Rail workers' union to re-ballot members over national strike

The leader of the rail workers' union, Bob Crow, said today that members would be re-balloted over a national strike after the high court halted a four-day stoppage planned for next week. Crow angrily dismissed claims that the initial vote, in which a small majority of Rail Maritime and Transport union (RMT) members backed the strike, was flawed. Network Rail argued at the high court yesterday that the ballot of rail signallers was riddled with irregularities and thus unlawful. Mrs Justice Sharp granted an injunction against the RMT , stopping a strike by 5,800 staff over safety and maintenance issues, due to start on Tuesday. "This was a fair ballot. It had nothing to do with how many people voted," Crow told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. Crow said the injunction was only granted because of minor administrative issues over information about some voters' work grade and location, a near-impossible task to get right with a 17,000-strong workforce. "That's got nothing to do with democracy. That's to do with putting hoops and hurdles in the way to stop decent, honest men and women from fighting back to defend the safety of their industry," Crow argued. The union would continue pushing for a strike, he said: "This isn't over pay, this isn't over conditions. What this is about is our members who work on the track. Network Rail want to reduce the amount of physical protection that these people have." Had the strike gone ahead, it would have begun on the day that Gordon Brown is expected to call a general election. Network Rail believes a new ballot could take months. The rail operator argued that the closeness of the vote meant that the votes of just 112 of 4,556 signallers balloted could have changed the result. The company presented a string of alleged irregularities including 11 "phantom" signal boxes that should not have featured in the ballot. Crow denied that there had been any manipulation, saying the vote was carried out by the independent Electoral Reform Society. "Let's make it quite clear. There was no rigging of ballots," he said. "The trade union does not touch ballot papers whatsoever." Following the court injunction, a strike planned by maintenance workers to coincide with the signallers' walkout was also called off. "Train services next week will run as normal," said Robin Gisby, Network Rail's head of operations. "This is good news for the millions of passengers who rely on us every day." The white-collar Transport Salaried Staffs' Association, which was also due to strike next week, cancelled its walkout and said it would also hold a new ballot. Network Rail believes it can withstand a maintenance strike but had warned that industrial action by signal workers would see just one out of five trains running next week, with services in and out of London, where the majority of trains operate, badly affected. Around three and a half million passengers a day would have been hit, with motorists' organisations warning that the first national walkout in 16 years would have caused widespread gridlock on the roads. The transport secretary, Lord Adonis, urged both sides to resume negotiations. "This will be a huge relief to all those who are planning on travelling on the railways next week. It is now vital that the two sides in this dispute get back round the table as soon as possible to negotiate a settlement and I call on them to do so," he said. Before it brought the injunction, Network Rail believed it was close to solving the signallers' dispute over changes to working practices, including a promise to subject changes to work rosters to local consultation. The RMT claims the changes, along with the axing of 1,500 maintenance posts, threaten safety.