Two regional councils of the N.UeR. have called upon their Executive to call a rail strike in protest against Government policy towards their wage claim, This development is of great interest to socialists on more than one accounte It is to be hoped that the N.U.R. leadership draw the lesson from their previous brushes with the Railways Board thet moderate policy encourages intransigence from the employers and the Governnente It is also a warning to the Labour Government that its policies (and especially the incomes policy) are in danger of making 1966 a year of clashes between the Labour Government and the trade unions. That development could do no other than cause disenchantment of sections.of the working class which hitherto have been traditionally Labour. Today it is the railmen, tomorrow it will probably be the miners..e.and so one Mre Wilson and his team should ponder on the electoral consequences of such a situation, If Labour suffers politically from a series of strikes it will not be the fault of the strikers, The middle class types that Mr. Wilson may hope to impress by acting tough with the unions will be easy prey to Tory propaganda in such a situation. By acting firm the unions can drive a lesson home to the Government that their present line is not only'a betrayal of socialist principles but electorally disastrous.
The WeekThe Week Vol. 5, No. 3, 20 January 1966
A ‘rail Strike?
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