ASLEFJOURNAL SEPTEMBER 2019 The magazine of the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers & Firemen We can be heroes just for one day Standing by the wall I will be king & you, you will be queen And the guns shot above our heads For ever and ever And the shame was on the other side. We can beat them... The train drivers ’ Inside: Palestine; Pride; Michael Green; and Tolpuddle 2019 union since 1880 GS Mick Whelan ASLEFJOURNAL SEPTEMBER 2019 Chaos and confusion The magazine of the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers & Firemen E HAVE never been in the W game of having preferences in contractual negotiations for franchises, even having different standards of Mick: ‘It’s the old cap industrial relations and collar process’ within certain groups. Our issue is, and always has been, with the model. Never has this been clearer than now, when we might have expected 10 a period of calm after Mr Grayling going and Mr 12 Shapps taking over. Alas, that is not the case. Confusion reigns. News The number of questions we have had over what has been announced continues to grow. l Rail fares rise again; and steam train blues 4 Apparently, Southeastern is to be run again as l Railway Workers’ Centenary Service; and 5 the conditions aren’t right; Stagecoach and Arriva Off the Rails: Patrick Flanery; Bev Quist; can take legal action over being excluded. Then Kim Darroch; and Christopher Meyer First Trenitalia wins the former Virgin bid because it meets Williams – a report we have not yet had – Cyril Power’s Tube train pictures on show 6 l and contains element of the old cap and collar l Kevin Lindsay hails a victory in Scotland 7 process that means the franchisee cannot lose. 14 Compounding this, Mr Shapps is looking into the l Jeremy Corbyn’s programme to tackle the 8 viability of HS2 but the new West Coast franchise poison of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party has been let to deliver elements of it. So why has Features it been let? It’s nice to know it’s business as usual – chaos and confusion remaining the order of the l Conrad Landin lifts the lid on Serco; and 9 day – but Mr Shapps did complain about his Ian Jolly on Northam’s day out at Tolfest constituency only having six services a day so let’s hope when he addresses that he will also l Susan Greenwell on the TUC’s LGBT+ 10 address all those communities that have a limited conference; and Bill Dale on the NPC service and deal with the double whammy l Carolyn Harris on the scourge of gambling 11 because bus deregulation is losing 90 million journeys a year. Deborah Reay and Tanya Rubinstein 12-13 l Mr Freeman, another transport minister, went report on the plight of the Palestinians on the media to complain that his train was late l Fascism: How the left took on and defeated 14 15 and his connection was not held. Obviously, he Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists does not understand the fractionalised penalty driven privatised world. And, with the current l Jen Thornton and Peter Wright on the music, 15 mantra from Mr Shapps and Mr Williams, marches, magic and cricket at Tolpuddle punctuality will only exacerbate this issue. The annual RPI fare rise has been announced Regulars to universal condemnation from those forced to l Branch News, and Upcoming Events, and 16-17 travel who have suffered years of austerity and 100 Years of Union no – or below RPI – pay rises. We should encourage travel to grow our local and national l Obituaries 19 economies at the core of regenerating Britain as l Letters and Classified Advertisements 20-21 22 a public service. Mr Johnson’s aversion to truth hasn’t changed Last Word: Chris Proctor on racist tweets 22 l with 20,000 ‘extra’ police promised – exactly the and how, for some in the old Confederate number who will retire over the next five years states, the American Civil War never ended and would have been required, anyway. New l On Track: PG Wodehouse; Prize Crossword; 23 money for the NHS is not new money at all and Legal Services; and Change of Address £1 billion less than required because of previous Tory cuts. A threat to prorogue Parliament to The ASLEF Journal is published every month by: drive through his no deal Brexit by a man who ASLEF, 77 St John Street, London, EC1M 4NN 23 will – with his two immediate predecessors – go Tel: 020 7324 2400 l email: [email protected] down as the three worst premiers in history after website: www.aslef.org.uk l twitter: @ASLEFUnion Lord North. Whatever our views on Brexit, the democratic process must underpin what is done EdIToR Mick Whelan l dESIGNER Michael Cronin l PRINTER College Hill Press, London, SW19 4HE in all our names or civil unrest will be the result. AdvERTISING ASLEF Journal, 77 St John Street, London, EC1M 4NN. Contact Keith Richmond on 020 7324 2407 or [email protected] l clASSIFIEd AdS [email protected] or call 020 7324 2400. The acceptance of a Yours fraternally display or classified advertisement does not necessarily imply endorsement of that product or service by ASLEF Mick Whelan, general secretary chANGE oF AddRESS Please post your details to ASLEF, 77 St John Street, Clerkenwell, London, EC1M 4NN September 2019 l The ASLEF Journal 3 News ‘Now, while we agree with every word, it is Rail fares rise again galling to hear it from the mouth of a man responsible, as Chancellor of the Exchequer, SLEF has condemned rail fare rises for and David Cameron’s right-hand man, for six hard-pressed passengers of 2.8% years, for maintaining the system of rail fare A from January. ‘The Tories and the rises based on RPI! TOCs are driving up fares yet again,’ said GS ‘And, of course, Chris Grayling is the gift that Mick Whelan. ‘But all they are doing is driving just keeps on giving as the High Court gives people off our railways. It’s time to bring our Virgin, Stagecoach and Arriva Trains a green network back into public ownership and run it light to challenge his decision to ban them properly, for passengers, not for profit.’ from bidding for the East Midlands, West Coast Tom Burridge, the BBC’s transport and South Eastern franchises. correspondent, in an analysis piece for the BBC Mick: ‘Failing Grayling is the gift that keeps ‘The truth is that the Tories don’t know how News website, wrote: ‘The bitter irony for rail on giving – this time in the high court’ to run a railway. But everyone in our industry passengers is that the quality of service in knows the franchise model is broken, beyond Britain is all too often undeserving of the Evening Standard , edited by George Osborne, repair, and that privatisation hasn’t worked. price.’ criticised in a front page splash, “inflation- And all the Williams review has to offer is the Mick added: ‘The Tories want people to pay busting rail fare rises on services blighted by prospect of a new version of the Strategic Rail more for a poorer service and that’s not a great delays, cancellations and overcrowding” Authority which didn’t work last time, either! offer, is it? For passengers – or for voters at the adding, in its leader column, that “the prospect We need to put the wheels and steel back next election. of paying more for what is effectively an together in a vertically-integrated publicly- ‘But it’s been a strange few days. The essential public service is unappealing”. owned railway fit for the 21st century.’ Pregnant soap star had to TWEETS OF THE MONTH This is a decision [to leave InterRail] sit on floor outside toilet of the British train operators, it’s on Former Coronation Street Hayley tweeted: ‘Hey them. It’s as if they see the Flygskam star Hayley Tamaddon, @VirginTrains had quite grassroots movement towards rail, and who played Andrea Becket the rotten journey home to instead of welcoming it, deliberately go out in the ITV1 soap, was Manc today as my 1pm was of their way to stop it. UK has been part of forced to sit outside a toilet cancelled from Euston. At InterRail since 1973. on a train from London to 7 months pregnant I sat hayley not happy with virgin The Man in Seat 61 @seatsixtyone Manchester after Virgin outside the toilet for the class ticket I’d like my cancelled the 1pm service whole journey. Staff were money back. How do I do Watching litany of unfunded tax & on which she was booked. amazing but as I had a 1st this?’ spending promises pouring out from Johnson & Hunt, it’s obvious they are relying on that Magic Money Tree they were shouting about in the last election. Thanks to Steam train blues QUOTE… them, Labour has become confirmed as the ‘The Conservative leadership election voice of sound, economic, common sense. had just one redeeming factor. It laid @johnmcdonnellMP bare, for all to see, some of Johnson’s many defects.’ – Martin Fletcher , Just 6.5% of train drivers in England, New Statesman Wales and Scotland are women, and …UNQUOTE 8% are from a minority ethnic background. New report from @ASLEFunion pushes for greater diversity, and measures like more part-time and flexible working. The Elsecar Heritage Railway in South YOU DON’T KNOW MY NAME @fawcettsociety Yorkshire, one of Britain’s smaller standard Our report on the RMS spring forum ( Journal , gauge heritage railway lines, is looking for August) referred to Leroy Hawkins speaking Brilliant video @ASLEFunion.