In the London Underground, the last militant union – The World

Le Monde | 07/08/2015 at 10:12 • Updated 08/07/2015 at 5:11 p.m. | By Eric Albert (London, correspondence)

The UK has never had as few strikes. In this new century, we are between one hundred and one hundred and fifty per year, an exceptional phenomenon since 1891, the start of the statistics on the subject. The number of working days ‘lost’ due to strikes is now five to ten times lower than in the 1980s.

But do not tell that to the Londoners. Thursday, August 6, no subway had stopped. The network was immobilized, causing huge queues for buses circulating. The call twenty-four hours of release of the four unions representing the Underground staff was very followed. Already in 2014, London had experienced several strikes the metro. This year in July, the metro was also immobilized a day.

Thursday is against the plan by Boris Johnson, the Conservative mayor of London, to roll subways all night on Fridays and Saturdays from September, there was a strike. The unions consider insufficient premium is offered.

pay Efforts

These regular mobilizations in the subway are an exception, in a country where strikes are almost become a dirty word. This is Bob Crow, who died in 2014 of a sudden heart attack, which probably comes this feature.

Neck bull, bulldog shaved head and face, it took the lead, in 1991, the London Underground section of the Union of the rail, marine and transport (RMT), before ruling on the entire organization in 2002. A long time member of the British Communist Party, this son of docker headed for two decades with an iron hand the negotiations with the various patrons of the London Transport Authority

His efforts paid off:. the average annual salary of metro drivers is 49,000 pounds (70,000 euros), with two months of vacation a year. Impressed by these achievements, many employees across the UK have joined the RMT, the union that now grows as quickly and gathers 80,000 members today.

A very hostile public opinion

Mr Crow’s success is largely due to its strong position: it is relatively easy, with a few dozen train drivers, block subway traffic. London successive mayors have bowed to the demands of the RMT, including Mr. Johnson. – Who agreed to pay a “Olympic bonus” at the London Olympics in 2012.

In the 1980s, the battle position was the rule for British unions. But in 1984, the great miners’ strike, which ended with the overwhelming victory of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher broke this dynamic. The “Iron Lady” then introduced harsh rules to govern the right to strike, such as mandatory organization of a secret ballot of union members (with notice of eight days) or the prohibition of strikes for reasons policy.

The public has also become very hostile to the walkouts. Finally, unions have lost their influence along the steel industry and the manufacturing sector disappeared.

This was not the case of the subway, more than ever indispensable to the British capital. The very combative attitude of Mr. Crow did the rest. Despite his early death, his legacy remains.