TUC commends government plans for rail nationalisation but calls for Labour to go further on public transport
Delegates called for the buses to be taken into public ownership too
Delegates at this year’s TUC Congress have passed a motion welcoming the Labour government’s move to take train operating companies into public ownership. However, the motion – proposed by the RMT union and seconded by ASLEF – called for Labour to go yet further on public transport.
On the railways, delegates endorsed the call for the whole railway – including the rolling stock and freight operations – to be taken into public hands. In pursuit of this, the motion called for an end to outsourcing on the railways.
Introducing the motion, the RMT’s delegate said that the union wanted to ‘pay tribute’ to the transport secretary Louise Haigh for the move to nationalise rail operating companies, but went on to say: “We have won a battle, we have not yet won the war”.
Outside of the railways, the motion called for buses to be taken into public ownership, arguing that there should be “sufficient ring-fenced funding for local authorities to deliver this policy”.
Chris Jarvis is head of strategy and development at Left Foot Forward
Image credit: Paul Smith – Creative Commons
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