ENGINEERS, MINERS and TRANSPORT-WORKERS— UNITE IN SUPPORT OF THE RAILWAYMEN!

The announcement late last Friday that the NUR leadership was calling upon its membership to take part in a national strike from February 15, came at the end of a period of intense agitation from rank and file railway workers in the NUR for action in support of their demand for increased wages.

Sir Brian Robertson who had met the three railway unions on behalf of the British Transport Commission earlier the same day, knew full well that a national railway strike would come if he didn’t grant some kind of immediate pay increase. Yet with this knowledge he used the backward attitude of the ASLEF and TSSA leaders at this meeting to prevent such a settlement.

This shows a ‘get tough’ attitude on the part of the BTC.

Railway workers are on a ridiculously low wage and to bring them up to the level of even the present rates in outside industry means an increase of somewhere in the region of 12 per cent. to 15 per cent. for the majority. The pattern of pay increases over the past 3 to 4 years shows that the BTC will fight to the last before anything like this will be granted.

The lessons of the 3 per cent. sell out in 1958 are still fresh in the minds of railway workers.

A similar situation could arise from the present struggle The BTC will give as little as possible so that the NUR leadership can call off the strike, and the months of preparation for an all-out struggle for a final settlement will be wasted.

This strike must take place if railway workers are, to achieve decent wages and lay the basis for struggles against the future redundancy plans of the BTC.

A BTC proposal for a compromise which involves acceptance of these plans cannot be ruled out. Any retreat in fact will strengthen the hand of the BTC for this crucial period in the future. These dangers mus. be guarded against. The Strike Committees which are being set up must prepare to carry forward the fight if the leadership retreats.

Railway workers in ASLEF and TSSA will suffer also if railway workers in the NUR are defeated or sold out. The leadership of these two unions has committed a disgraceful act in further dividing railway workers. Only the front action of their rank and file can repair this damage. They must renounce their leaders and join in the strike.

Workers in other industries also must stand by the railmen.

The united action of miners, dockers, engineers and other transport workers behind the railway workers will smash the resistance the employers are building against the fight for the 40-hour week and a pay rise.

By our Industrial Correspondent seven weeks’ was their comment.

In spite of such general feelings among the busmen, the call for a ban on overtime and rest-day working by the Central Delegate Conference (representing trolleys and diesels) met response, even though it was ‘unofficial’.

In the canteens on Monday, experienced drivers were saying they had never seen anything like it. The traffic jams, passenger queues, schedules dropped as buses lost time, have showed the bus crews what a rail strike means for them. This puts the question of aid to the tube men in a new light. A responsibility rests upon the Central Bus Committee to lead a campaign in the branches for united action on February 15.