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Sent: Thursday, April 05, 2001 11:05 PM
Subject: [mobilize-globally] Resisting privatisation
Subject:
[pttp] Resisting privatisation
Date:
Thu, 05 Apr 2001 14:10:00 +0100
From:
New Worker Online <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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Feature article - 6/4/2001.
Resisting privatisation.
by Renee Sams
THE GOVERNMENT is pushing ahead with Private Finance Initiative (PFI)
schemes all over the country and protest against them is growing.
One of the biggest protests so far was the strike on the London
Underground on 29 March which practically brought London to a
standstill
and was 96 per cent solid according to Bob Crow, the assistant general
secretary of the transport union, RMT.
"We must look deeper in to why they are rushing to transfer control
to the
private sector," he told a one-day conference in London last
Saturday."
They are pushing PFI projects in schools, housing, transport, the
fire
service and the latest bonanza For the private sector is the sale of
air
traffic control.
The conference that Bob Crow was addressing was in the London Borough
of
Camden and organised by the public sector union Unison from the Dudley
Group of Hospitals where workers are maintaining their strike action
against privatisation.
The conference was supported by the RMT national executive, the
London
regional councils of the train drivers' union Aslef, the Fire Brigades
Union, general union MSF, RMT, Unison and the Unison health Group.
There were 120 trade union delegates from a wide spread of unions at
the
conference, together with 41 strikers from the Dudley Hospitals.
Their struggle is becoming a focal point for the anti-privatisation
campaign.
Also present at the conference were the Defend Council Housing
Campaign
which now has support groups all over the country, and many
individuals.
PFI and Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) are just the same thing,
Bob
Crow told the conference and he spoke of the privatisation of British
rail,
which is now being run by over 20,000 companies, with contractors, sub
contractors and agency staff.
"If there is an accident," he said, "the managing directors do not
want to
take the tap for it. They each blame the other. "It is now costing us
more
money than before it was privatised because the companies require a
subsidy
to carry out the repairs and maintenance costs, otherwise they would
not be
able to make enough money to keep their shareholders happy.
"We believe that it is not just about breaking up the nationalised
London
Underground. It is about weakening the industrial strength of the
unions."
He added: "Tory governments have passed altogether nine anti-trade
union
laws. When in opposition the Labour Party had no hesitation in voting
against these Acts. Now they must repeal every single one of those
Acts!".
Dave Whatton spoke on behalf of the FBU executive council for the
West
Midlands.
"It has been privatisation by degrees," he said. "They have gone
around the
country closing two old fire stations but only replacing them withone
new
one. Firefighters have lost their jobs."
He also revealed that fire engines "bought with taxpayers' money" are
now
owned by Transco. And protective clothing which firefighters need is
also
supplied privately.
He said resolutions will be put to conference and: "We intend to
fight it
as a union, together with other unions."
Several speakers from the floor expressed fears that the Government
is
ignoring the dangers of privatisation.
A health worker drew attention to the crisis in the health service
and a
teacher pointed out the failing schools with crumbling buildings.
One speaker told ofa home for the elderly which is being closed and
the
residents are worried out of their lives, not knowing where they will
be
sent to, or if they will have a roof over their heads.
Veteran Labour MP Tony Benn had a warning for the delegates, telling
them:
"This is a really big issue that affects the whole fabric of society
and we
must understand what is at stake."
He recalled that Harold Wilson had said that public services, with
their
huge budgets, are "the engine of economic growth".
"It is no wonder," he added, "that big business wants to get in and
make a
profit."
"Now," he informed the conference, "the World Trade Organisation is
mooting the idea of buying and selling whole countries, especially in
Africa.
"They want to do away with democracy altogether because private
ownership
keeps people ignorant."
"The Dudley strike is not just about PFI," Tony Benn said. "It is
about
the way society is run.
"We must get across to people the idea that what we are talking about
is a
new kind of society, a society that we want to run ourselves.
"We don't want a corporation that wants to run it for us. Most people
want
it to be publicly accountable.
"To get that we must appeal to a much wider audience. If we don't, we
are
in deep trouble."
There is a great need for unity and the trade union speakers made
calls
for unity and solidarity throughout the movement.
Bob Crow told the strikers that his union was making a donation of
5,000
to help them and promised continuing RMT support.
New Communist Party of Britain Homepage
http://www.newcommunistparty.org.uk
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