PRESIDENT’S COLUMN

june 2005 :: RMTnews 25 J une is an important month for this union. Our annual general meeting takes place where our rank and file delegates, elected by your branches, and officers decide policies for the union to pursue over the next twelve months. It is also an opportunity to evaluate our activities and the progress that has been made over the last year. I think it has been a very active period since our last AGM and this union has continued to protect and represent our members industrially, politically and legally. We were very successful in achieving a mandate to work politically for the next ten years when members voted overwhelmingly for the continuation of the Political Fund. This fund, introduced as part of a raft anti- union laws, allows the union to continue political campaigning. These campaigns include the fight to bring our railways back under public ownership, against the privatisation of Caledonian MacBrayne, for decent bus services and decent pay and conditions for our road transport members. A crucial part of this campaigning work is our group of MPs who have been working hard on the Rail Bill, on the Tonnage tax, against the planned re-privatisation of South Eastern Trains and many other issues. This new Labour government has promised to “listen and learn” and I believe that means it should start behaving like a Labour government. That means defending working people against exploitation by the likes of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and so-called “globalisation” and the policies of “liberalisation”. Liberalisation means privatisation, pure and simple, and represents an attack on working people and their families. This policy of resistance led RMT to initiate Trade Unionists Against the European Union Constitution (TUAEUC), which highlighted the disastrous effects this privateers’ charter would have on our democracy, for peace and our ability to defend ourselves as trade unionists and workers. The work of TUAEUC has been fundamental in disseminating information about the contents of the constitution and today no major union supports its ratification by the British government. We must congratulate our colleagues in France and Netherlands in their excellent successes in rejecting the constitution. We must now demand that the ratification process comes to an end immediately, ensure the thing is scrapped once and for all and, as a result, we do not need a referendum here in Britain. There is also no mandate to implement any part of the constitution by the back door. I recently welcomed a group of visiting Hungarian trade unionists to Unity House and we had long discussions about how EU expansion into their country was affecting them. We shared our experience of EU directives which have and are privatising our members in the rail and shipping sectors. They also held deep reservations about the so-called third package of rail directives which imposed “liberalisation” on all member states. We must also keep up the pressure for a speedy end to the ongoing Iraq conflict. If they can find billions for war why can’t they spend that money on transport, healthcare, education and social services instead? Throughout the last year, RMT has continued to negotiate improvements in pay and conditions for all members, regardless of what grade they are. All in all a busy time, but that is what trade unionism is all about, representing members. Whilst our numbers are increasing, there are still many transport workers out there who need to join. So if you are not an activist why not attend a branch meeting now and again and make sure your colleagues have the protection of being in the union. The more members we have the stronger the union and the more we can do for you. Tony Donaghey President’s Column STRENGTH IN THE UNION Tony Donaghey talking to a group of visiting Hungarian trade unionists earlier this month MICHELLE RODGERS Michelle Rodgers is just ending a three year term of office as the president of the Station and Associated Grades Conference. She is being succeeded in this position by Mary Dwyer, the third female delegate to the AGM. Michelle first got involved in the union in 1989, whilst working as a guard out of Manchester Piccadilly, at the time of the ‘Piccadilly Four’. She was asked whether she would like to attend the AGM when the usual delegate from her area was elected to a regional organiser position. Michelle is also looking forward to having her say. She is particularly interested in the Grades Conference items and welcomes the opportunity to gain a greater insight into other Grades and the difficulties they face. “I’m looking forward to making friends with like-minded colleagues who share the same passions and difficulties while trying to earn an honest living,” she says. She also sees the AGM as an educational opportunity and is looking forward to honing her trade union skills. MARY DWYER Mary was brought up to believe in unions, so she didn’t think twice about joining one. “When I joined C2C six years ago, the first thing I did was join the union,” she says. Mary is a Company Council representative and Secretary of North Thames LTS Branch. She was motivated to attend the AGM as a delegate by a belief in the importance of all grades of members being represented at the union’s policy- making forum. “What better way of getting your members’ views across than being there and having your say?,” she says. Mary has some misgivings about the long hours of sitting down, not knowing everyone and “not knowing if I am doing something wrong”. But her enthusiasm for representing her members at the AGM outweighs any worries. “I hope I do my members proud,” she says. If you would like to give us the benefit of your experiences either as a woman member or as a man seeking to involve women in the union, please contact bdenny@rmt.org.uk.