Battles against privatisation and cuts
Submitted by Janine on
April 2010: In 1998, the recently-elected New Labour government announced a ‘public-private partnership’ for London Underground. Operations would remain in the public sector, but the infrastructure would transfer to private consortia on 30-year leases. The unions fought this proposal for five years.
Submitted by Janine on
March 2010:
Both London Underground and Tube Lines - and, no doubt, many other companies - will tell us that they "have to" cut jobs because of the economic crisis. But a look at London Underground's history shows that this is not just untrue - it is the opposite of the truth.
Submitted by Janine on
On 17 December 2009, the PPP Arbiter published an important document, which may turn out to be a staging post in the collapse of Tube Lines and – following 2007’s similar collapse of Metronet – of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) itself.
Submitted by Janine on
September 2013
The underground railway (Metro) in Finland's capital city Helsinki is due to go 'driverless' in 2016. I discussed this with Finnish trade unionists Jussi and Satu, and heard a story that has important lessons for London Underground workers and passengers trying to prevent the same calamity happening in London.
Submitted by Janine on
from the Workers' Liberty pamphlet Radical Chains: Sexuality and Class Politics, published in 1999
A good place to start is with what we need. It's better than starting with what politicians are prepared to give, or what employers say they can afford.
Submitted by Janine on
In 2012, the awarding of the franchise for the West Coast railway route descended into chaos, when the government gave the job to FirstGroup in preference to Virgin, then admitted irregularities and started all over again. Two limericks:
1.
Submitted by Janine on
More of a Christmas carol than a poem, dedicated to our later, unlamented Education Secretary, and set to the tune of Santa Claus Is Coming to Town:
You'd better not hope, dream or aspire
Stay in your place, you won't get any higher
Michael Gove is coming to town
You'd better brush up on traditional skills
Caning and Latin and military drills
Michael Gove is coming to town
