No. 7 branch, and Peter Grant, ASLEF Paddington branch THE STAGE is now set for a united struggle by all rail workers to win the rail unions' claim for 'substantial Yet this is unlikely to come about without a major battle by the rank and file against the prevarications of leaders.
The ASLEF leadership has remained silent on the national claim, while mobilising membership behind the claim for a 10 per cent responsibility allowance which relates only to train arivers This has now gone arbitration, with official strike action suspended. But the ASLEF leaders show no sign of directing the militancy played over the sectional claim the struggle for the overall pay claim.
Last year they settled for 9 percent and in in actually reduced the basic rate by £1.32 a week in order to comply with pay restraint.
Management's offer on the present claim amounts to a rise of 7.5 cent. While the NUR's demands, which include a 35-hour week and no job loss, look good on the surface, remains to be seen how much 'substantial' is.
It would need to be of the order of 50 percent to give NUR members - presently on a paltry £45 for 40 hours - a living without the *excessive' overtime which Sid Weighall claims to be so keen to eliminate.
In reports to district executive members have been talking about a real productivity deal that 'will not result trading jobs for money'.
This contradiction in terms is supposed to mean that if business improves some of the increased takings from fares should be given to the workers.
Surely, if the railway is doing more business we should be campaigning for more jobs to reduce the dole queue.
And to base even a part of our wages on the performance of the capitalist economy is at best to foster illusions in tha system: at worst to line us up for a pay cut.
A against all the employers would have chance of saccess than it to British Rail, but there han been no moves to extend th fight to London Transport National Carriers, or Freightliners.
Our task as socialists on the railway is clear: to organise in support of an across-the-board increase for all rail workers, a 35-hour week, no loss of jobs and no productivity deals Socialist Challenge 1 February 1979 page