Derail the sell-off

John Cogger, RMT President and Chair of the TUC General Purposes Committee, spoke to LLB about John Prescott's proposals to privatise key components of London Underground.

"We are very disappointed with John Prescott's statement. This is not a good move for people employed in those sections of the Underground. This is privatisation -- though they don't call it that -- and the whole history of privatisation in the rail industry shows that when private companies come in, the first thing they attack is staffing levels. To maintain their profits they reduce staffing because London Transport is a labour-intensive industry. And I don't think anyone will pretend that they will keep fares down.

"I agree with Ken Livingstone that we should be lobbying the Treasury. Gordon Brown is behind this. Such people haven't given the trade unions anything -- even after we helped to bring Labour back from the wilderness. I think that London Underground should be run by the nation -- or by the proposed Greater London Authority -- with proper funding.

"Our next step is to set up a meeting with the other unions involved in the Underground so that we can agree a common way forward. Our members won't allow us to take this lying down."

Jimmy Knapp (Gen. Sec. RMT) spoke to an extended Executive of RMT's London Underground Regional Council. He assured members that the campaign against privatisation should be led from the front and not just left to local activists.

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