Defend your union - stop these victimisations!

Posted in Tubeworker's blog on ,

Yesterday, the Bakerloo line was shut down and the Northern line disrupted as drivers took action to defend victimised workmates Eamonn Lynch and Arwyn Thomas.

Their sackings are part of a vindictive backlash against union organisation following recent effective strikes. By attacking union reps and activists, LU intends that our organisation on the ground will crumble. That's why these disputes are not just about the individuals involved, but about the workforce as a whole. If the company takes out our reps and activists, then our jobs, terms and conditions will follow. ASLEF drivers on the Bakerloo recognised that Eamonn's sacking is an attack on trade unionism in general - not just on RMT and Eamonn - and took part in the strike.

Arwyn's sacking is based on unsubstantiated charges of intimidating a scab (as if scabs deserve an easy ride for breaking the solidarity of their workmates?!). Eammon has been sacked for following an instruction, while the person who issued the instruction has only been sent to retraining. Even an Employment Tribunal awarded Eammon interim relief, meaning his salary will be paid until the full case is heard, which only happens if the court finds that the dismissal was unfair and done because of union activity. When a court of law backs the union, you know you have a strong case, but LU went ahead and upheld the sacking at the appeal. The company seems to think that it is above the law.

Backed by a Tory Mayor and Government, LU has the political confidence to take extreme, brutal, anti-working-class measures. They want to show us who is the boss.

Now more than ever we need to show LU that it will not succeed in crushing us. The strong strike action will help defend the sacked reps, defend our organisation and show that our class is fighting back. RMT's Bakerloo and Morden & Oval branches had wanted a two-day strike on each line on the Friday and Saturday. But just the one-day action went ahead, rather unfortunately on the day that hit working-class pleasure-goers and shoppers rather than the one that would have hurt the City.

But the action still had a significant impact. With the jobs dispute seeming to be on hold, we showed that our fighting spirit has not gone on leave for Xmas.

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