[LEADERS OF the three rail unions have threatened…]
Socialist Press1979 1979-06-06Read it in the scan (PDF), scan page 12 →
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LEADERS OF the three rail unions have threatened an all-out strike on London's tube network if there is not an improvement in This advanced warning is an indication of the pent-up militancy among London Underground workers whose bureaucratic leaders have ensured that only one one day strike has taken place on the tubes since the 1926 General Strike, while wage levels have been eroded by inflation and fallen in comparison to British railworkers.
But it is also a desperate plea from the bureaucracy for face-saving concessions from the employers to avert a head-on clash that would virtually paralyse London and face the Tories with a major industrial confrontation which they could scarcely hope to win.
There is little doubt that without some token concession by the employers, then chronically low paid Underground staff-whose basic rates range from only f45 to a maximum of £77—will respond overwhelmingly to the strike call, and set the pace for future pay management's 10.3% pay offer. struggles.