From Stratford no.1 branch newsletter

Bring All Contracts Back In-House — Fight For Public Ownership

The crisis of the Public Private Partnership (PPP) on London Underground should mean the end of privatisation across our public services.

Gordon Brown is to blame for the chaos. He pushed through the PPP when he was Chancellor, handing over a £30 billion 30-year contract to the multinational companies who had already grabbed huge chunks of the public sector. Ken Livingstone should press for bringing all contracts back in-house and he should scrap his plans to privatise the East London Line.

There were always three options to the Metronet shambles. One, they go bust and the public purse bails them out. Two, they go into administration and the public purse bails them out. Three, the public purse bails them out but all contracts are brought back in-house under public ownership. If it’s the public that pay it should be the public that own and control.

We should fight for the option that all contracts are brought back under public ownership. Many Londoners back us on this we should be confident we can win.

RMT and TSSA are to ballot more than 2,600 Metronet employees for strike action over the failure of the bankrupt company's administrator to guarantee that there will be no job losses, forced transfers or cuts in pension entitlements.

The ballot opens on August 7th and closes on Monday 20th. "We warned from the start that we would not allow our members' jobs and conditions to be decimated by Metronet's death throes," Bob Crow said.