Central line drivers struck against understaffing and victimisation, photo Petr Kratochvil (Creative Commons)

Central line drivers struck against understaffing and victimisation, photo Petr Kratochvil (Creative Commons)   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

Workers on the Central line of the London Underground walked out for 24 hours on 7 November, organised by transport union RMT and train drivers’ union Aslef.

At Leytonstone station in east London, pickets were joined by the assistant general secretary of the RMT, Steve Hedley.

Talking to Socialist Party members, workers described the events which led to the strike. These included a refusal to employ enough drivers, as well as the victimisation of a union member.

All this when it emerged at the end of 2016 that 50 bosses received £100,000 ‘golden handshakes’ when leaving their management posts at Transport for London!

Despite the cold and wet weather, spirits were high on the picket line with strikers openly discussing the dispute and feelings of determination to keep on fighting.

The support of the Socialist Party, which also brought solidarity from the National Shop Stewards Network, was warmly received by strikers, who even shared with us homemade cake!

Theo Sharieff, Waltham Forest Socialist Party

This version of this article was first posted on the Socialist Party website on 13 November 2018 and may vary slightly from the version subsequently printed in The Socialist.