What the deal means

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BY SIGNING a sell-out deal with British Rail, union leaders have opened the way for major attacks on railworkers' conditions.

In 'return' for a pay rise recommended without strings by an official tribunal the union leaders have pledged to reach agreement on major changes.

*Flexible rostering' will mean that railworkers will face continental shifts, widely differing starting times from one day to the next, and shifts of six or ten hours instead of a standard eight. Sunday will be made a normal working day.

*Drivers' assistants' jobs are to be eliminated, and trains will begin to run without guards.

*Jobs will also be lost through the withdrawal of ill staff from some stations.

*Negotiations will continue' on other BR proposais. These include measures to effectively break up BR's trade-union negotiating machinery, the LDC. BR wants to "release LDC representatives from the task of scrutinising programmes, thus making them available for train working" - i.e. remove trade union scrutiny of shift organisation.

Already, BR's veto on the official tribunal award is notice that the bosses will respect the negotiating machinery only as long as it is convenient.

*Also among the 'other proposals' is the ending of mileage bonuses - which make up a big part of some railworkers' wages. Train crews' 'physical needs breaks' will be abolished, so will the present ban on doing more than 1750 miles a week.

Annual leave will be spread over the whole year, and lieu leave cut back. Training periods will be reduced.

The railworkers were willing to fight to defend their jobs and conditions -the leaders well knew that, but decided to avoid a strike which would have threatened the government directly.

Railworkers will now be calling for recall conferences of the rail unions, to bring the leadership to account -and for local District Councils and branches to pledge themselves to resist attacks on conditions by industrial action.