days. £1.5 billion to defend 'our" national interests. And now she's determined to defend 'our' nabe the tragedy of wasted lives of working peoto destroy her new enemy nians, but the rail unions.
Rail workers have rejected an offer of five per cent. Even that is chicken feed. But the five per cent is not going to be paid until September after a five month freeze. So really, the offer is nothing more than three per cent.
And this grand sum of Inree per cent Is uea lo a six-point productivity package. Thousand. British Rail Bota and the are stake. The Tories are determined to take on the rail workers and force through their plans to make railworkers pay for the crisis.
The train drivers' union ASLEF forced the Board to retreat over flexible rostering. AUT now everything is geared up for She says she spent the fantastic sum of tional interest at home. This time there won't ple, but she'll use the same single mindedness not the Argentian all-out war. The stakes are high. The Tories want to buila on the gains they made in public opinion over the Malvinas/ Falklands war. Now they want the gains to stick by defeating important the labour movement.
If they defeat the railworkers they can prepare a tresh round ot attacks on the working class. They can even consider an early general election. A test of strength between the railworkers and the British Rail Board is a of strength between LEoL the Tories and the labour movement. a fight which the working class must win.
Sid Weighell was quick to give his 'full support' to the army In the South Atlantic. He's a bit more about fight with the BRB. There's no doubt he'll be usual eleventh hour sellOul. But he's got little room for manoeuvre in the face of the Tories' determination to crush the rail workers and his members' resistance to any more selldeals like flexible VUl rostering. Rail - crucial to the movement of coal and steel Miners, steel workers and transport workers have given magnificent support workers. They have showdefeating this Tory Widespread blacking and solidarity ac tion will be vital if the rail strike is going to succeed.
The railways are vital to the economy. With ef fective picketing, large sections of industry can be stopped. And if the mines, steel and other sectors black the use of alternative freight transport, the Tories will go down to the biggest since the miners forced them to do a U-turn on pit closures.
If that happens, general election will be a very different kind of election than the one being planned by Thatcher, the SOP and the Labour rights!
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By D Ellis, NUR guard MARGARET THATCHER is riding high these