Train drivers in Aslef took national strike action as part of their pay campaign on Saturday 26 November. Socialist Party members again visited picket lines to give support and discuss the way forward.
Elaine Brunskill reports from Newcastle Central Station
One of the strikers had recently been speaking to a young nurse who was worried their NHS strike wouldn’t get public support. The Aslef member reassured them that they would receive overwhelming public support. Furthermore, that both Aslef and RMT members would definitely get along to the hospital picket lines to support them.
We were told by another striker that all three of his household will have been on strike by Christmas. Alongside himself as an Aslef member, one member of his household had been on strike as a CWU member in BT, and another, a nurse who will be on the RCN strike! The mood to get rid of the Tories was palpable, but there was no enthusiasm for Starmer’s Labour Party. Our message about the need for a new workers’ party was well-received, as was the idea of trade unionists standing as TUSC candidates in the next general election.
