Report backs national rail bargaining

A report published by train drivers' union ASLEF argues that a more integrated approach to collective bargaining on the railways would be in the public interest.

The report, by Keith Ewing of the union-backed Institute of Employment Rights, says that the highly integrated system that existed before privatisation has been replaced by a "non-cohesive and incoherent" local bargaining system. This has resulted in unacceptable pay differentials, skills shortages, and poor staff morale, leading in turn to a growing number of disputes.

One of the many problems highlighted in the report, is the lack of comprehensive procedures for dispute resolution under the current fragmented set up.

Ewing concludes: "It is no more sensible to run an integrated national railway on the back of a fragmented industrial relations system than it is to run an integrated national railway on the back of a fragmented track and signalling system".

It need not be this way, the report argues: "Many other countries throughout Europe have moved to deregulate the operation of their railways and open them up to greater private sector competition. But none has made such a mess of the industrial relations system as we have in Britain".

The report urges the Strategic Rail Authority which oversees the industry to bring employers and unions together to establish a national agreement that all operators would have to comply with, as a condition of their franchise.