about what to do. Jarvis workers have rejected their latest offer. The RMT decision to set up a national hardship fund for the maintenance engineers' dispute around a 25-30 per cent levy on branch management funds has met with open hostility in some quarters.
Negotiations are continuing over the Blue Book at present, with some companies such as Jarvis, Centrac and Amey apparently on the verge of conceding to the RMT proposals.
Please continue sending donations and messages of support to Maintenance Engineers Dispute Hardship Fund '98, Unity House RMT, Euston Road London NW1 2BL.