Counting the cost of railwaymen's charter

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so far. The NUR invested manager for BRB, boasts half a million pounds in the that they are well on their Plans are well advanced 38,000 jobs by 1985. BR hotels and the BR docks ment has just responded to board. BR's claim of this year's In 1070 RD had 120 Ann --11: - 11' WHEN THE NUR signed the "railwaymen's charter" in 1980 with BRB it was said to be a joint approach to government. It committed the NUR to accept job losses "to match the new business situation" , closure of collected and delivered parcels, a reduction in freight marshalling yards and administrative changes involving the introduction of computers, etc.

From the BRB came a promise to seek investment in electrification, loco and wagon building, channel tunnel, advanced passenger trains, and so on.

The NUR insisted that these changes should result in better pay, longer holidays, better working conditions and a shorter working week for remaining staff. Moreover, there should be no compulsory redundancies.

This agreement was accepted by the government who promised investment to be synchronised with changes. Those of us on the railways who. argued that such promises were worthless and that such a joint approach with management only tied our hands to their advantage, got little hearing.

Now, in the last 18 18 months, 17,000 jobs have gone. C&D parcels has closed, marshalling yards ROB DAWBER (Sheffield City NUR) sketches the background to the pay battle due to start next week have been shut and administrative changes have gone through.

Working conditions have not improved but worsened; ten deaths in the first three months of this year. We now have a basic 39 hour week but it had to be self-financing. And we need about 20% to return our wages to the 1979 level.

Electrification has not taken place - in fact withdrawal of the promise of it is once again being used to threaten us in this dispute.

The channel tunnel has not materialised and the advanced passenger train has been scrapped after spending £40 million developing it.

On loco and wagon building, a programme of renewal which would have created 6,000 jobs is in a situation of threatened shutdown.

While some of the workshop closures have been postponed for six months, BRB want the same number of redundancies (5,000) to come from the regional workshops.

Privatisation has gone on apace on the railways. Hotels have gone in two packages Weighell - sold out down the line first of these!

for the sale of Sealink, more wagons, 17,000 of which were privately owned. By 1986 it plans to have 34,000 wagons, 25,000 of which will be privately owned.

The extra wagons for private ownership will also be built by private enterprise.

BRB also want to get rid 3,000 of the existing ,000 miles of track.

Clifford Rose, personnel

way to a planned loss of Meanwhile the governpusic service obligation grant by knocking off the extra to cover inflation since last year and then another Investment is not taking place. Wagons are being botched, locos cannibalised for spare parts, and so much track is unsafe that speed restrictions have meant that the Western Region, for example, has had to be retimetabled.

No-one can deny that the NUR leadership has sold its members down the line on a set of promises from the Tory government. They've sold our jobs and conditions as their side of the bargain and got their noses rubbed in it, though sadly, not by the members.

Against this background comes the latest offer - 3% for the whole year if we accept SIX productivity items by the end of July and there are no disruptions at all.

Investment

And disruption or strikes will jeopardise the investment for electrification.

All these threats and pleas to common sense are in a letter sent to each railway worker from Peter Parker. He says we are broke, we can't afford to borrow money, and BR expects to lose £165 million this year. He doesn't say that the Tory government is behind all this, turning the screw and egging the BR Board on.

Incidentally, Peter Parker has just accepted a pay rise of £15,000 (20%) on his £64,000 salary.