Support the RMT strikes on Caledonian Sleeper and Scotrail

Text of a Socialist Party Scotland leaflet

Socialist Party Scotland gives our 100% support and solidarity to RMT members taking eleven days of strike action on the Caledonian Sleeper services starting tonight

The refusal of SERCO bosses to pay workers a decent pay rise following the pandemic is a disgrace. Pay freezes – in effect pay cuts – are unacceptable.

The 85% majority vote for strike action by RMT members shows how angry they are. SERCO only care about profit, not the staff or passengers.

It’s long past time that SERCO, and all the privateers running the railways, were nationalised under democratic workers’ control.

As the RMT has rightly said: “SERCO need to stop their ongoing campaign of misinformation to both passengers and staff alike and respond positively to the union approach for urgent talks . The wholesale cancellation of sleeper services for the duration of the strike is entirely down to their intransigence and refusal to discuss pay justice for their staff.”

There is no doubt SERCO’s actions are cost-cutting measures. They are trying to squeeze every penny of profit from the almost £800 million contract they have to provide Scotland to London sleeper services for the next 15 years.

And they have form for this. SERCO’s reputation stinks when it comes to delivering what should be public services for profit.

Scandalously the SNP-led Scottish government handed the NORTHLINK Orkney and Shetland ferry contract to SERCO in 2019.

That’s a contract worth up to £600 million. SERCO should be no where near any of these vital services.

The RMT deserves the full support of all workers and the entire trade union movement.

At a time when many union leaders, including the tops of the TUC and the STUC, are claiming unions have a “national interest” with governments and bosses in the time of Covid, workers’ action like the RMT strike shows this is a lie.

Greedy bosses are taking advantage of the pandemic to slash jobs, wages and attack workers’ terms and conditions.

The trade union movement has a responsibility to build coordinated industrial action so that workers don’t pay for the Covid crisis.

With both the leaders of the Labour Party and the SNP preaching from the same hymn book as big business, workers need their own party.

Socialist Party Scotland calls for the trade unions to build a new mass workers’ party. We work with the RMT as part of Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition

Scotrail

RMT members in Scotland are also involved in disputes with ScotRail/Abellio. For weeks now ticket examiners and conductors have been taking action every Sunday against pay discrimination and for pay parity with other grades.

Fleet Maintenance Staff at the Perth Depot will are also taking strike action over a breach of the dignity and respect policy.

The fact that the Scottish government and Transport for Scotland have been sitting on their hands while workers are forced to take strike action is a damning indictment of the so-called ‘trade union-friendly’ SNP leadership.

Their true colours have also been shown by the involvement of the anti-union Pentland Ferries in the CalMac – publicly owned and operated – ferry operation.

Pentland have been brought in by the Scottish government to deal with the crisis on the ferries, itself due to underinvestment in the service and a lack of viable vessels.

There was no consultation with the unions about bringing in a company that refuses to recognise trade unions.

The RMT have rightly demanded a meeting with the SNP transport minister. No operator should be used unless they recognise trade unions and pay trade unions agreed rates and terms and conditions.

Socialist Party Scotland calls for the nationalisation of all rail, transport and ferry services to be placed under the democratic control of the workforce.

We can’t trust the Scottish government, even if they put ScotRail into a form of public ownership, not to continue with cost-cutting, under-investment and anti-worker policies.

Only socialist nationalisation and workers’ control with massive investment in transport services will deliver.