[The future of Britain's transport system lies very…]

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The future of Britain's transport system lies very much in the balance. The government and British Rail are discussing plans which could lead to hundreds of miles of track and thousands of jobs being lost.

The National bus network is also similarly threatened, with Over 10,000 jobs facing the axe. This means non existent transport services for many workers and, with a further fare increase on the way, prohibitively expensive services for others. All this on top of thousands of jobs lost.

The roots of the problem lie with the decline of capitalism and attempts of the Labour government to shore up the British economy at the expense of essential services. The working class are being made to pay through spending cuts in health, education, transport and social services.

CLOSURE

In London, the travelling public are faced with closure of certain suburban railways and cutbacks from London Transport.

In December the GLC approved LT's budget, (subject to a further 6½m cut in revenue expenditure, ving a torecast delicit in 1976 ol £113m.

This figure was based on an expected government grant of £38m (previously £53m). In fact, only £36m was allowed.

As far as bus services are concerned London Transport have delivered a report to the T&GWU Central Bus Committee, outlining their policy in relation to their financial situation. They make it Clear, however, that all figures are estimated and depend on several variabie factors, notably the rate of inflation.

CUTS

LT management have said that: 1. Recruitment is to stop at the September 1975 level of staffing.

As this figure is exceeded in some bus garages, some loss ot jobs through "natural wasteage" will OCCuT. 2. Only 84% (possibly rising 852%) of scheduled mileage will covered.

This means that overtime will be cut and that recent recruits will have to come off duty rotas and join the 'spares list' - not knowing from one day to another precisely what hours will be worked or which route to expect. 3. The 1976 wage bill will be kept to the 1975 level, allowing only for threshold payments. 4."No redundancies"

The combination of points 3 and 4 means wages must be attacked - if the assurances on redundancy means anything at all!

Several effects of IT's cuts are already being felt. In Essex several bus services run by LT are being axed because the local authority refuse to subsidise the losses on those routes. Similar negotiations are being made with Berkshire, Surrey and Bucks and announcements are expected shortly.

The public in London are already quite well aware of the effects of cuts in schedules. LT's capital expenditure is being maintained, however, with large sums of money being spent on new buses, rolling stock and developments.

The new buses, easily modified for one-man operation, combined with experiments with pre-paid tickets, pose a threat to jobs.

AGREED

The T&GWU provides no obstacle. They have agreed to 100% OMO conversion.

Although the agreement was made about twelve years ago - in a period of boom and staff shortages - the bureaucracy continue their approval. In the last six months a resolution calling for suspension of OMO conversion was thrown out by the Central Bus Committee.

In this situation of threatened redundancies and wage cutting London Transport are pushing for a scheme of "worker participation" Although only on a small scale, with two "workers" being taken onto the LT Executive, it provides a warning. The dangers of worker participation can be seen from transport extensive giving credibility to a management committee which plans to cut the throats of LT workers.

But a transprt system as we have known is completely compatible with capitalism in recession. Only when the transport system is placed under workers management; when the financiers, supply industries and vehicle manufacturers are nationalised without compensation and under workers management and in the context of a planned socialist Wester - only then can a planned system providing cheap, travel be initiated.

WHINE

But the union leaders have other ideas. Larry Smith, national bus officer of the T&GWU whines that if the buses were allocated 2% of he money given to British Ral, Toad passenger transport would survive. As far as he's concerned, its dog-eat-dog - rail jobs should go to make way for busmen.

Smith has made it quite clear that any kind of combined campaign with other unions against ASLEF and NUR to push fe worker participation. conniving with bureaucracy infes the union structure in LT.

The WSL stands apart in its figl for elected committees of transpo workers to investigate the book finances and plans of LT to sho the absolute need for an integrate planned transport syster nationalised and under worke management.

This links with the need for a all-round programme, on which region threatened with cuts fight can be carried out to challeng the existing leadership and defens jobs, wages and services.

We say No redundancies, voluntary o enforced!

No cuts in scheduled mileage. Expansion of all services. Thes must be maintainted by full staf levels - not overtime working. Fight for an increase in basic rates which makes up for loss 0. overtime earnings, protected fron inflation by a sliding scale, whereby wages rise point with inflation a determined by committees transport workers.

Elect committees of transpor workers to fight for these demands'