Mick Lynch: members of his RMT union have voted to continue strike action. Meanwhile, the government has subsidised rail firms with more money than the union’s pay demand.
This took me completely by surprise – I was concentrating on aspects of the local elections.
So I’m going to rely on Professor Tim Wilson for the details.
His comments about education are very interesting, I think.
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Scam: rail firms (for clarity, the train in the picture is not run by one of the companies in the story) are being protected from the consequences of strike action with public money that is being used to pay shareholders. Meanwhile, workers’ pay demands are ignored and services cancelled.
Tory priorities.
It seems the Conservative government has happily green-lit the payment of £82 million in dividend payments to shareholders in two privatised rail companies, while refusing to accept the pay demands of thousands of people who actually work on the railways:
An extraordinary story where taxpayer funds are directly turned into shareholder dividends.
Public pays to indemnify rail companies against losses rising from strike action & then £82 million in dividends are paid!
Transport Secretary Mark Harper has allowed two private rail companies to be paid £82 million in dividends in 2022.
This is the despite the fact both companies are part of a major industrial dispute where hundreds of millions of pounds has been used to indemnify them against lost revenue from strike action.
FirstRail Holdings Ltd, the holding company for five FirstGroup franchises, and Govia Thameslink Railways, which runs the biggest franchise in Britain, have recently reported dividend payments of £65 million and £16.9 million respectively in their annual accounts for 2022.
Two of First Rail Holdings Ltd’s franchises, Avanti West Coast and Transpennine Express, have been the subject of public and political controversy after cancelling hundreds of services. In spite of this, the government has renewed or extended contracts for Avanti West Coast and may shortly do the same for Transpennine Express.
Govia won a contract to carry on running the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchise from the government in October 2022 despite its sister company LSER being stripped of the Southeastern franchise for concealing public money.
The DfT allowed Go-Ahead Group to conduct its own internal inquiry into the failings at LSER and renewed Govia’s contract for the Thameslink franchise in spite of the fact that the two companies shared many of the same management personnel.
All these franchises have benefited from indemnification worth hundreds of millions of pounds in taxpayers’ money by the DfT to cover the costs of lost passenger revenue during the ongoing dispute.
RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch said: “The DfT is now little more than a representative of big business, geared to turning tax revenue into shareholder dividends.
“If you’re a private train operator, it doesn’t matter whether your problem is unpredictable passenger revenue, costly train leases or industrial action, the Secretary of State is there to help, opening the public purse and emptying it into shareholders’ pockets.
“This system is not operating in the interests of passengers, railway workers or the taxpayer.
“It is clear that only full public ownership of train operation in this country can save our railways from being looted by this gang of unaccountable spivs.”
Here’s an English-language explanation of what can only be described as a Tory-run scam:
It would be cheaper to bring rail back under public ownership all around – and that includes paying rail workers what they demand.
The RMT has no strike days currently planned after the government put a new pay offer on the table – but that doesn’t mean its workers will accept any such offer as fair.
Meanwhile, the government has been ring-fencing the failing rail operators against strike action – using public money. That’s your money.
It would be better to let the privateers fail, take the railways back into public ownership at low cost and pay the workers. The Tories aren’t doing it because they want to keep workers poor and pay the idle rich who do nothing for their wealth.
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Network Rail’s chief negotiator Tim Shoveller reckons a “repurposed” version of a pay off made to rail union members last September may bring the rail strike to an end – but is he telling the whole truth?
He told Sky News that a ballot on the offer had won support from 36 per cent of the RMT members who voted on it:
But RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch pointed out that 36 per cent in favour meant 64 per cent – an overwhelming majority – were against the offer. He said the companies have continued to make profit during every strike day because the government has taken the losses instead – around £320 million.
And he added that the government and the railway companies are determined to run down pay, conditions, and – crucially – safety in a rush to grab as much profit as they can from the UK’s rail network, that suffers from crippling underinvestment:
This Writer is just a lay-person but from my position it seems this industrial dispute is far from being over – and won’t be until the company bosses and the government start listening to the concerns of the people who do the actual work.
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Mick Lynch: he’s frustrated because the rail companies and Network Rail say they don’t have the power to negotiate meaningfully with him over pay and safety conditions for RMT Union members.
Transport Secretary Mark Harper reckons rail unions need to accept “reforms” that would free up money for pay rises.
Why?
On the Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show, he said: “It is the reforms that free up the savings that then unlock the ability for the companies to make an offer to the trade unions on pay.”
But that is to assume no more money could be brought in – and that is a political choice by the Tory government.
He also said: “I do not have a bottomless pit of taxpayers’ money to throw at this problem.”
And he doesn’t, because taxpayers’ money doesn’t pay for any public services at all. Public money – created by the government – does. It’s time our politicians stopped trying to hoodwink us with this lazy lie.
The government can very easily create as much money as is needed to provide a “proper seven-day rail network” – also Harper’s words, and why doesn’t the UK have that network any more since privatisation anyway?
Taxation relieves inflationary pressures that may be created by investing money into public services – and may be used by progressive governments to re-balance the gap between the richest and the poorest citizens in the country, by taking money from those who can most easily bear it. Of course the UK’s Tory government is as far from progressive as one can get.
And Harper said any money saved through reforms would have to be split “fairly between the taxpayer and the people who work in the industry”. Why give savings back to taxpayers when so much needs to be done to improve the rail service? Is he looking for another tax cut for the rich?
The whole spiel strikes This Writer as self-serving claptrap.
If Harper really wanted to do some good, wouldn’t it be better for him to offer to give the private rail operators and Network Rail the mandate for meaningful negotiations with the RMT union that its general secretary, Mick Lynch, has been told they don’t have?
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there had been “the promise of an offer” on pay from the rail operating companies.
However, when contacted by the BBC, rail employers and the government said their position had not changed.
If they’re not offering anything new, then there’s no reason to suspend strike action – is there?
The BBC’s report added that the suspension has been announced 11 days before a fresh RMT strike ballot is due to close on November 15.
Mr Lynch previously told the BBC that he expected workers to vote in favour, and warned that there could be strikes for another six months if no agreement is reached.
Will the new talks affect the way the ballot goes? Will they even take place before it finishes, so union members can be sure of the situation when they go to vote? Is the new offer – whatever it is – just an attempt to interfere with the result of the ballot?
Could Mr Lynch have behaved any differently?
This Writer isn’t sure he could have. But I wonder whether the future of rail services is being wagered on a form of negotiation brinkmanship.
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The assistant general secretary of the RMT union dropped a salvo of truth bombs in his speech at the Old Fruitmarket in Glasgow last week.
Profits are high because wages are low – and wages are low because the market says so.
And who is “the market”? According to Mr Dempsey, it is people titled “CEO”.
He made the point that, without working people, the bosses taking all the money would have no wealth – but without them, the UK could be a country fit to live in.
And he pointed out that, with shareholders taking hundreds of billions of pounds worth of profit out of the UK, it is not credible to say there is not enough money available to give working people a living wage.
The only reason wages don’t rise is because profits would then come down, and the greedy CEOs who run “the market” would rather feather their nests than safeguard the people who make their money for them.
It’s a hell of a speech:
Mr Dempsey went on to absolutely humiliate Liz Truss and her new market-ruled cabinet in this interview, when he admitted: “I’ve no idea who any of them are”:
Based on this evidence, it is easy to see why unions like the RMT are enjoying a huge surge in popularity.
While Labour stagnates under Keir Starmer, people like Mr Dempsey are standing up for the hard-working people of the UK – and helping us to stand up for ourselves.
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Better times: Kay Burley of Sky News once interviewed an empty chair while Tory chairman James Cleverly cowered 15ft away, too terrified to face even the kind of cross-examination she gave Mick Lynch.
This is very funny and I’m planning to keep an eye on Jimmy Dore from now on.
Have a gander at his analysis of Kay Burley’s interview with Mick Lynch of the RMT, in which the Sky News host tries to talk the union boss into promoting violence by striking rail workers:
This Writer isn’t totally hostile to Burley; her line of questioning is likely to have come entirely from the news producer talking into her earpiece. That’s the usual way.
But Dore’s ridicule of the whole interview is well-deserved.
And his discussion of the strike is well worth watching.
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Rail service: this is a generic image of a train and isn’t meant to represent any of the services that won’t be running.
This is from a BBC report about forthcoming rail strikes by the RMT union:
It is not for the government to intervene to stop rail strikes, the transport secretary has said – despite unions calling for talks.
Grant Shapps said the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) request for a meeting was a “stunt” and claimed it had been “determined to go on strike”.
The union said politicians were failing to prevent three days of industrial action.
Labour claimed ministers wanted the strikes to go ahead to “sow division”.
Strikes will take place on almost all major lines across Britain on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, as well as on the London Underground on Tuesday.
Is it a stunt by the union, though? Or is it one by the government?
Let’s look at what the Conservatives’ Facebook page has to say:
Keir Starmer’s own MPs back the week of rail chaos – with no concerns for the commutes 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙙, operations 𝙙𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙙 and businesses 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙙.
Labour’s Strikes will prevent doctors, nurses and patients getting to hospital. Instead of backing the NHS, Labour are backing strike chaos.
There’s nothing about the reason for the strikes, you’ll notice.
So let’s find out from somebody who actually uses the train services likely to be affected. This is by Paula Peters, a long-time disability-campaigner friend:
A lady passenger was trying to book a taxi to get to work for next Tuesday first day of rail strike. Taxi told her sorry you’ve got to book on the day.
She was calling the rail workers all sorts so I put her straight on a few things.
I said, you use the rail network a lot right? See you got kids there.
Said the RMT are striking to not only fight for their terms & conditions, asking for increase in pay as they haven’t had one a long time and prices are rising, but they are fighting rail maintenance cuts, cuts to maintenance workers hours, stop the closure of ticket offices, fight against the reduction of services.
What do you mean rail maintenance? She said. I said you see engineering work sometimes don’t you? Replacing track, repairing it. She said yes. I said well the government want to cut rail maintenance jobs and it puts your safety at risk, because if track isn’t maintained there would be a serious rail accident which could lead to serious injury and loss of life.
She thought for a moment. She looked at her kids. Imagine if you your kids your husband were caught up in a rail accident and one of your family were seriously hurt.
That’s what the RMT are fighting back against. To protect your safety and everyone who travels on the rail network.
By this time 30 passengers on the carriage I was in were listening intently.
I said, look, next week may inconvenience you, but think about rail maintenance cuts, cuts to services, lack of ticket offices. Lack of platform staff. That these guys have families to feed and they are struggling too.
There was silence. Then a conductor whose name is Chris walks through the train.
I said excuse me are you RMT. He said he was. I said you on strike Tuesday? He said he was.
I stood up shook his hand. Then shouted out, SOLIDARITY to the RMT!
The carriage erupted into cheers.
You see?
When you actually know a little about matter like this, it can change your perspective completely. Are any of you opposing the rail strikes now?
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Sadiq Khan: the train is probably empty because no RMT driver would want to get on one with him in it.
Wasn’t this a desperately disappointing development from Sadiq Khan, just when Tube drivers need support from the London Mayor who belongs to the Party of the Workers?
Tube drivers are striking because Transport for London has ripped up existing agreements and working arrangements for the Night Tube, demanding extra night and weekend working.
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch explains: “This strike is about the ripping apart of popular and family friendly agreements that helped make the original Night Tube such a success. Instead the company want to cut costs and lump all drivers into a pool where they can be kicked from pillar to post at the behest of the management.
“We have made every effort in ACAS and direct talks since the off to resolve this dispute but it is clear that LU bosses are driven solely by the bottom line and have no interest whatsoever in the well being of their staff or the service to passengers.
“This strike action, and its serious consequences in the run up to Christmas, was avoidable if the Tube management hadn’t axed dedicated Night Tube staff and perfectly workable arrangements in order to cut staffing numbers and costs.
“We warned months ago that slashing two hundred Night Tube Train Driver positions would create a staffing nightmare and LU need to start facing up to that reality and soon. The union remains available for further talks even at this late stage.“
Contrast that with what Sadiq Khan, Labour’s London Mayor, has said about it, and you’ll understand why Unite’s Sharon Graham has tweeted what she did:
This comment is precisely why workers are turning away from @UKlabour when a Labour mayor attacks workers. It's about time the @MayorofLondon did the right thing and stood up for workers not just at election time but when it matters. https://t.co/MVHoo0PFwa
The Night Tube has an important part to play in our capital’s recovery and helps to improve safety for everyone, especially women and girls making their way home at night.
The letter to Khan states: “Our Lead Organiser for TfL wrote an email to London Underground senior managers… which ended with the words “We are happy to attend ACAS to resolve the dispute. And are available to do so.” We never received a reply to this email.
“Our reps and members have seen the email in which RMT offers to meet at ACAS and are justifiably furious at the complete misrepresentation of our position in the public domain. It is having an incendiary effect. It’s hard for us to understand why you’ve done this and all I can think is that you have been fed an inaccurate line by hawks within TfL.”
The explanation kindly suggested by Mr Lynch in the letter, even if true, wouldn’t let Khan off the hook because he should have checked the facts with the RMT Union.
It’s a terrible position for a Labour politician, in an elected position of authority, to choose. Here’s the better choice:
If you're a representative of the so-called workers' party and think the Night Tube is a good idea, here's an idea:
Instead of attacking and smearing tube drivers and their trade union over the strike, pay them much higher wages for night work, so they're incentivised to do it.
Under Starmer's dismal leadership Labour politicians, including the man himself, keep forgetting that they're supposed to be the party of the workers, not some kind of capitalism-peddling, worker-battering, corporate-approved Tory tribute act.
If Jeremy Corbyn stands as an independent at the next General Election, I don't think many people outside of the Parliamentary Labour Party will be campaigning for the official Labour candidate?
I hereby pledge that I will not vote for Starmer's Labour party and will do all I can to encourage my family and friends not to either. To reward traitors for their actions would be a terrible lesson for the younger generations. They want a war with the left-they have got it!
— Socialist Party | Liverpool Branch (@SocPtyLiverpool) November 26, 2021
There are lots of good points in those comments. Probably the most pertinent are those stating that people who want a better country – for everyone rather than just the very rich – don’t owe Labour anything now that it clearly does not have the principles on which it was founded.
Nobody is obliged to vote for Labour. It is Starmer’s – and Khan’s – responsibility to show, by example, that they are worthy of our support.
Starmer’s record since April 2020 – and Khan’s shocking performance over the Night Tube – tell us they aren’t even interested in it.
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Two-fingered salute: Boris Johnson’s message of thanks to transport workers who kept groceries, other goods and medical supplies moving during the Covid-19 crisis. His government is apparently planning to attack their jobs, pay and pensions as soon as it can.
The Tory government is planning to reward key transport workers who kept the UK running through the Covid crisis – with a kick in the teeth, it seems.
The Department for Transport is hoping to employ a “union-buster” to take on workers in an “all-out assault on jobs, pay and pensions”, according to the RMT union.
And where the DfT leads, will other government departments follow in a renewed effort to destroy workers’ representation once and for all and begin a new dark age for the people of the UK?
The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Employees (RMT) reports that the DfT is recruiting for a Rail Pensions and Workforce Director who will be a member of a new-created team of 15 workers.
An advertisement in The Guardian states that the successful applicant “will shape and define the future of pensions and workforce in the rail sector”, operating in a “politically sensitive environment”.
Welfare Journal quotes RMT general secretary Mick Cash:
RMT has been warning that the Government and the employers would be gearing up for a post-COVID assault on our members across the transport sector and here they are headhunting a dedicated hitman or woman.
It would be a scandal if the essential transport workers who have kept key staff and freight moving throughout the pandemic were rewarded with a kick in the teeth on jobs, pay and pensions.
And why not?
Matt Hancock has already slapped NHS employees in the face with his refusal to reward doctors, nurses and support staff for all their dedication, working to keep thousands of people alive in the face of indifference from their political employers who failed to source appropriate equipment.
So why shouldn’t the government tell the people who transported all the supplies – including, no doubt, the medical gear that we all needed (when it finally turned up) – that their contribution is not appreciated at all and that they will be punished rather than rewarded for it?
What did these people expect from selfish, ignorant, entitled toffs?
And what can you expect in the future? You know the Tories will get around to attacking you as soon as they’re able – don’t you?
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