Equality is the soul of liberty - ASLEFJOURNAL

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Equality is the soul of liberty - ASLEFJOURNAL
ASLEF                                                    JOURNAL
The magazine of the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers & Firemen
                                                                                DECEMBER 2020

Equality is the
soul of liberty

‘There is, in fact, no liberty without it’ said Frances Wright

We celebrate 20 years of ASLEF’s equalities committees –                   The train drivers’
BAME, Disabled, LGBT+, Women’s and Young Members
                                                                           union since 1880
Equality is the soul of liberty - ASLEFJOURNAL
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Equality is the soul of liberty - ASLEFJOURNAL
ASLEF                                                   JOURNAL
The magazine of the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers & Firemen
                                                                             GS Mick Whelan

                                                                           Fair warning: now
                                                                           is not the time to                                            ‘The biggest villains of

                                                                           try and take us on                                            the piece are the DfT
                                                                                                                                         and the companies’

                                                                                     T IS difficult to think about the future when, due to the pandemic,
                                                                             I       everything is so uncertain and varied depending on which sector of our
                                                                                     industry we find ourselves in. The difficulties of providing services to
                                                                           keep the country running whilst the various governments bring forward five-tier
                                                                           systems, firebreaks, lockdowns, and very little joined up or mutual thinking.
                                                                              Geographical or local lockdowns do not assist trains that do not see real, or
                                                                           perceived, borders so we rely on the measures and risk assessments we have in
                                                                           place to remain secure. None of this will be of much reassurance to those in the
News                                                                       open access operators, and the operators of trains with already low passenger
l What the government has in mind for the railway 4                        numbers, and we continue to raise these issues continually wherever and
l Lines in the Landscape photographs of Britain’s
                                                                           whenever we can.
                                                                       5      The train operating companies have had also to react to the lockdown
  railway network plus Off the Rails: John Crace;                          instructions and so where we were running, on average, 93% of daily services,
  Rick Wakeman; Gyles Brandreth, Ken Branagh,                              this will reduce to an average 85%, and may change further as restrictions affect
  and Ian McKellen; Rachel Johnson on brother
                                                                           staff numbers.
  Boris; and Cornelius Lysaght on James Purnell
                                                                              The freight sector has many traditional flows not running, and others
l DO8 Finn Brennan on what the TfL funding deal 6                          oversubscribed, but we continue to keep the country running.
  means for train operators on London Underground                             We welcome the government bailout of the Tube in London but there are
l DO2 Kevin Lindsay on members’ generosity for     7                       strings, including a working party on driverless trains, that offers no economic or
  the Stonehaven fund for families of the bereaved                         operating benefits, as recent internal TfL reports have shown. We now need the
                                                                           government to look at the needs of other operators, in similar situations, in the
l Train saved by sculpture at a whaleway station                       8   north-west, north-east, and elsewhere, because they should also be part of the
                                                                           wider debate, and that should include open access.
Features                                                                      Compared to many other industrial sectors we are not as impacted or
l Gregor Gall explains why the government has                          9   uncertain. To read the industry press, though, apparently this is the time to take
  pulled the plug on the Union Learning Fund                               us on and end rest day working. Let’s remind them that the cessation of
l Strange days: Chris Proctor reflects on 2020
                                                                           compulsory or voluntary overtime based on full employment has been our policy
                                                                     10    for three decades.
l Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s Memo from Turner                         11       The biggest villains in the piece has been the DfT and the companies
l Equality is the soul of liberty: we celebrate
                                                                           themselves in failing to have, or allow, proper succession planning. We are the
                                                                12-16
                                                                           ones who only agree to it based on strict recruitment criteria.
  20 years of ASLEF’s equalities committees
                                                                              It is also strange that those who have been in the industry for years and
  with Ross Bland, Floyd Doyle, David Jones,
                                                                           benefited from in-house training wish to single out drivers for paying for their
  Susan Greenwell, Debbie Reay, San Senik,
                                                                           own training. That’s worse than hypocrisy, but puts any pretence at diversity or
  James Sutherland, and Tony Venson
                                                                           career mapping in this industry back 100 years and won’t be happening.
l Justice (of a sort) for Scotland’s miners                          17       Normal negotiations on our aspirations are not happening at this time, for
                                                                           obvious reasons, but we will be looking at what we do going forward post-
Regulars                                                                   pandemic.
l Branch Lines                                                       18       As a craft union, we do not get great churn in membership, or in good

l Obituaries
                                                                           representatives, but two are now standing down.
                                                                     19       I want to pay tribute to DO7 Brian Corbett. He has been active since before
l Letters and Classified Advertisements                         20-21      becoming a driver at branch, AAD, local and company representative, executive
l Points and Crossings: Ghulam Khan on covid-19 22
                                                                           committee and district officer. Heart and belief personify Brian and many owe so
                                                                           much to his strength and commitment. In normal circumstances I know many
l On Track: Reading tribute to Brian Corbett;                        23    branches would be saying goodbye and thank you between now and January.
  our Prize Christmas Crossword; Legal Services;                              Equally passionate, not leaving the industry but standing down as a trustee, is
  and members’ Change of Address form                                      Ian Smith, whose record as a representative and trustee is unsurpassed. When we
                                                                           had dark times he stood strong and helped this union survive and prosper. He’s
EDITOR Mick Whelan, general secretary l DESIGNER Michael Cronin            never been afraid to ask the difficult question but has been staunch and true in a
PRINTER College Hill Press, London, SW19 4HE l ADvERTISING ASLEF           world where loyalty and honour are not always recognised. Simply, I want to
Journal, 77 St John Street, London, EC1M 4NN. Contact Keith Richmond
                                                                           thank you, Ian!
on 020 7324 2407 or richmondk@aslef.org.uk l CLASSIFIED ADS
journal@aslef.org.uk or call 020 7324 2400. The acceptance of a display       And so we move forward, first with Steve Austin, who is taking over as DO7
or classified advertisement does not necessarily imply endorsement of      and, based on his record at Paddington branch, and as company council, I am
that product or service by ASLEF CHANGE OF ADDRESS Please post             sure will do a great job. John McCue won a well-contested trustee election and
your details to ASLEF, 77 St John Street, Clerkenwell, London, EC1M 4NN
                                                                           replaces Ian. John, from Glasgow branch, is another who works hard for the
                                                                           membership in Scotland and will also do a great job. I look forward to working
   The ASLEF Journal is published every month by:                          with you both.
   ASLEF, 77 St John Street, London, EC1M 4NN
                                                                              Please stay safe.
   Tel: 020 7324 2400 l email: journal@aslef.org.uk
   website: www.aslef.org.uk l twitter: @ASLEFUnion
                                                                           Yours fraternally, Mick Whelan, general secretary, ASLEF

                                                                                                                   December 2020 l The ASLEF Journal            3
Equality is the soul of liberty - ASLEFJOURNAL
News

                                                                                                     Midlands Trains from      vertically-integrated
Shapps paves way                                                                                     19 September 2021;        modern railway, fit for
                                                                                                     Southeastern from         the 21st century, and
for direct awards                                                                                    17 October 2021;
                                                                                                     Chiltern from 31
                                                                                                                               run as a public
                                                                                                                               service, not for private
                                                                                                     December 2021; and        profit.
         HE DfT has      March 2023, and                                                             East Midlands                 ‘It is also strange
  T      paved the
         way for
                         CrossCountry, which
                         has a direct award
                                                                                                     Railway and the West
                                                                                                     Coast partnership
                                                                                                                               that Mr Shapps is
                                                                                                                               trying to smuggle the
direct awards – to       which began in                                                              from 1 April 2022.        recommendations of
replace ten rail         October, are also         The Department for Transport is set to                Mick Whelan,          the Williams rail
franchises in England    excluded.                 replace the Tories’ failed franchise model        general secretary,        review through
– with the                   TOCs are in           with a series of new ‘public service’ contracts   said: ‘While we will be   without proper
publication of an        discussion with the                                                         glad to see the back      Parliamentary
OJEU prior               DfT over the              reversion to the           shareholders happy.    of the failed franchise   scrutiny. What is he
information notice.      transition of the         terms of the old           ‘We’re not in a        system, we believe        trying to hide? Why is
    The notice covers    affected franchises       franchise agreements       position to play       we should bring the       he frightened of
train operations not     from the current          would, with                hardball,’ one         wheels and the steel      doing it properly, and
overseen by the          EMAs, and                 passenger numbers          admitted privately.    back together as one      transparently?’
devolved                 ‘compensation’, as        falling off a cliff           The companies
governments in           the RDG somewhat          during the pandemic,       and franchises
Scotland and Wales       optimistically puts it,   see the companies          affected are              QUOTE…
or regionally            for the termination of    collapse.                  TransPennine              ‘MPs and commentators keep asking,
managed                  existing franchise            They are also          Express; South            archly, “But what does Boris want?”
concessions. GWR,        agreements due to         trying, privately, to be   Western Railway; and      Jesus, guys, catch up. He wants a shag
which has a long-        be agreed by the          amenable in the            c2c (Essex                and some attention and someone else to
term emergency           middle of this month.     hope of getting a          Thameside) from 1         make his problems go away, like he
measures agreement           Whatever the RDG      management                 April 2021; Greater       always does.’ – Marina Hyde, The
running to June          likes to claim, the       contract on                Anglia; Thameslink,       Guardian
2021, and a direct       TOCs are not in a         favourable terms to        Southern, and Great                                 …UNQUOTE
award contract until     strong position as a      keep their                 Northern; and West

NR boss lined up as Fat Controller                                                                      TWEETS OF THE MONTH
According to a report in the Sunday Telegraph,                                                               Boris Johnson strongly urged to hire a
which is usually a reliable guide, as Grant                                                                  new social media manager: Have I
Shapps’ spin doctors have Oliver Gill’s mobile                                                          Got News For You @haveigotnews
number on speed dial, ‘the boss of Network
Rail is being primed to lead an all-powerful Fat                                                              We finally have a vaccine! Huge
Controller body in the biggest shake-up of                                                                    congratulations to
Britain’s train network since the 1990s’.                                                               Pfizer/GlaxoSmithKline/Sanofi/Novartis.
    The Torygraph reports that Andrew Haines                                                            (Karen – please delete as appropriate,
                                                   Andrew Haines set to be Tories’ Fat Controller
has been asked by the DfT to begin reviewing                                                            thanks) @BorisJohnson
train lines as if he had already been awarded      main line which Richard Branson’s Virgin and
control of a railway ‘guiding mind’ body.          Brian Soutar’s Stagecoach badly mismanaged.                 That sound you can hear is the
    ‘The body is one of two major reforms             ‘We would like to make clear that the                    government preparing to give £300
proposed by an as yet unpublished root and         review should be undertaken from the                 billion to roll out the vaccine to a company
branch review’ writes Gill. ‘The other is the      perspective of a neutral single guiding mind,’       that makes hats, run by someone who
abolition of rail franchising.’                    they say indiscreetly. ‘Not in your capacity as      doesn’t even know what a vaccine is, but is
    The paper said it had seen a letter – a        CEO of NR.’                                          married to a Tory MP. @davidschneider
euphemism for being briefed by the Transport          The ‘guiding mind’ or Fat Controller –
Secretary’s team – from Ruth Hannant and           named after the character in the Thomas the                 The Tory candidate for London Mayor
Polly Payne, DfT directors general rail, asking    Tank Engine stories by the Rev Wilbert Awdry –              is boasting about his party having cut
Haines to conduct an analysis of Britain’s most    has been designed to ‘prevent meddling by            firefighters’ pensions. A strange thing to be
troubled train lines, including the East Coast     ministers’.                                          proud of. @FinnBrennan

                                                                                                             Virtue signalling isn’t an objective
Panorama examines effect of                                    AUSTIN POWERS IN FROM                         concept. It’s a weird alt-right insult.
climate change on earthworks                                   PADDINGTON AS DO7                        Pandering to it deserves no place in public
                                                                                                        broadcasting.
                                                               Steve Austin, of Paddington
The BBC’s flagship current affairs programme                   branch, has been elected                 James Wong @Botanygeek
Panorama is expected to broadcast an edition on                unopposed as ASLEF’s new
Monday 7 December, in the wake of the tragic accident          District 7 Organiser. Brian
at Stonehaven, when the 06.38 ScotRail service from            Corbett, the current DO7,             WE PUT OUT TRUST IN GLASGOW JOHN
Aberdeen to Glasgow Queen Street hit a landslip                retires next year. Steve will be      John McCue, of Glasgow branch, has received
obstructing the track between Carmont and                      in position for a five year term      a simple majority of the votes cast in the
Laurencekirk, about the crash, in which three people           which starts on Monday 1              election for an ASLEF trustee. He takes up
died, and the impact of climate change on earthworks           February 2021.                        position immediately, and will be in post until
on the railway.                                                                                      2 July 2023.

4 The ASLEF Journal l December 2020
Equality is the soul of liberty - ASLEFJOURNAL
News

                                                   in a collection of
Picture this                                       images that will last
                                                   forever and will
                                                   testify to the UK
                                                                              Off the Rails
          OUR             and is designed to       being one of the
 F        evocative
          railway
                          showcase cityscapes,
                          as well as landscapes,
                                                   most beautiful
                                                   countries in the
                                                                                              JOHN CRACE laments the absence of former
                                                                                              Transport Secretary Failing Grayling from
pictures have all         around the UK.           world.’                                    frontline politics. ‘I know it’s unfashionable,’
been acclaimed in             ‘The landscape of    n The winning                              mutters the elegant wordsmith, ‘but I rather
the Landscape             the United Kingdom       entries in Landscape                       miss Chris Grayling. Not just because he was
Photographer of the       is amazingly rich and    Photographer of the                        always good value to sketch, but because
Year competition.         diverse with vast,       Year 2020 are on          there was an integrity to his commitment to never finding a
    Brian Nunn’s          deep, expanses, and      show at London            job he couldn’t do badly. Having warmed up by undermining
photograph, which         small, intimate,         Bridge station until      the justice system with a disatrous part-privatisation of the
won the Lines in the      cameos,’ said awards     Friday 12 February.       Probation Service, he set to work at Transport, where his
Landscape award,          founder Charlie          An accompanying           crowning glory was to award a ferry contract to a shell
shows smoke               Waite. ‘The              book, Landscape           company that had no ferries. During his time in office, Grayling
billowing from a          photographs, coming      Photographer of the       cost the country more than £3 billion. If we had been paying
steam locomotive          from the craft and       Year: Collection 13 (AA   him to do nothing, we’d all have been better off.’
crossing the              expertise of every       Publishing, £26) is
Ribblehead viaduct        photographer, results    also available.                                             RICK WAKEMAN, who played
in North Yorkshire.                                                                                            with folkies The Strawbs and
    Criss-Crossing by                                                                                          the prog rock group Yes before
David Queenan, with                                                                                            becoming the caped crusader
its geometric                                                                                                  of the keyboards with The Six
patterns, an unusual                                                                                           Wives of Henry VIII, Journey to
image of the bridge                                                                                            the Centre of the Earth, and The
across the Firth of                                                          Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round
Forth; John                                                                  Table, was pulled over by police at 4am on his way home from
Davidson’s shot of a                                                         a gig after the veteran rocker was spotted going round and
two-car service at                                                           round a roundabout. ‘Can you tell me when you had your last
Criccieth in                                                                 drink of alcohol, sir?’ asked the officer. ‘August 5, 1985’ replied
Gwynedd; and the                                                             the piano player promptly. ‘Ah, in that case, sir, it should have
photo by Ron Tear – ‘a                                                       cleared your system by now.’
born and bred
Cockney’ – of                                                                                 GYLES BRANDRETH, writer, broadcaster,
Battersea at Dusk,                                                                            after dinner speaker, and, from 1992 to 1997,
were all shortlisted                                                                          Conservative MP for Chester, has always been
runners-up.                                                                                   a bit of a luvvie. Which is why he was the
    The competition,                                                                          perfect plum to edit The Oxford Book of
open to amateurs as                                                                           Theatrical Anecdotes (OUP, £20). He reminds
well as professionals,                                                       us that thespians are obsessed with their place in the pecking
is now in its 13th year                                                      order, citing Kenneth Branagh’s tale of overhearing a
                                                                             conversation about Ian McKellen and his theoretically
                                                                             egalitarian Actors’ Company. ‘Isn’t it marvellous about
                                                                             McKellen,’ Ken heard someone proclaim. ‘He’s playing Hamlet
   QUOTE…                                                                    this week and a footman next.’‘What’s the other play called?’
   ‘Populism is                                                              asked a chum. ‘The Footman’ was the reply.
   democracy’s
   ugly sister’ –                                                                                         RACHEL JOHNSON, sister of the
   David                                                                                                  PM, and not a fervent admirer of
   Marquand,                                                                                              her sibling, reveals in Rake’s
   The Guardian                                                                                           Progress (Simon & Schuster, £8.99),
   …UNQUOTE                                                                                               a rollicking account of her ill-fated
                                                                                                          attempt to become an MEP for
                                                                             Change UK, that although the man christened Alexander Boris
                                                                             de Pfeffel Johnson likes to trade as Boris his family still, as they
                                                                             always have, call him Al. Remember Paul Simon? ‘I can call you
                                                                             Betty, and Betty, when you call me, you can call me Al…’

                                                                                                           CORNELIUS LYSAGHT has kept
                                                                                                           his counsel since being fired as BBC
                                                                                                           racing correspondent, but reached
                                                                                                           for the whip when James Purnell,
                                                                                                           director of radio, announced his
                                                                                                           own exit. In a peerless Twitter
Award-winning images (from top): Ribblehead in North Yorkshire;
                                                                             assassination, he said no one was even ‘vaguely sorry’ to see
Battersea at dusk; the Firth of Forth; and Criccieth in Gwynedd
                                                                             Tony Blair’s one-time bagman leave, pointing up Purnell’s
500 CLUB: Michael Roads, with number 078, won the November draw,             ‘talentless contribution’ to the corporation.
scooping the Retired Members’ Section jackpot of £492.

                                                                                                     December 2020 l The ASLEF Journal              5
Equality is the soul of liberty - ASLEFJOURNAL
News

                                                                                                                     be many issues to deal with in the
The TfL funding deal –                                                                                               short- and medium- term.
                                                                                                                         It is clear that a funding model

what it means for us                                                                                                 based so heavily on fares income
                                                                                                                     is not sustainable and that there
                                                                                                                     will be massive pressure to cut
                                                                                                                     costs. Staff terms and conditions
FINN BRENNAN, ASLEF’s                 catastrophic fall in TfL revenue.                                              will be targeted, and we have to
organiser on London                   Without government funding                                                     be ready to deal with that.
Underground, analyses the             there would have had to be huge                                                    That means not burying our
recent deal between the               cuts to services. The Department                                               heads in the sand and thinking
                                      for Transport commissioned a                                                   that things will just go back to
government and TfL over
                                      report on options and then not                                                 ‘normal’. They won’t. There will be
funding for the rest of this          only refused to publish it but
financial year                                                                                                       changes. Our job as a union is to
                                      wouldn’t even share it with senior                                             make sure those changes bring
                                      management.                               DO8 Finn: ‘The massive Yes vote      long-term benefits for our
           HERE has been a stark          After weeks of public                 in our ballot meant management       members.
  T        difference between the
           Tory government’s
                                      wrangling, a deal for the rest of
                                      this financial year was agreed. A
                                                                                backed off from trying to break
                                                                                agreements’
                                                                                                                         While many things in the
                                                                                                                     future are uncertain, we can be
attitude to the privately-owned       revised budget for 2021/22 will be                                             sure that Underground services
train operating companies and         published in January.                     sop to the Prime Minister’s ego.     will be key to London’s recovery
the publicly-controlled Transport         Despite the many public calls         No transport expert has ever been    from this pandemic and that its
for London.                           from the Tory candidate for Mayor         found – or ever will be – who        staff – and the strong effective
    While TOCs have been given        of London, and from the Prime             believes that driverless trains on   trade union that protects them –
management contracts that             Minister, to attack staff pensions        London Underground make any          will be as essential as always.
guarantee their shareholders a        and conditions, there is nothing in       economic or practical sense. As
profit, TfL has had to cope with a    the agreement that will                   documents released by ASLEF
series of short-term funding deals,   immediately do so.                        showed, it would cost around £7
ringed around with political              TfL will still have to make           billion to implement and deliver          QUOTE…
strings. There continues to be a      around an extra £160 million              no real savings. The funding              ‘Why does Robert Jenrick
very transparent effort by the        worth of cuts, but these will be          agreement is also explicit that           attack Sadiq Khan for
government to use the crises          spread across the entire operation        there is no money in the TfL              not getting enough
caused in public transport            and are a relatively small part of        budget for this.                          homes built yet delay
funding by covid-19 as a stick        the overall budget.                           None of this means that we            planning consents Khan
with which to beat the Labour             Although there is a clause in         can be complacent. While the              has approved?’ – Dave
Mayor and, it seems, to punish all    the agreement that says an ‘expert        massive Yes vote in our ballot            Hill, ex-Guardian, now
Londoners for having the temerity     review’ will be set up into the           meant management backed off               @OnLondon
to vote for him.                      feasibility of driverless trains, it is   from trying to break agreements,                    …UNQUOTE
    The pandemic caused a             clear that this is simply a political     there is no doubt that there will

                                                                                        ‘They asked
Welcome home, Doris                                                                     me to            RIA has equality
                                                                                        change my
Diana Dors, the vivacious movie star better
known for her rackety private life than for the
films she made as a Rank starlet, was born
                                                                                        name. I
                                                                                        suppose
                                                                                        they were
                                                                                                         charter – at last
Mary Diana Fluck. Her father Bert Fluck                                                                  Prompted by ASLEF, and other rail unions, the
                                                                                        afraid that if
worked in the accounts department of the                                                                 Railway Industry Association and Women in
                                                                                        my real
Great Western Railway. When she was invited                                                              Rail have, finally, launched a charter to
                                                                                        name, Diana
back to her home town to open a fête, the                                                                champion equality, diversity, and inclusion in
                                                                                        Fluck, was
vicar, predictably terrified that he would                                                               the UK’s railway industry.
                                                                                        up in lights
mispronounce her name, promptly                                                                              The charter – published 18 months after
                                                                                        and one of
mispronounced her name. But not as you                                                                   ASLEF launched its diversity report at the
                                                                                        the lights
might expect. ‘We are fortunate to have with                                                             Houses of Parliament, and GS Mick Whelan
                                                                                        blew…’
us today Diana Dors, whom many of us here in                                                             called for the industry to take action – is a
Swindon will fondly remember as Doris Klunt.’                                                            commitment to work together to build a ‘more
                                                                                                         balanced, higher performing, sector’.
                                                                                                             The charter’s commitments include making
   NETWORK RAIL SETS SCIENCE-BASED TARGETS                                                               recruitment and progression processes
   Network Rail has committed to ‘independently-verified, science-based targets’ to                      accessible and attractive to all to attract,
   help in the process of climate change mitigation. It wants to reduce absolute scope                   retain, and develop people of all backgrounds,
   1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 46% by 2029; reduce absolute scope 3                              ages, genders and identities; creating a culture
   indirect emissions by 28% by 2029; and ensure that 75% of its suppliers by                            that fosters inclusion and providing a safe
   emissions (covering purchased goods and services and capital goods) have                              space for all employees to talk openly,
   science-based targets by 2025.                                                                        including at industry events and in meetings;
      ‘Rail is already the cleanest and greenest mode of transporting large numbers                      providing opportunities for training and
   of people and goods,’ said NR chief executive Andrew Haines. ‘But we’re committed                     education; and supporting the progression of
   to cutting our carbon footprint even further. That’s why we’ve set carbon reduction                   diverse individuals into senior roles to improve
   targets backed by science rather than simply ones we think are easy to achieve.’                      diverse representation at senior level in the UK
                                                                                                         railway industry.

6 The ASLEF Journal l December 2020
Equality is the soul of liberty - ASLEFJOURNAL
News

Stonehaven fund for the families
          OLLOWING the tragic accident at                         the families, their loved ones who died at
  F       Stonehaven, ASLEF and the RMT set up a
          joint fund to help the families of those who
                                                                  Stonehaven, it will help them to deal with many of
                                                                  the practical matters and difficulties they will face.
died. That fund has raised a staggering £142,000 in a                ‘And I am determined, with my colleagues, to
little over two months. The fund will now be split                pursue the causes of this accident, and get the
equally between the families of Brett McCullough, 45,             answers everyone wants, for the bereaved families,
Donald Dinnie, 58, and Christopher Stuchbury, 62.                 and for every other railwayman and woman.'
    GS Mick Whelan said: ‘We have been overwhelmed                   Mick Hogg, the RMT organiser, said: ‘This is a true
by the response from rail union members, from                     testament to the solidarity of railway workers, their
branches, from fellow trade unionists, and from the               families and friends. The money may help the
public.’                                                          families but we will continue to campaign to make
    Kevin Lindsay, ASLEF’s organiser in Scotland, said:           the railway safer.’                                            DO2 Kevin: ‘Humbled by a
‘I am humbled by this total, which is a magnificent                  ASLEF and the RMT have expressed our gratitude              magnificent effort by
effort by our members, our branches, and our fellow               to Alan Rodgers, of Thompsons Scotland, who has                members, branches, and
trade unionists. Whilst money will not bring back, to             independently verified the accounts.                           fellow trade unionists’

‘Gormless’ Gav ‘extremely foolish’                                                                          Shaken and stirred
Employers have
condemned the
                           Employers’ Federation,
                           and the Food and
                                                       their decision.
                                                          The Union Learning
                                                                                                            and very well read
government’s               Drink Federation, said      Fund, run by the TUC,
decision to axe the        his ideologically-          has helped more than                                 Sean Connery was
workplace learning         driven decision to          200,000 workers build                                born at
programme as               withdraw the £12            on their skills, from                                Fountainbridge in
‘extremely foolish’ as     million-a-year funding      basic literacy and         Gavin Williamson:         Edinburgh and left
the pandemic pushes        to Union Learn would        numeracy to                stupid man, stupid        Darroch secondary
people to try to add to    undermine attempts          professional               decision                  school at 14 to work
their skills.              to increase skills in the   development.               economic recovery, so     as a milkman,
    In a joint letter to   workforce.                     Ian Wright, chief       it is extremely foolish   bricklayer, bouncer,
the hapless Education          Ministers admit         executive of the Food      to stop funding Union     lifeguard, and coffin
Secretary, Gavin           they did not bother to      and Drink Federation,      Learn with its proven     polisher before trying
Williamson, the            consult employers           said: ‘The government      contribution to skills    his luck at acting. An
Engineering                before announcing           says skills are vital to   in the workplace.’        American friend told
                                                                                                            him to tone down          The first – and
                                                                                                            the accent and to         arguably the best –
Tories give green light for                                                                                 start reading the
                                                                                                            classics. Having little
                                                                                                                                      James Bond in
                                                                                                                                      Goldfinger
longer and heavier lorries                                                                                  money, he did this in
                                                                                                            public libraries,         lending library of
A new generation of mega-lorries could take to the                                                          devouring the             every town and city
roads under government proposals. Ministers are                                                             complete works of         he visited on his
about to unveil plans to allow longer, heavier, HGvs                                                        George Bernard            travels. ‘It’s the books,
to operate across Britain’s roads. The Department for                                                       Shaw, Oscar Wilde,        the reading, that can
Transport claims the idea is to cut the number of                                                           Henrik Ibsen and          change one’s life,’ he
                                                       Mick: ‘We don’t need more lorries, we                James Joyce and,          said. ‘I’m the living
journeys needed to move goods around the country
                                                       need to move more freight to rail’                   later, would raid the     evidence.’
but critics say it will simply lead to more accidents,
more deaths, and more damage to our transport infrastructure. GS Mick Whelan says: ‘The
forward-looking solution to moving goods around our country, in the 21st century, is to
take freight off our roads and put it in our railway.’                                                      Chicken flies coop
                                                                                                            Kevin Maguire,
Tinker, tailor, soldier, spy – but                                         QUOTE…
                                                                                                            associate editor of
                                                                                                            the Daily Mirror,
which one’s the Chatty Rat?                                                ‘While tens of thousands         waspishly
Security boffins have been dispatched to the homes of                      lose their lives, grieve lost    suggested that the
cabinet ministers and their advisers to examine their mobile               loved ones, make huge            finest moment of
                                                                           sacrifices, and suffer                                 Lee Cain followed
phones and laptops as part of an inquiry into government                                                    Lee Cain’s career –   Cameron around
leaks. Health Secretary Matt Hancock, Cabinet Office minister              enormous hardships, the          the Prime Minister’s dressed as a chicken
Michael Gove, and Chancellor Rishi Sunak are among the                     Tories are using this crisis     director of
senior figures told to hand over their devices. The Prime                  as a get rich quick              communications until he was fired last
Minister was furious when reports of an imminent national                  scheme for their cronies,        month – was not as press officer, under his
lockdown bounced him into making an early announcement                     mates, and families’ –           mentor Dominic Cummings, for the Vote
on Saturday 31 October. The mole – dubbed Chatty Rat by                    Angela Rayner, deputy            Leave campaign but the weeks he spent
Downing Street – is thought to have briefed confidential                   Labour leader                    during the 2010 general election
information to journalists within hours of a chaotic                                  …UNQUOTE              shadowing David Cameron while dressed
coronavirus crisis summit meeting at Number 10.                                                             in a hot and sweaty rubber chicken suit.

                                                                                                             December 2020 l The ASLEF Journal               7
Equality is the soul of liberty - ASLEFJOURNAL
News

Saved by a whale’s tail
          EW people – the tale in the Old Testament of Jonah and
  F       the Whale notwithstanding – have had their lives saved
          by an enormous whale.
    But a metro train driver in the Netherlands did after his service
overshot the stop blocks at the end of the line at De Akkers
station in Spijkenisse, on the outskirts of Rotterdam, shortly
after midnight on Monday 2 November. The train would have
plunged 32ft into the river if it weren’t for a giant marine
sculpture. The artwork, called, appropriately, Saved by a Whale’s
Tale, which is made of reinforced polyester, and was put there in
2002, lived up to its name by ensuring that the driver, the only
person on board, wasn’t injured.
    Maarten Struijs, the architect and artist who made the
sculpture, which depicts two tails emerging from the water
beneath the elevated railway line, said he was surprised it had
held the train.                                                                                                                 Who feels Moby Dick?
    ‘I am amazed it proved so strong. I could never have imagined                                                               Metro train at the
it that way, but it saved the operator’s life. When plastic has stood                                                           whaleway station in
for 20 years, you don’t expect it to hold up a metro train.’                                                                    Holland

                                                                        lockdown will bring       GRENFELL SHAME OF COSY RELATIONSHIP
Grand Central locks                                                     an inevitable fall in     BETWEEN BIG BUSINESS AND REGULATOR
                                                                        passenger                 The Fire Brigades Union has called on the Grenfell
up in lockdown                                                          numbers, meaning          inquiry to investigate the ‘revolving door’ between
                                                                        it is not possible to     manufacturers and regulators after it was revealed
Grand Central           union                                           continue operating.       that Digby Harper, chair of the board of a supposedly
joined Hull Trains in   representatives, it’s                                ‘With no trains in   independent regulator which issues safety certificates
                                                ‘It’s not possible to
suspending              clear that the                                  service, some of our      for construction products, is a former chief executive
                                                continue’ says GC
services from Friday    difficult but                                   crew and                  of Celotex, the firm which made the flammable
6 November during       necessary measure       business model          associated staff will     insulation which helped the fire at Grenfell Tower
Boris Johnson’s         of taking a short       means that, unlike      be supported by           spread so quickly.
second lockdown.        period of               most train              the government
‘After careful          hibernation is our      operators, we rely      furlough scheme.          DECARBONISING BRITAIN’S RAILWAY
weighing-up of our      only course of          exclusively on          We thank staff for        The House of Commons Select Committee on
options, and            action,’ said MD        income from ticket      their                     Transport, in a virtual meeting on Wednesday
following               Richard McClean.        sales, with no          understanding,            11 November, questioned David Clarke of the Rail
discussions with            ‘Grand Central’s    subsidy from            professionalism and       Industry Association; Mark Gaynor of the Rail Delivery
the DfT and trade       open access             government. The         commitment.’              Group; Paul Smart, former MD of Freightliner; Mary
                                                                                                  Grant of Porterbrook; Chris Smith of G-volution; and
Swampy’s at it again                       Stonehaven line reopens                                Leo Murray of Riding Sunbeams about the challenges
                                                                                                  of decarbonising the rail industry and the
Dan Hooper, the eco-warrior better         The railway line between Aberdeen and                  government support needed to make the change.
known as Swampy, who became the            Dundee, closed after the tragic accident at
poster boy for protest when he was         Stonehaven in Aberdeenshire on Wednesday               CROYDON TRAM INQUEST SUSPENDED
arrested in the 1990s for                  12 August, reopened on Tuesday 3 November.
                                                                                                  The inquest into the Tramlink crash at Sandilands, East
campaigning against the Newbury               Three people – the driver, Brett
                                                                                                  Croydon, in November 2016, in which seven people
by-pass in Berkshire, and the              McCullough; the conductor, Donald Dinnie;
                                                                                                  died, has been delayed until next year because of the
expansion of the A30 in Devon, is          and a passenger, Christopher Stuchbury –
                                                                                                  coronavirus crisis. A 12-week hearing into the
still an environmental activist, and       died, and six other people were injured, when
                                                                                                  derailment, in which 61 people were also injured, was
still getting nicked.                      the 06.38 ScotRail service from Aberdeen to
                                                                                                  due to start on 19 October. It will now begin in spring
    Swampy – who, after living in a        Glasgow Queen Street struck a landslip 1.4
                                                                                                  2021, according to South London coroner’s court.
tunnel to stop the dual carriageway        miles north-east of Carmont.
link road in Devon being built,               An interim Rail Accident Investigation
turned down a shedload of money            Branch report said the train struck a landslip –
to record a new version of The             several tons of washed-out rocks and gravel –              QUOTE…
Southlanders’ hit I am a Mole and I        and derailed.                                              ‘Few in Europe seek to submerge their
Live in a Hole – was charged with             Network Rail has been working ‘around the               country’s national identity in a federation.
trespassing after he and eight others      clock’, said Alex Hynes, to lay hundreds of                Instead, they seek to pursue their own
were removed from a tree on the            metres of replacement track as part of a                   national interests constructively within a
HS2 route.                                 ‘complex’ repair operation.                                co-operative European framework. Perhaps
    They had set up camp in a tree            NR has admitted that the impact of climate              Britain should have done the same’ – Vernon
house at Jones’ Hill Wood, between         change on the rail network ‘is an area                     Bogdanor, Professor of Government at
Wendover and Great Missenden, in           accelerating faster than our assumptions’,                 King’s College, London, and author of
Buckinghamshire – the wood that            adding that the derailment shows the                       Britain and Europe in a Troubled World
inspired Roald Dahl to write               industry must improve its response to                                                     …UNQUOTE
his children’s story Fantastic Mr Fox.     extreme weather.

8 The ASLEF Journal l December 2020
Equality is the soul of liberty - ASLEFJOURNAL
Platform

The English
Civil War
             GREGOR GALL, an affiliate
             research associate at the
             University of Glasgow, and
             editor of the Scottish Left
             Review, is writing a book
             about the music and the
politics of Joe Strummer and The Clash.
He dials down the volume of Combat
Rock to analyse why the government                  Shirley Handsley of ASLEF Education and DO5 Nigel Gibson watch Steve Murphy, managing
has pulled the plug on Union Learn                  director of MTR Crossrail, sign the ASLEF charter for apprentices as part of Union Learn in 2018

           ITHOUT any consultation or prior         introduce further restrictions on the right to       man behind Asian Babes, Mega Boobs and Big
W          notice, the Tory Education Secretary,
           Gavin Williamson, has announced he
                                                    strike. Which came to fruition when the Trade
                                                    Union Act (2016) was passed.
                                                                                                         and Black.
                                                                                                              Tory governments are paid to promote and
is to end the funding for Union Learn In                It was – rightly – deemed by critics as ‘a       defend what Joseph Conrad, in Nostromo,
England. Established in 1998 and supported –        solution looking for a problem’ because, in the      refers to as material (economic) interests; that
until now – by governments of all parties, the      preceding 20 years, there was only one year          is, capitalists and capitalism. Sometimes they
money has provided the means for learning in        when more than 1 million days were not               differ on how best this should be done – Brexit
the workplace and training in literacy,             worked due to strikes. You have to go back to        being the latest example – but, normally, there
numeracy, and digital/ICT skills for the benefit    the miners’ strike of 1984-1985 or the early         is an alignment of material interests, power,
of 200,000 workers every year.                      1970s to see strike activity of any magnitude.       and ideology.
    Its annual cost? Just £12 million! Meantime,    And, of course, there were new anti-union and             Their interests are defended by power, hard
this Tory government is borrowing more than         anti-strike laws pretty much every couple of         or soft, and guided by an ideology of free
£1 billion every day to fund off-setting            years during the 1980s to deal with what             market theory. Political and social power arises
measures arising from lockdown restrictions.        Margaret Thatcher saw as the ‘problem’ then.         from the ownership and control of these
And doing so when interest rates are almost                                                              material interests, while the ideology attempts
negative and financial markets are very much        WEALTHY LANDOWNERS, VICTORIAN                        to justify the concentration of that power.
pro-borrowing.                                      MILL OWNERS AND PORN BARONS                               That’s why Thatcher wanted to smash the
    Williamson’s decision was made just days        Thatcher made membership of a union at               NUM in 1984 – just as Earl Grey wanted to
after Boris Johnson promised a ‘lifetime skills     GCHQ in Cheltenham unlawful in 1984                  break the Tolpuddle Martyrs in 1834 – because
guarantee’ in order to ‘give people of all ages     because she deemed it ‘a threat to national          the idea of workers standing together in
the means and the confidence to switch and          security’. Ironically, the civil servants affected   solidarity was, they thought, a threat. The
to get the skills they need’.                       were amongst the most moderate in the trade          Trade Union Act (1984) was designed to
    Major employers such as Tesco, Heathrow         union movement and, effectively, offered her a       diminish our power.
airport, and Arla Foods support the campaign        ‘no strike’ deal – but that made no difference.
to retain Union Learn funding because it has        Having unions at GCHQ was an affront to her          LIFE IS CRUEL BUT IT’S UP TO US TO
helped improve basic skills – and productivity      notions of loyalty and right and wrong.              CHANGE THIS TOWN CALLED MALICE
– in their workforces.                                 After the nine-day General Strike of 1926         Because, at heart, the boss class – and the
                                                    another Tory Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin,        political party it pays to enact legislation on its
HEINEKEN OF ADULT LEARNING GETS                     banned the extremely moderate civil service          behalf – dreams of a return to the high days of
TO PEOPLE OTHERS CANNOT REACH                       unions from affiliating to the TUC and having        Victorian Britain when they could hire and fire
Frances O’Grady, general secretary of the TUC,      any political objectives by enacting the Trade       at will and pay as little as they needed.
says Union Learning is ‘the Heineken of adult       Disputes and Trade Union Act (1927).                      Bad bosses and bad companies don’t like
learning – it gets to people other approaches          There are plenty of other examples of             employment tribunals and trade unions. They
cannot reach’. How can we explain this turn of      spiteful – and unnecessary – actions against         don’t much like employees, either; they prefer
events? Is it the case that Dominic Cummings’       trade unions by the Tories and their chums in        a pool of notionally ‘self-employed’ contractors
call for ‘weirdos and misfits with odd skills’ to   the ruling classes dating all the way back to        they can use as they wish.
work in Whitehall has led to a young policy         the Tolpuddle Martyrs in 1834, when six                   Unions which negotiate for good terms and
wonk slipping past his master such an idiotic       agricultural workers in Dorset were                  conditions, decent wages, and proper health
initiative? No, the answer is much more             prosecuted, convicted, and transported to            and safety provision, are anathema to the
straightforward. It is that the Tories hate the     Australia for having the temerity to form a          Tories and their chums. That’s why they do
trade unions and will take every opportunity        trade union to press for a living wage.              everything in their power to do us down. And
to stuff them.                                         The Tories, as the premier party of every         that’s why they are withdrawing funding from
    The Prime Minister has made a fist – a          merchant adventurer, capitalist, and conman,         Union Learn. It’s irrational, of course, but it’s
proud proclamation – of never having met            always act for the rich and the powerful. That       designed to denigrate and diminish trade
any of the rail unions during his eight years as    used to mean, in the 18th century, wealthy           unions and to make a political point. It doesn’t
Mayor of London, when he was responsible            landowners; then, in the 19th century,               matter that it’s not practical – people will suffer
for London Underground. That kind of                Victorian mill owners; in the 20th century, big      and be less well-educated – but that’s because
attitude underscored his continued calls for        business; now it’s dodgy Russian oligarchs and       it’s an act of ideological malice. But then that’s
David Cameron’s Conservative government to          porn barons such as Richard Desmond, the             the Tories for you.

                                                                                                          December 2020 l The ASLEF Journal               9
Equality is the soul of liberty - ASLEFJOURNAL
Review of the Year

That was the year that was
           CHRIS PROCTOR had a short-lived career as a stand-up comic – telling
           jokes at a working men’s club in south Wales – before deciding to write for
           the page rather than the stage. He has written for The Guardian, The
           Times, Morning Star, New Statesman and Tribune and for eight years
           worked for ASLEF, helping the GS to put together the Journal each
           month, and handling press and publicity for the union, and now amuses
fellow hacks with his ‘And Finally’ column in the NUJ’s magazine The Journalist

            ORMALLY (whatever that means) if I’m          happening. It quickly emerged that I might as

 N          asked to write a review of the year, it’s a
            pleasant and not over-demanding task.
I flick through my diary, or look back at articles
                                                          well ask our cat. Boris Johnson or some other
                                                          professional bumbler emerged with a serious
                                                          expression, and a shifty look, and pretended to
I’ve written, and topics pop out. I write a few           have a plan.
paragraphs about them, and Bob’s your uncle.                  After the initial lockdown there would be a
Job done. Where’s the corkscrew?                          rise in cases or a fall in cases which might be
     2020 was different. It’s tricky to write about a     followed by a second spike or, possibly, not.
year consisting of ‘Went home. Stayed there.                  Why didn’t they admit what we already
Repeated.’ My 2020 diary has been pristine since          knew? ‘I don't know what’s going on or what to         happens next.
March. After that it looks very much like the new         do. I haven’t got a clue what to do.’                       Boris blames it on the virus. Everything, it
one that arrived with last month’s Journal. If we’d           It might not have been encouraging, but at         seems, would have been OK except that the talks
known what was going to happen we could                   least it would have been honest. Do politicians        had to take place via a video link. If we’d chatted
have saved thousands by not sending out a                 have something against honesty? Are they               to those funny foreigners face to face, it would
2020 version.                                             allergic to it?                                        have all been sorted. Anyone buy that?
     Looking at the pages up to 23 March is like              2020 was the year that politics and the media           On the bright side, though, we have signed a
peering into an alternative universe. ‘Lunch with         lost the final vestiges of trust they might once       trade deal with Japan. Liz Truss was thrilled and
NW,’ it says. ‘Jazz Cafe’. ‘Arsenal v West Ham’.          have enjoyed. We no longer believe anything.           trilled about a ‘ground-breaking, British-shaped
‘Stanhope Arms’. ‘Kassy visiting’. ‘Wellcome                                                                     deal’ with this close neighbour of ours. The
Library’. I can hardly remember what these                CROSS YOUR FINGERS AND HOPE                            agreement could increase our trade levels by up
entries mean. And who’s NW?                               When the Prime Minister said he had the plague         to 0.07%. But it’s difficult to share her enthusiasm
                                                          and went off to hospital, half the country put it      when you think that, last year, EU trade
I DON’T BOOK TO GO TO THE PUB                             down to a publicity stunt. You can hardly blame        accounted for 43% of UK exports and 51% of our
The worse thing was when, in early summer,                them. This was the man who claimed, on 12              imports. Way to go, Liz…
they said, ‘OK, you can go out now.’ That’s nice, I       December last year, that he had an ‘oven-ready’
thought. And then discovered there was                    Brexit deal. Twelve months later there’s no smell      LET THE CHILDREN STARVE
nowhere to go. I got as far as the door of the Bull       of cooking. All that’s happened is the kitchen’s       There were times in 2020 when I thought it was
and found the entrance blocked. ‘Have you                 caught fire. The cabinet are crossing their fingers    all just a terrible dream and I’d wake up later and
booked?’ Booked? I don’t book to go to the pub. I         and hoping that the plague will hide the smoke.        discover reality. One day I discovered a football
turn up. The doorkeeper said I should decide                  One of the few certainties is that 2020 will be    player had became a national hero for advancing
when I’d like to have a pint, and ring them. Best         the last year that the United Kingdom is in the        the theory that it might be civil to give food to
to give them a week’s notice.                             European Union. There are a few things to sort         hungry children. I mean, good on Marcus
    It’s not human. You don’t think to yourself, ‘I’d     out, we’re told: like regulations on workers’          Rashford, even if he does play for Man U, but it all
like a Guinness at a quarter to five a week on            rights, the environment, and financial assistance      sounded so desperately obvious, like suggesting
Tuesday,’ do you? Yes, there’s a fair chance you          by government to businesses.                           that mass murderers could possibly be
will, but that applies to most days.                          These are the basics! The recipe book, not the     imprisoned; huge metal vehicles travelling at
                                                          choice of garnish. And, with only weeks to go          vast speeds might benefit from a driver; or that
NO NEWS IS STILL CONFUSING                                before we leave the club, and head for the ‘sunny      you should stop at a red light.
For the first few weeks of lockdown I made the            uplands’, self-isolated from the EU, and the rest of        It was ludicrous. And yet it was debated. In
mistake of looking at the news to see what was            the world, this government has no idea what            Parliament. They actually discussed the notion

10 The ASLEF Journal l December 2020
Cuttings

                                                                                                           Brunel’s Memo
                                                                                                           from Turner
                                                                                                                     OSEPH Mallord William Turner, one
                                                                                                             J       of Britain’s greatest artists, was at
                                                                                                                     the peak of his powers at the height
                                                                                                           of the industrial revolution and a new
                                                                                                           exhibition at Tate Britain – which opened,
                                                                                                           somewhat unfortunately, on Wednesday 28
                                                                                                           October, just three days before Boris
                                                                                                           Johnson announced another lockdown –
                                                                                                           celebrates the painter’s modernity.
                                                                                                              It includes, in Steam and Speed, the
                                                                                                           standout room, Rain, Steam, and Speed – The
                                                                                                           Great Western Railway (1844) which depicts
                                                                                                           a locomotive hurtling through a gloriously
                                                                                                           realised damp mist across a railway bridge,
                                                                                                           designed and built over the River Thames by
                                                                                                           Isambard Kingdom Brunel, between
                            Boris Johnson            hoped to reap from Rogue Trader has come              Maidenhead in Berkshire and Taplow in
                            bumbles and              unstuck. Can I have my money back?’ Or buying         Buckinghamshire. If you look carefully you
                            blusters and hasn’t      a motor from Honest John on tick and, realising       can see, ahead of the train, running at full
                            a clue what to do;       its defects, saying you wouldn’t be paying any        pelt, a hare – famously a symbol of speed in
                            Marcus Rashford          further instalments.                                  the natural world.
                            scores for                   Aren’t investors supposed to take a risk? Isn’t
                            Manchester United        that the point? John Major’s franchise system
                            and this country’s       means if they win, they win; and if they lose, they
                            kids; while a pint of    win as well.
                            the black stuff in           And this is the good news.
                            splendid self-
                            isolation is just        AT LEAST LABOUR DIDN’T GET IN
                            begging to be            The only other positive thing about this year was
                            drunk                    relief that Labour didn’t win the general election
                                                     a year ago.
                                                         Can you imagine the outcry if Labour had
that no child should go hungry during school         come up with the expenditure that the Tories
holidays. Unbelievable!                              have authorised this year? If John McDonnell or
    And then 322 Conservative Members of             Anneliese Dodds had come up with the support          Rain, Steam, and Speed – The Great Western
Parliament voted against – it was their Marie        packages of Rishi Sunak?                              Railway by JMW Turner
Antoinette moment, not ‘let them eat cake’, but          The Tories and their media chums would have
                                                                                                              ‘The world has never seen anything like
‘let the children starve’ – and the measure was      had a field day. It would have confirmed all their
                                                                                                           this picture,’ said William Makepeace
lost. We had a majority in favour of hungry kids.    views about foolish irresponsible spending by
                                                                                                           Thackeray, author of Vanity Fair, at the time.
That was when I decided 2020 was definitely a        disgusting extreme socialists. They’d all be
                                                                                                           ‘He has made a picture with real rain, behind
bad year.                                            parroting Theresa May’s adage that, ‘There is no
                                                                                                           which is real sunshine, and you expect a
                                                     magic money tree.’
                                                                                                           rainbow every minute. Meanwhile, there
GOOD NEWS FOR RAILS IN WALES                             The reds would be ruining the country! Every
                                                                                                           comes a train down upon you, really
By now I was growing desperate to find               penny spent supporting broken firms, penniless
                                                                                                           moving, at the rate of 50mph, and which the
something resembling good news. There was            unemployed workers, and vital public utilities
                                                                                                           reader had best make haste to see, lest it
the fact that the railways in Wales are back in      would have been met with a wailing and a
                                                                                                           should dash out of the picture, and be away
public control: but even this is insane.             gnashing of teeth.
                                                                                                           up Charing Cross through the wall opposite.’
   For a kick-off, half the firm that was running        Wild reckless spending! Money we haven’t
                                                                                                              Turner’s contemporary – and rival – John
the KeolisAmey franchise was Keolis, a               got! Nanny state! Bloody commies!
                                                                                                           Constable described this picture – one of
multinational company based in Paris.                                                                      150 works in the exhibition – as being
Unsurprisingly, when the profits started             ARMS FLAILING, BOOTS FLASHING                         ‘painted with tinted steam’.
dropping in Wales, the Keolis crew were ‘not         But it would be an exaggeration to say that 2020         There are echoes, in the swirling colours,
prepared to shoulder their share of the pain’        went well for Jeremy Corbyn. It ended with him        of the thunderous skies and stormy seas
according to Welsh Deputy Transport Minister         being set upon by Dame Hodge, arms flailing           familiar from many of his landscapes, but
Lee Waters. He explained that ‘their business        and boots flashing. Exhausted with the effort of      mostly we have a vivid sense of a train on
model collapsed in the face of covid because         her assault, she could hardly draw breath when        God’s Wonderful Railway in thrilling and
the revenue was not coming in’.                      she was asked about her motives.                      dynamic motion.
   Well, that’s fine, then. They weren’t making as       ‘Tolerance,’ she gasped.
much money out of Wales as they’d anticipated,           It’s all too much for me. I’m going to have a     n Turner’s Modern World is at Tate Britain,
so they were off. Au revoir, mes amis!               lie-down until the New Year. The only good thing      lockdown notwithstanding, until Sunday
   It’s like you sticking a tenner on a pony that    about 2020 is that it’s going to end: and surely      7 March. Adults £22.
comes in last at Chepstow and popping back to        2021 can’t be any worse.
Paddy Power next day. ‘The investment I had              Can it?                                                                        Keith Richmond

                                                                                                            December 2020 l The ASLEF Journal         11
Equalities

                                                                                                                                              ASLEF, the
A train driver is                                                                                                                             train drivers’
                                                                                                                                              union, is
                                                                                                                                              equally
a train driver is                                                                                                                             driven,
                                                                                                                                              whether you

a train driver                                                                                                                                are male or
                                                                                                                                              female; black
                                                                                                                                              or white;
                                                                                                                                              lesbian, gay,
              It is 20 years since the first                                                                                                  bisexual,
              three of our five equalities                                                                                                    transgender,
              committees were set up.                                                                                                         or straight;
              LEE JAMES, ASLEF’s                                                                                                              disabled or
              equalities adviser,                                                                                                             able-bodied;
                                                                                                                                              young or, er,
introduces our four-page special report
                                                                                                                                              not so young
marking that anniversary

           AD 2000 was a big year for ASLEF; the
  A        year conference adopted rule changes
           which saw the formation of our trade
union’s equality structures. We introduced three
consultative committees representing women,          minutes of AAD, and back copies of the Journal,            The committees have grown with Young
race, and sexual equality, with an elected           some of what I read is astounding; even more so        Members and Disabled Members from three to
delegate from each of our eight districts. Their     when you consider it is not all that long ago.         five. The visibility of members from minority
primary aim was to ensure that the voices of             In contrast, our recent history shows the          groups has increased, as has the attention given
these minority groups would be heard within          progress this union has made in the last 20            to issues specific to them; would ASLEF have
our union’s structures.                              years. The committees have become, in the most         argued for trans rights or launched a
    Mick Rix, the general secretary, told            part, a respected and valued part of the ASLEF         menopause campaign had these issues not
conference: ‘It is time to challenge the ignorance   structure. Delegates at AAD no longer seek to          been highlighted by the committees
and prejudice within the union. We are going to      remove them; instead their work receives praise        representing the people affected?
follow the equality agenda even if it sometimes      both from the floor and the top table.                     Ultimately, the success of our union’s
seems shocking to men’s sensibilities. This is a         In 20 years of organising for equality, the list   equality structures will be measured in their
fundamental issue for the progress of our trade      of achievements is long, and if you are interested     demise. The day that ASLEF sees a female
union.’                                              in reading about them in more detail you can           general secretary; an assistant general secretary
    And – boy oh boy – were some people’s            visit aslefequalities20.com. ASLEF has published       open about having a disability; a president from
sensibilities shocked! In the early years many       two On Track with Diversity reports, respected         the LGBT+ community; someone from an ethnic
attempts were made to remove the committees          throughout the railway industry, examining the         minority on the executive committee; or a
from the rule book, to stifle their voices, and      lack of diversity in the driving grade, which have     young member elected as a district organiser;
there was hostility towards committee                held the TOCs and FOCs to account over poor            will be the moment we can sit back and say,
members. Honestly, looking back at verbatim          recruitment practices.                                 ‘We got there.’

Light at the end of the tunnel                                                                                    Equality is the
GS MICK WHELAN
celebrates the work of
                                    England, Scotland, and Wales
                                    are women; just 8% are from                                                   soul of liberty
ASLEF’s equalities                  an ethnic minority; and only                                                  Frances Wright, who
committees                          15% are under 35. These                                                       was born at Dundee
                                    figures do not represent the                                                  in 1795, and moved
          SLEF is committed to      communities we serve                                                          to the United States
 A        equality and has been
          at the forefront of
promoting diversity in the rail
                                    because 51% of the people in
                                    this country are female; 20% in
                                                                                                                  in 1825, where she
                                                                                                                  established a
                                    the last census identified as                                                 Utopian commune,
industry. But, as a trade union,                                       Mick with Dawn Butler at the
                                    ethnic minority; and 23% are                                                  was a feminist,
we can only recruit as                                                 launch of On Track with                                             Frances
                                    aged 18 to 35.                                                                socialist, and vocal
members people who have                                                Diversity at Westminster                                            Wright
                                        We believe that a train                                                   advocate of
been employed as drivers by         driver is a train driver is a      industry and the change will               progressive causes       (1795-1852)
the privatised TOCs and FOCs.       train driver – regardless of       benefit everyone.                          such as birth control, universal
So we work with these               gender, sexuality, race, or            We’ve come a very long way             education, equal rights, and the
companies every day to ensure       religion – and as part of our      in the last 20 years – thanks to           emancipation of the slaves. ‘Until
they encourage women, as            over-arching policy we’ve          the work of this union and our             women assume the place in society
well as men, and black and          been pushing the train             equalities committees – but we             which good sense and good feeling
minority ethnic, as well as         companies, for instance, to        still have some way to go. And I           alike assign them, human
white, and LGBT+, as well as        allow more part-time and           can see light at the end of the            improvement must advance but
straight, people to become          flexible working, because the      tunnel – especially if the                 feebly,’ she argued. ‘Equality is the
drivers.                            lack of such agreements has        recommendations in our On                  soul of liberty. There is, in fact, no
    The harsh facts are that only   been a barrier, in the past, to    Track with Diversity report are            liberty without it.’
6.5% of the train drivers in        people coming into our             implemented.

12 The ASLEF Journal l December 2020
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