—ON THE PICKET LINE—

Australia construction unionists protest attacks on workers

SYDNEY — Tens of thousands of construction workers walked off city building sites nationwide March 9 for a day of action called by the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union. The rallies protested the reinstallation by the federal Liberal government of the Australian Building and Construction Commission, with increased powers to coerce construction unionists and impose fines for industrial action.

Other unionists came to support the CFMEU. One common placard read, “Paramedics support penalty rates” — higher pay for overtime and weekend work. Several speakers opposed the Feb. 23 ruling by a federal arbitration court to reduce these rates for Sundays and public holidays, affecting hundreds of thousands of workers from the retail to hospitality industries.

CFMEU speakers slammed the ABCC for blocking prompt union action on safety measures in what is one of the most dangerous industries.

Tim Macpherson, 32, was crushed to death March 1 when a large metal beam fell on top of him at the Barangaroo Ferry Hub worksite on Sydney Harbour. Last November, an attempted safety inspection of the site by union officials was blocked by the building contractor.

According to the CFMEU, fatalities are running at “over one a week” at building sites across Australia.

In other actions, Western Sydney bus drivers stopped work March 7 for union meetings to discuss stalled negotiations over pay claims. Over 1,000 child care workers marched in protests around the country on International Women’s Day, March 8, to demand an increase in the “gross underpayment” of mostly female workers in the sector.

About 200 unionists joined a Hobart rally sponsored by Unions Tasmania and United Voice March 13, held on the Eight-Hour Day public holiday. The protest was over cuts to special Sunday rates of pay for low-paid workers.

— Ron Poulsen

Rail workers in U.K. strike over safety conditions

LONDON — Some 2,000 members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union took 24-hour strike action March 13. They are resisting moves by Southern Rail, Merseyrail and Northern Rail to introduce driver-only-operation on their passenger trains.

For workers at Southern in southeast England, this was their 30th stoppage over the past year. “Many of the 120 RMT members here — guards and drivers — have never been on strike before this dispute” said Chris Rodway, a guard and picket captain at the Barnham depot in West Sussex. “They’ve been moved to take action because of the obvious safety implications of removing the guard.”

On the picket line, guard Zoe Hemes, 32, got into a discussion with a passerby who asked why the strike was on. “One day a school student fell seriously ill on the train,” Hemes told the woman. “I contacted the driver, telling him to stop at the next station to get her emergency medical attention. Driver-only-operation would have made that impossible.”

The industrial action at Southern has been joined by RMT members in the north of the country. Union members on Merseyrail voted 4-1 for strike action and have been refusing to work overtime on rest days since March 6. Their stoppage paralyzed the network when members of the drivers union ASLEF (Associated Society of Locomotive Steam Enginemen and Firemen) refused to cross picket lines.

“This isn’t about our conditions, it’s about safety,” conductor Chris Latham told Peter Clifford, Communist League candidate for Greater Manchester mayor, when he visited the picket line at Manchester’s Victoria station that day.

“Your action is important for all workers,” Clifford responded. “It shows that it’s only by workers exercising control through our unions that safety can be ensured and jobs defended.”

“This dispute is political” Chris Rodway told the Militant. “It’s about trying to weaken the union.”

“Handing all the safety jobs to the driver means you don’t HAVE to have two people on every train before it can leave the station” reports BBC transport correspondent Richard Westcott. “That would shrink the power of the RMT because more trains would be able to run if their guards went on strike in the future.”

— Jonathan Silberman