Boss Livingstone’s Scab Call

Tube strike

Boss Livingstone’s Scab Call

KEN LIVINGSTONE, former darling of the left, urged RMT members to cross
picket lines on their one-day strike on 29 June. He said that the offer they
had received from London Underground Limited (LUL) was "extremely generous"
(see Tube Workers Fight To Defend Jobs And Conditions).

Ken Douglas

His call to scab has caused RMT general secretary Bob Crow to resign from
the board of Transport for London, which he was brought onto by Livingstone.
Bob Crow said: "I was brought up according to Labour movement principles and
to believe that the 11th commandment is ‘thou shalt not cross a picket line’".

Livingstone claims to be different from Blair’s New Labour but when he had
the chance he scuttled back into the Labour Party and stoutly defends big
business as well as the rest of them.

When there is nothing at stake he will demagogically condemn George Bush as
a war criminal, to maintain his so-called radical credentials. But when it
comes to defending workers against privatisation and deregulation, like the
Tube workers, Livingstone now sounds just like Blair.

Livingstone and his immediate staff are all on over £100,000 a year, mainly
for sitting in meetings and attending dinners. It is outrageous, but not
unexpected, that he should side with the fat cats.

We need representatives who are prepared to fight for working-class people,
starting with a pledge to take a worker’s wage.


What they said

“MR LIVINGSTONE has delighted London’s businessmen…. The Economist is surprised to find itself saying this, but Ken’s the man for the job”.

The Economist editorial 5 June, supporting Ken Livingstone for London Mayor

What we said

“YOU DON’T cross picket lines and you don’t tell others to cross”.

Former striking miner PAUL MARSHALL delivering an angry message to Ken Livingstone at Socialism 2004 (See Socialism 2004: “A Really Brilliant Weekend”)