rail
News and articles about work, policy and workers' struggles in transport and distribution around the world.
Striking transport workers in Lyon occupy head office
After six days of strike action 20 workers have occupied parts of the head office of Keolis, the company responsible for the city's public transport.
The strike action began on Thursday with strong support by workers leaving only 58% of metro; 32% of tram and 25% of bus services running. Workers were protesting against management attempts to remove a large number of conditions from their contracts.
Subway workers hold 'no fare' protest and strike in Buenos Aires
This week employees on the Buenos Aires subway freed turnstiles for two hours in a move to press the government to grant legal status to their recently created trade union as well as taking strike action.
According to Argentine law only one union on each trade or activity can be granted legal status and therefore, participate in wage bargaining or legally call for a strike.
More misery now! - The Red Menace
Article looking at the impact of the 1989 public transport workers' strikes in London and elsewhere.
Forced to lie in the sun instead of sit in front of a VDU ...to stay in bed instead of going to work ...these have been some of the horrific privations inflicted on commuters by the last few months’ transport strikes. If this is misery, give us more of it!
The underground is going down the tube - Anarchist Communist Federation
Leaflet distributed to commuters during a 1989 strike of tube drivers.
The tube strike is obviously going to cause anger and frustration amongst nearly all commuters. Even if you support the strike, we all need to get to work to pay our bills, rates and mortgages. The anger, however, needs to be focused in the right direction - at the management - whose failure to please commuters and staff is well evident.
Victory to the rail workers
Leaflet for a 1989 strike of tube drivers.
"The strike has been brewing for the past 3 years - management treat us like robots" (striking driver interviewed on LBC 20-4-89).
This is the root of the rail strike - management try to increase profits (that is exploitation) in the run up to privatisation more work for less pay, redundancies, one person operated trains, flexible rostering, automatic ticket barriers and machines.
Strikes, hunger strikes and clashes in Greece
Strikes, hunger strikes and environmental action leading to clashes with riot police open week after weekend of state terror in Greece.
After the weekend of terror in Greece, the mid-summer week has started with a wave of strikes and environmental actions, underlining that the spine of the movement is too strong to break.
London Underground make new pay offer to tube staff
London Underground Ltd (LUL) has made what it claims is a final offer in an attempt to end a pay and jobs row which led to a 48-hour strike last month.
The two-year deal would see a 1.5% rise in the first year followed by RPI plus 0.5% the next year. LU's offer did not assure jobs, a main demand of a union. The RMT said it hoped to make "positive progress" on the issue of no job cuts.
The union went on strike as LUL failed to meet its promise of no compulsory redundancies as well as those on pay and management bullying.
Impressions on the commute
For the last three months I've been spending a good portion of my time in commute-land, a rattling, faded bastion of middle-class conservatism and low-level lebensraum crammed into the 08.30 from Norwich to London.
Hopefully, this is soon to come to a blessed end and I can start waking up in a London bed, with London traffic and London impoliteness to look forward to as I make the jump from Suffolk buh to City cynic. Which makes this a good time to have a think about exactly what I learned on the trip down.
I think first and foremost I learned that commuting is a practice best reserved for the world's middle-management, as punishment for the shit they subsequently impose on the rest of us.
1986-1987: France goes off the rails
Documents about and analysis of the mass workers struggles of students and workers in France from November 1986 to January 1987.
Between the end of November 1986 and January 1987 France experienced some significant social struggles.
Picket line interview with striking tube worker - June 2009
Brief interview from the picket line of the Tube strike that lasted from June 9 - June 11 2009.
“If popularity won pay rises, then nurses would be millionaires and politicians would be begging on street corners!”
- From the RMT strike support website
