ASLEF tough stance
Socialist Organiser1982 1982-05-20Read it in the scan (PDF), scan page 15 →
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WITH the ASLEF conference voting to reject the McCarthy report on flexible rostering, the scene is set for an industrial showdown on the railways.
British Rail bosses had already announced, before McCarthy's report gave qualified backing to their demands, that they would impose flexible rostering this summer come what may. And the ASLEF executive, under strong pressure from the rank and file, has always insisted that the eight-hour day is an unbreakable principle for the train drivers.
The drivers' job is already a taxing one; often involving shifts at all hours of the clock. The eight-hour day, the drivers feel, is a minimum line of protection. If it is given up, then BR's demands for manning cuts will only increase.
NUR leader Sid Weighell is already talking militant about BR's plans to shut down rail workshops. NUR militants should be demanding that their union leadership repudiates its support for flexible rostering, and unites its struggle with ASLEF in a common front against the cuts.
And in ASLEF militants need to strengthen local branch and area committees so that they can provide a challenge and if necessary an alternative to any wavering by the executive in the coming confrontation.