Posted: 6.36pm Tuesday 19 August 2008
News
London tube workers hit back at profiteers
The threat to strike by 1,000 workers at the Tube Lines consortium on the London Underground over pay and conditions this week has won a new offer from bosses as Socialist Worker went to press.
Theirs is a battle between those who provide a vital public service and the bosses who make a profit from it. A 72-hour strike is planned from 12 noon on Wednesday of this week by maintenance workers in the RMT union. It will have a major effect on the Piccadilly, Jubilee and Northern lines. It may also hit other lines as drivers refuse to compromise safety by taking trains out.
Terry Morgan, Tube Lines’ chief executive, attacked the strike for being “about politics” because the union wants to return the tube to the public sector. But Tube Lines has benefited from Gordon Brown’s political decision to privatise maintenance work on the London Underground. It made £73 million in pre-tax profits last year.
Privatisation has been a disaster. Millions of people will agree with the RMT’s argument to fully renationalise the tube.
Workers who keep Britain’s public services running safely and smoothly deserve decent pay and conditions. The public deserves a service that is run by someone who puts their safety over profit.
The following should be read alongside this article:
» Tube cleaners’ striking back for a living wage
» Back the Eurostar cleaners in crucial pay battle
» Tube maintenance workers’ strike will shake the bosses
» Migrant workers: why were two tube cleaners deported?
© Socialist Worker (unless otherwise stated). You may republish if you include an active link to the original.
Share this story on:
Delicious
| Digg
| reddit
| Facebook
| StumbleUpon
If you found this article useful please help us maintain SW by » making a donation.
» comment on article | » email article
| » printable version
top of page
