our •*.[/]
[]
[/]
[]Why are workers always blamed for strikes
which are almost inevitably the result of A[/]
[]
[/]
[]' something management has done? ^[/]
[]
[/]
[]Gregor Gall, professor of Industrial Relati[/]
[]
[/]
[]SLEF took it in the neck in early[/]
[]
[/]
[]November last year when John[/]
[]
[/]
[]Humphries interviewed MickWhelan[/]
[]
[/]
[]on Radio 4's flagship TODAY programme.[/]
[]
[/]
[]Humphries is like a bulldog when he gets[/]
[]
[/]
[]something between his teeth. That's fine when[/]
[]
[/]
[]he's aiming at the right target for the right[/]
[]
[/]
[]reasons - but the interview with Mick Whelan[/]
[]
[/]
[]was not one of the occasions.[/]
[]
[/]
[]The issue was that First Capital Connect[/]
[]
[/]
[](FCC) had cancelled a large number of trains[/]
[]
[/]
[]because it did not have enough drivers to[/]
[]
[/]
[]drive them. The drivers - as is their right both[/]
[]
[/]
[]contractually and morally - had decided not to[/]
[]
[/]
[]work their rest days.[/]
[]
[/]
[]The interview went something like this:[/]
[]
[/]
[]Humphries: Why are ASLEF members[/]
[]
[/]
[]preventing the trains from running?[/]
[]
[/]
[][Ignoring answer from Whelan][/]
[]
[/]
[]Humphries: Don't you know that thousands[/]
[]
[/]
[]of commuters are being badly[/]
[]
[/]
[]inconvenienced?[/]
[]
[/]
[][Ignoring answer from Whelan][/]
[]
[/]
[]Humphries: As ASLEF members have been[/]
[]
[/]
[]offered a pay rise in a recession, they should[/]
[]
[/]
[]count themselves lucky![/]
[]
[/]
[]You get the picture.[/]
[]
[/]
[]I was having my breakfast as I listened to[/]
[]
[/]
[]this. If I'd been eating cornflakes, I'd have[/]
[]
[/]
[]spluttered them out in disgust - because at no[/]
[]
[/]
[]time did Humphries-even-consider that the[/]
[]
[/]
[]blame for the disruption lay at the door of the[/]
[]
[/]
[]company.[/]
[]
[/]
[]Later, a LabourTransport Minister weighed[/]
[]
[/]
[]in with the drivers'action being'irresponsible',[/]
[]
[/]
[]as did the Liberals and Tories in Parliament.[/]
[]
[/]
[]The FCC statement sounded as if it had[/]
[]
[/]
[]little to do with them.'We are extremely sorry[/]
[]
[/]
[]that a shortage of train drivers has forced us to[/]
[]
[/]
[]cancel a large number of services'.[/]
[]
[/]
[]It was left to some ordinary commuting[/]
[]
[/]
[]Joes and Josephines in the following day's[/]
[]
[/]
[]Guardian to point out the stock-sparingly[/]
[]
[/]
[]obvious.[/]
[]
[/]
[]One said, 'We cannot believe our rail[/]
[]
[/]
[]arteries have been set up to run on staff[/]
[]
[/]
[]goodwill, and the system can only function if[/]
[]
[/]
[]drivers work on their days off. The spoof[/]
[]
[/]
[]website FirstCrapitalConnect, commented,[/]
[]
[/]
[]'This train has been cancelled.This is due to no[/]
[]
[/]
[]decent management being available'.[/]
[]
[/]
[]So eventually the truth came out.[/]
[]
[/]
[]DISTORTED THOUGHTS AND[/]
[]
[/]
[]MEMORIES[/]
[]
[/]
[]The cancellations resulted from the deliberate[/]
[]
[/]
[]FCC policy of employing fewer drivers than it[/]
[]
[/]
[]should - and relying on voluntary overtime.[/]
[]
[/]
[]The reason for this cunning plan? It's cheaper[/]
[]
[/]
[]to use existing drivers than pay for additional[/]
[]
[/]
[]drivers training, national insurance, pensions[/]
[]
[/]
[]and the like. And, the reason for this? Well, a[/]
[]
[/]
[]relentless drive for profits to benefit[/]
[]
[/]
[]shareholders would be my humble guess.[/]
[]
[/]
[]This got me thinking, 'Why is it that unions[/]
[]
[/]
[]are always the fall guys here? Why can't the[/]
[]
[/]
[]media see the wood for the trees?'[/]
[]
[/]
[]Workers only take industrial action when[/]
[]
[/]
[]employer and management do certain things.[/]
[]
[/]
[]Industrial action is the effect, the symptom[/]
[]
[/]
[]and the reaction - not the cause.[/]
[]
[/]
[]Management's actions are the cause, the[/]
[]
[/]
[]stimulus and the originating reason.[/]
[]
[/]
[]And I believe the'Winter of Discontent'is[/]
[]
[/]
[]f[/]
[]
[/]
[]the reason our beloved media relentlessly[/]
[]
[/]
[]makes the unions the fall-guys.[/]
[]
[/]
[]The enduring image in the public mind of[/]
[]
[/]
[]this 78-79 strike of low paid public sector[/]
[]
[/]
[]workers is uncollected litter spoiling the[/]
[]
[/]
[]streets, unwashed linen piling up in hospital[/]
[]
[/]
[]laundries and the dead left unburied.[/]
[]
[/]
[]Every clutch of strikes that happen in close[/]
[]
[/]
[]proximity to each other are then fitted into the[/]
[]
[/]
[]straightjacket of a 'winter','autumn', 'summer' or[/]
[]
[/]
[]'spring of discontent'. There is really no other[/]
[]
[/]
[]framework used.[/]
[]
[/]
[]KEEP PEDDLING NONSENSE[/]
[]
[/]
[]So the story is established. It is one of workers[/]
[]
[/]
[]in the wrong inconveniencing the public. It[/]
[]
[/]
[]hardly ever asks,'What has management done[/]
[]
[/]
[]to provoke this reaction - given that striking[/]
[]
[/]
[]involves loss of pay and is a breach of[/]
[]
[/]
[]contract?'[/]
[]
[/]
[]This is despite the fact that many journalists[/]
[]
[/]
[]were on strike in the original 'winter of[/]
[]
[/]
[]discontent', most members of the National[/]
[]
[/]
[]Union of Journalists who saw employers[/]
[]
[/]
[]derecognising their union from John O'Groats[/]
[]
[/]
[]to Lands' End. How can they continue to[/]
[]
[/]
[]peddle such patent nonsense?[/]
[]
[/]
[]So as trade unionists, the next time the mail[/]
[]
[/]
[]doesn't turn up, the ferries don't run or the[/]
[]
[/]
[]planes don't fly because of strikes, I hope you'll[/]
[]
[/]
[]remember there are at least two sides to every[/]
[]
[/]
[]story.[/]
[]
[/]
[]If - despite your best intentions - you've[/]
[]
[/]
[]been conditioned by the media and society at[/]
[]
[/]
[]large to have the knee-jerk reaction of'Bloody[/]
[]
[/]
[]Union!' - at least remember the words 'Ruddy[/]
[]
Management', too![/]
Author
Topic: Strikes cancelling trains through Welwyn Hatfield (Read 862 times)