Critical role

Following a poignant tribute to the late RMT general secretary Bob Crow, conference debated the current issues in Britain’s transport industry, with delegates imploring the need for transport services to be returned to the public sector.

Unite speaker Taj Salam said, “Transport and transport workers play a critical role for people, services, businesses and society as a whole.

“Unite represents 90,000 bus workers, and, as a bus worker myself, I know first hand that the disaster of privatisation and deregulation in the bus industry.”

The speaker’s explained how privatisation has meant public transport fares have sky rocketed, while the pay, terms and conditions of transport workers have been eroded.

“Privatisation is not the answer,” Taj argued, “We need an integrated network of properly run services for the benefit of people, not for the profit of private businesses.

“Unite is clear – a transport policy based on market forces cannot be in the public interest.”