Rail strikes shouldn’t have been called off for talks

RMT union members on the picket line outside London Waterloo during a previous rail strike (Picture: Guy Smallman)

Large numbers of rail workers are suspicious or openly angry after the RMT union called off all their planned national rail strikes on Friday.

The union said it had suspended planned strikes on Saturday and next Monday and Wednesday. It said it “will now enter into a period of intensive negotiations with Network Rail and the train operating companies”.

It added, “Through a strong industrial campaign so far, RMT has secured unconditional talks on Network Rail and the promise of an offer from the train operating companies. The current dispute remains very much live, and the union is continuing its re-ballot of members to secure a fresh mandate for action with the result due on 15 November.”

Calling off the strikes without even a concrete offer is a mistake. The union had already called off action scheduled for Thursday this week because of London Poppy Day collections.

Keeping up strikes while talks are on means the pressure is on the bosses. Calling off the action doesn’t produce “goodwill”—it means Network Rail and the train operating companies will make fewer concessions.

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RMT Manchester South branch secretary Clayton Clive tweeted, “I sincerely hope there is something to this that we do not know. Because suspending action blindly, purely for a promise of talks is weak. How do we know those talks are even genuine if they do not begin until Monday?”

Another RMT member said, “We discussed it a few days ago with area reps and the majority decided that there should be no suspension of strikes without an offer. It feels like the RMT has buckled. My colleagues are now receiving calls from management demanding they come to work with less than 12 hours’ notice!”

On Friday evening, an RMT member told Socialist Worker, “I’ve just come off the RMTs teams call with Network Rail Maintenance members. 

“Eddie Dempsey and the national reps got an absolute grilling. Notably, the ones responsible for calling off the strikes, members of the NEC, were absent despite being invited. 

“People were seriously pissed off. The justification for calling off the strikes seems to be so there could be a negotiation of a fallback offer that could stay on the table if the second ballot does not meet the required thresholds. 

“First it was not striking during the Commonwealth Games, then calling off strikes because the queen died, then calling off a strike to uphold the bloody history of war and butcher Haig and now this. I asked why did we call off strikes for an offer we didn’t want in the first place and made the point that this dispute is not going to be won by negotiators in a boardroom. It’s going to be won by members on picket lines.”

In Scotland rail workers are set to intensify their strikes in a pay dispute with ScotRail. The RMT has announced plans for a walkout on the day of Scotland’s rugby international against Argentina on 19 November. It then plans strikes on every Friday and Saturday after that until Christmas.

More than 2,000 ScotRail workers are involved in the dispute, including conductors, ticket inspectors, depot staff, cleaners, CCTV operators and catering workers.

The firm had offered all staff a 5 percent pay “rise”, less than half the rate of inflation. This is probably the most that Network Rail and the operating companies will offer across Britain. If it’s right to fight such offers in Scotland, the strikes should certainly continue in England and Wales when there’s not even an offer on the table.

Meanwhile, in Royal Mail, bosses have said they will hold off from imposing the appalling changes they want to impose until 15 November. In return “both parties have committed to a de-escalation of tension to avoid flashpoints and restoring calmness in the workplace”. There is a huge danger that union leaders are relying on talks while bosses are escalating their assaults.