SUCCESSFUL LGBT TUC CONFERENCE

RMTnews :: october 2005 6 For the past eight years TUC has held a LGBT conference and RMT has supported it by sending four representatives. This year’s delegation (from left to right) above was made up of Elizabeth Fraser from Ayr, Martin Lambert-Atkins, Kim Rushe of Andover and Salisbury Rail and Pete Heyes of Stratford No1. Conference opened with a speech from the chair of the LGBT TUC committee, David Lascelles who told of the remarkable progress and difference legislation had made on issues that affect LGBT members. Minister for Women and Equality Meg Munn spoke passionately of the massive achievements, which include the abolition of section 28, the Civil Partnership Legislation and the Gender Recognition Act. Commission for Racial Equality chair Trevor Phillips spoke of the similarities of racism and homophobia. The constant nods, thoughtless comments, jokes and stupid remarks not just from the people we serve, but sadly too often from the people we work and socialise with. The final speaker can only be known as Mr A and no photographs where permitted to be taken of him. Mr A represented an organisation called JFLAG – Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-sexuals and Gays. In a very emotional speech he told of how LGBT people in Jamaica are constantly in fear of their lives and persecuted for their sexual orientation. He told of witnessing close friends being beaten to death in the street and of many hate crimes where the police when informed showed no interest. It is suspected that on occasion the police themselves were the instigators. Hardly a dry eye in the house when the entire conference rose to their feet in order to give a long standing ovation to Mr A and his bravery in representing J-FLAG at the risk to his own mortality. After the keynote speeches conference discussed motions on the agenda which included discrimination in goods and services, domestic violence and the LGBT community, civil partnerships and work in schools to tackle homophobia. The above report is only a brief synopsis of conference and I apologise for any unintentional omissions. I look forward and with great pride to representing RMT at LGBT conference in 2006. SUCCESSFUL LGBT TUC CONFERENCE The draft results of the latest actuarial valuation of the Railways Pension Scheme revealed that the majority of Sections have deficits, and for some, the deficits are rather large. The report of the scheme’s financial position, as at 31 December 2004, has now been sent to all employers and Pension Committee members for consideration and comment. This situation has arisen from an underperformance of investments over the past three years in comparison to the returns anticipated for the period, together with a strengthening of the mortality assumptions to reflect the increasing life expectancy of scheme members. While the actuary’s report is only in draft form, the final version is unlikely to reveal any major alterations. The final report and any proposals necessary to correct Section deficits will be signed off by June 30 2006, and therefore it is obviously necessary to discuss as soon as possible what action to take. General secretary Bob Crow has written to all employers seeking meetings to discuss the valuation as these poor results mean the majority of sections will face a rise in contributions. He said that the size of some of the deficits was alarming and the potential contributions for some sections will be unsustainable, resulting in members leaving the scheme, putting even greater pressure would be placed on the remaining members. “It is my intention therefore when meeting with management to explore ways of restricting any necessary increase in contributions,” Bob said. With this in mind a meeting has been arranged on 31 October to enable all RMT regional organisers and pension committee representatives to discuss ways of tackling the problem. Rail pension alert Delegate Martin Lambert-Atkins Martin Lambert-Atkins reports from this year’s TUC Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender conference, which was attended by a record 35 unions ACCIDENT BENEFIT - A REMINDER Please remember that claims for RMT accident benefit shall only be considered if a report of the circumstances is received by the branch secretary within 26 weeks from the date of the accident. The accident report should then be forwarded immediately to the general secretary.