Solid support for RMT strike at Loughton, London

Video: Above an interview with a striking RMT activist

Socialist Party members were met with an even warmer reception at the Loughton picket today, as RMT and TSSA flags stood side by side once more.

Stuart Walker – East 15 Socialist Students

The mood was lively, bus drivers were honking and everyone took a leaflet. There was support for the RMT led demo on the 23rd of October, with strikers pleased to see it being backed by other unions across the capital.

When talking about the London firefighters union’s ballot for strike action, one striker said; ‘You can’t run the railways without the fire department’.

A worker named Bill said he was so convinced by ‘The Red Line’, the newsletter distributed by Socialist Party members on the railways, last time there was a strike, that he sent it to his Turkish colleague at the Canary Wharf picket to have it copied and handed out.

The picket line at Loughton was even larger this time, with around 15 workers by 8.00 am.

Transport For London’s complete disregard for health and safety was on show again, however. One cleaner found himself locked in the platform unable to get out, having finished his shift at 5:30am and being abandoned by the managers that had clocked him in. In the end, it was the strikers that helped him get out.