RMT members striking on 1 October at Euston station (Picture: Guy Smallman)
The RMT rail union has called more strikes for November. But it has pulled a day of united action on 3 November because it coincided with London Poppy Day collections. Many rail workers are furious with the decision.
Andy, a Network Rail worker in east London, told Socialist Worker, “Most of the people I work with are annoyed by the delay. Building picket lines and support for the strikes isn’t always straightforward—especially as we get no strike pay and a lot of my colleagues are fairly new.
“But it’s easier to rally support when we know it’s much wider than just Network Rail. In London, it was great seeing a plan for the Tube workers to walk out with us. That’s no longer happening.”
He added, “We have to remain united despite the delay, but we can’t always let other events tell us what to do.”
Originally the union called out workers at Network Rail, 14 train operating companies, London Underground and London Overground on 3 November. Such a day of joint action would have caused massive disruption, particularly in London.
Then the Royal British Legion, and a slew of right wing commentators, complained that the strike was on a day when it did collections at London stations.
At first the union stood firm. On Thursday of last week Mick Lynch, the RMT general secretary, said, “As it is the government who is using taxpayers’ money to prolong the dispute I would also suggest you approach the government to reimburse the Royal British Legion for any losses incurred.”
Next the union tweeted, “As an alternative to cancelling London Poppy Day, we would love you to stand shoulder to shoulder with RMT union members on our picket lines and collect alongside us.” There was no suggestion of postponing the strikes.
But as the criticism intensified, union leaders thought again. Just as with the immediate decision to call off strikes because of the queen’s death, the RMT is following a strategy that guesses at public opinion and then bows down to a right wing version of it. This sucks the momentum from action and bends to people who are bitterly hostile to striking workers.
Rail workers are very unlikely to win their demands without a big escalation of strikes. If they do that it may be unpopular with large sections of “public opinion”. But it is right and necessary.
The TSSA union followed the RMT’s lead, binning its action for 3 November. The union’s interim general secretary Frank Ward said, “Once we became aware of Poppy Day and the impact our industrial action could have on Royal British Legion’s fundraising we took the decision to call off our action.”
The strikes have been rearranged for different days. But, for example, the London Underground and London Overground strike is isolated from all the others. The RMT’s decision was wrong.
The scheduled strike days now are:
Network Rail: Sat 5, Mon 7 and Wed 9 November. RMT and TSSA members
Train operating companies: Sat 5 and Weds 9 November
London Underground and London Overground: Fri 10 November
The Train Operating Companies are: Chiltern Railways, Cross Country Trains, Greater Anglia, LNER, East Midlands Railway, c2c, Great Western Railway, Northern Trains, South Eastern, South Western Railway, Transpennine Express, Avanti West Coast, West Midlands Trains, GTR (including Gatwick Express)
The poppy has been a consistent symbol of the hypocrisy of our leaders who take us to war.
The First World War, the end of which on 11 November 1918 is marked every year on Remembrance Sunday, produced an unprecedented wave of created “remembrance”.
Remembrance Day was dedicated by King George V in 1919. In 1921 the Earl Haig Fund, a charity for ex-servicemen, was launched and the sale of poppies marked the build-up to Remembrance Day.
It is named after Sir Douglas Haig, the British commander responsible for the mass slaughter at the battles of the Somme and the Passchendaele.
Why did the British ruling class create this official industry of remembrance? The First World War resulted in a tidal wave of revolt against global rulers. Poppies, cemeteries, and remembrance rituals were part of the official response to mass anti-war bitterness.
Popular revulsion against the carnage fused with class anger against exploitation and privation at home. A wave of revolt swept across Europe. In Russia, revolt turned into revolution and an end to war.
The armistice of 1918 was itself a product of revolution—Germany’s rulers surrendered for fear their army would mutiny and the state collapse.
Because of this political upsurge, the legacy of the war was bitterly contested. Official remembrance rituals are one of the results.
Official remembrance looks two ways. It mourns the dead and regrets their loss. But at the same time, it glorifies their “necessary sacrifice”. The war was terrible, the argument goes, but the price was worth paying.
The poppy is tainted by the hypocrisy of warmongers and imperialists. Many who wear it buy into the idea that it is to mourn those who died. Though even then it is worth remembering that it commemorates only one side in any war—“ours”.
The destruction of whole countries by imperialism that continues to this day is justified and glorified in the disguise of remembering.
Lest we forget, there is a struggle to end war by challenging our rulers and the system that causes it.
Simon Basketter
Adapted from Poppies help our rulers forget
Unions have called a general strike
Interview with a member of French revolutionary socialist group Autonomie de Classe
