South West Trains witch-hunt RMT activists
RMT* activist and Socialist Alliance general election candidate Greg Tucker has been victimised by his employers, South West Trains, in a clear attempt to launch a major attack on the RMT.
During the general election period RMT members on South West Trains took three days of strike action to defend their union’s right to organise. The dispute, dubbed "the red waistcoat dispute" by the media, concerned a number of issues, ranging from unfair application of sickness absence procedures to a refusal of the company to meet with RMT representatives.
After three days of successful strikes, the company backed down and agreed to the majority of the union’s demands. It was a clear victory for the RMT.
But it is clear now that SWT management saw their climb down as only a way of gaining valuable breathing space. They immediately put into place measures to target key RMT activists.
This has now borne fruit with disciplinary action taken against Waterloo Branch Secretary Greg Tucker. As a result he has been downgraded from driver to revenue protection assistant – a ticket collector in plain language. Aside from a personal cut in wages, the clear issue here is to threaten other rail workers and undermine the RMT.
At the same time as disciplining Greg Tucker, SWT have suspended Portsmouth based RMT Guards’ activist Mick Skiggs on similar trumped up charges.
For Greg the charge was "speeding", for Mick using a mobile phone "at an inappropriate moment". In both cases SWT are trying to cloak their victimisation in the garb of "safety".
That this is a joke was clear in Greg’s case when the decision to downgrade him was explained as due to his long-term bad attitude. Management took into account:
the fact that a train he drove in 1993 ran twenty minutes late,
that he refused to drive a train during the signal workers dispute in 1994
and that he refused to work overtime on a day in 1999.
Two previous disciplines were taken into account despite the fact that on both occasions the charges had been withdrawn.
During the general election campaign Greg was subjected to a sustained attack by the Evening Standard which highlighted his election activity in joining lecturers’ and postal workers’ picket lines, denounced him for his membership of the International Socialist Group and attacked his role inside the RMT. SWT clearly decided that Greg was too high profile an employee, and had to be dealt with.
The task now is for the RMT to wage a campaign to defend Greg and Mick, not just because an injury to one is an injury to all, but because SWT want to use these attacks to clear out any union opposition to their drive to increase profitability. All that was won in the dispute in May will be under threat.
The RMT leadership has already agreed to start the process of balloting members for industrial action. What is needed is a major campaign to convince the membership of the need to fight back.
*RMT - Rail, Maritime and Transport union - the largest union on the British railway system