from a London reader
Whilst the steel debate was going on inside Parliament, Thursday 6th May, 150 delegates representing thousands of railwaymen, queued up outside to present their union's case on the liner trains to their M.P.se They made bitter complaints about the way the decision had been arrived at and about the Minister of Transport's rail policy in generale The delega= tion was made up mainly of N.U.R. officials who passed on the angry feelings of the men they represent. They crowded into two committee rooms where they made it clear to Mr. Ernest Popplewell, M.P., and other trade union M.P.s how angry they felt over the Government's decision,
Officials from the North West District of the N.U.R, which has gone on record for industrial action on this issue, pointed out that they were merely demanding that the Labour Government stick to its election pledges. They were embarrassed by the fact that a Labour Government had opened the B.R.Be depots to private hauliers, London officials of the union said they would continue to bring pressure on the Government to honour its election pledges to railwaymen. Other speakers, from Sheffield and Doncaster, drew attention to other grievances the railwaymen have: the closure of the Great Central line and the mounting redundancies in railway workshops,