CAB128-94_A1b — Page 36

CONFIDENTIAL

ONFIDENT

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following November along lines which the Government had long urged it to adopt. The three British Rail unions had taken different positions: the National Union of Railwaymen (NUR) had secured its member's support for 24-hour stoppages and a ban on overtime and rest-day working, though the ballot which authorised a ban on overtime and rest-day working would expire on 1 July unless the union took steps to renew it; the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF) uld be balloting its members later that month on a proposal a ban on overtime and rest-day working; and the Transport Caied Staffs Association (TSSA) was seeking arbitration from the Railway Staff National Tribunal. The overall position on Bsh Rail was confused and uncertain: the management had offered to resume talks with the unions and was consulting the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service about the next steps. The NUR was meeting that day in advance of its conference beginning on the following Sunday: there were reports that it might all a further 24-hour stoppage on British Rail in the following week. On the London Underground, the NUR had secured the (surort of its train crew members for 24-hour stoppages in herance of the pay claim by drivers of one- person operates ns and the support of its station staff members for indere action in protest against the proposed Action Stations programe under which promotion for station staff would in fut

based on merit rather than on seniority: there was

there was the possibility of

possibility of a further 24-hour stoppage on the followednesday or Thursday as the union and the unofficial strike mees sought, in effect, to outbid each other. ASIEF wasting its train crew members about the management's proposalso pay and productivity and the result was expected on 28 June However, TSSA members had no plans to take industrial aution on the London Underground. Roads in London had been less congested on the previous day than had been forecast, although the bined effect of the three stoppages had caused immense

immense location and inconvience, especially to long-distance commuters in London and the South East. The Metropolitan Police had taken certain measures, including increased restrictions on the carrying of abnormal loads and on unloading, but were of the firview that it would be counter-productive, at least in the stoppages, to relax parking restrictions

Jase

of

24-hour

was preparing

contingency plans against the possibility of an escalation of

industrial action on the railways or on London Buses.

In discussion the following main points were made

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a.

The current industrial action by transport confined to the public sector and this provide illustration of the benefits of privatisation deregulation in the transport area. The rail worker clearly acting against their own long-term interest industrialists would envitably draw the conclusion that ra

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