Rail: the Chickens Come Home to Roost!

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Is pulled out of talks with the same basic 39 hours' 14. Already Scottish Region prevent the transfer uninn unil fenisht to road speed-up across the ¡Help us make our circulation JUMP!

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indon N8. Printed 4 East End Offser Ltd., London E2. ot necessarily represent the views of the SOA. has pulled out of talks with the train drivers' union, ASLEF, at the Railway Staff Joint Council, without even resorting to the next two stages in the machinery.

The Board has gone to ACAS once again, to try to force agreement on ASLEF over flexible rostering. The machinery of negotiation has been flouted by BR for the second time in less than six months.

The Board is now refusing to pay the second stage of the pay award of August last year. Without 'flexible rostering', ASLEF members will not be paid the princely extra three per cent wage rise. ASLEF's executive know full well that - despite their denials at the time -in the agreement signed on August 20 last year they made a commitment to negotiations which would lead to the introduction of productivity measures.

Since that timé, however, the EC has been backpeddling fiercely because the membership has made it increasingly clear that they do not want flexirostering' What exactly would this new system of 'flexible rostering' entail? Pilot schemes for York depot have now been revealed.

They show a variation in the working week of between 26 and 50 hours for Published by the Socialist o the basic 39 hours' Even a 40 hour week involves, in some cases, four ten hour shifts in the week.

This is nothing like the modest suggestions made by the BRB - that there might be variations in the working day of between 7 and 9 hours.

It is also clear from the examples of the new rosters that a movement of four hours either side of the rostered signing-on time is envisaged.

It is not the withholding of the 3 per cent or the suspension of the new 39 hour week agreement, which angers ASLEF members, so much as the prospect of having to work even more backbreaking and unsociable hours at times fluctuating widely from one day to the next.

Without flexible rostering the BRB know they cannot introduce the other items of productivity -such as the dropping of manning agreements.

From the fight to stop 'flexi-rostering', the fight to throw out other productivity proposals automatically follows.

The EC have now called for a national overtime ban and an end to rest-day working from January 4, leading to a two-day national strike on January 13 and iser Athiance, 28 Middle Lane "Dont Affire Sinned articles d 14. Already Scottish Region ASLEF members are correctly saying that this is not enough, and are calling for an all out indefinite strike.

On January 11, Scottish region members will be lobbying the Executive when they make their final 'decision on the strike. It is vital that this lobby gets maximum support from ASLEF branches in order to put pressure on the EC to stand by the strike call.

Even now, however, the ASLEF EC is meeting with the BRB in an attempt to stitch up some sort of compromise.

ASLEF members must demand that the union pull out of these talks and make January 13 and 14 the beginning of a movement for all-out strike action to smash the productivity proposals of the BRB and the Tories.

Informal liaison committees must be built in the different areas of the rail network to coordinate strike action and to take forward the fight against the productivity proposals if and when the EC backs down.

On a local level, ASLEF branches must start now to build for strike committees in the run-up to a national strike.

Liaison be sought now with T&G and URTU prevent the transfer of rail freight to road.

And the 'divide and rule' tactics of union leaders and management must be combatted: local ASLEF committees should approach NUR members and seek to involve them in a common struggle against BR's productivity drive : 61:.

Many readers tell us they think Socialist Organiser has improved greatly since we went weekly. And our circulation has improved, too.

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Nottingham and District NUR has called for the NUR's agreement to the British Rail productivity plan to be rescinded, and for the NEC to resign. This fight needs to be taken up in other areas.

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Address.... Cowley Assembly plan management did not tamper with it. But following their victor speed-up and cuts in 1 ation allowance (RA) ti Longbridge, they announced a cut in RA at Cowley.

RA time is to be e 10 minutes a shift January 14, though increase in track speed proposed.

Assembly Plant stewards met on Wedn 6 January and decid recommend the wort respond by unilat cutting 15 minutes of shift. This proposal w put to a mass meeting next few days.

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