WOMEN'S PAGE

october 2005 :: RMTnews 19 Julie Cooney, a senior conductor on Central Trains from Birmingham Rail Branch, was impressed by the reception she received at her first AGM. “Other delegates were wonderfully supportive and, although I was nervous at first, my confidence grew,” she says. She arrived at the AGM feeling a bit lost but, given the chance to meet her co- delegates at the opening reception, she found that the ice was soon broken. Julie pays tribute to the work put in by the host branch, Exeter Rail and their “pure dedication” to ensuring the well-being of the AGM delegates. The socialising continued throughout the week. “We had many discussions at the social evenings about the following day’s agenda,” Julie recalls, “I was delighted that my opinions were valued. I was treated as an equal and given respect,” she says. Michelle Rodgers of Manchester South Branch suspects that she actually learnt more from these informal chats than she did from the meeting itself! In the conference hall, she thought the number of delegates could have been greater but appreciated that the limited size of the meeting enabled debates to be more thorough. Julie spoke on various subjects from women’s toilet facilities to the national minimum wage. She also joined the other two women delegates in speaking against a proposal to enable the election of additional female delegates to the AGM. Julie agreed that women should be encouraged to attend but says: “I did not come here because I was a woman, my branch did not send me because I am a woman, my branch sent me because they thought I was the best person to represent Birmingham”. Michelle also contributed to a number of debates, including those dealing with resolutions on the privatisation of absence management and the restructuring of rail franchises. Both Julie and Michelle were inspired by the international guests speaking to the meeting. “It made me realise we are not alone in our fight,” said Julie, “We have the whole world behind us.” Michelle found the strength of the foreign speakers’ contributions humbling: “It was most definitely the best part of the conference for me” she says. ATTENDING AGM The Annual General Meeting is the governing body of the union and takes place in Dublin next year from Sunday July 2 to Friday July 7. The union is keen to encourage women to take part. If you are a woman and interested in attending AGM as a delegate, get along to a branch meeting and find out more. You need to have been a member of the union for at least five years by the end of next year; be employed, and be under 65 years of age. Once nominations have been made, if there is more than one nomination for a delegate place, elections will be held and the ballot will open on December 15. Successful candidates will be notified by the beginning of February, giving them time to arrange time off work to attend. SURVIVING AGM In June RMT News talked to women delegates about what they expected their first Annual General Meeting would be like. This month, we found out whether their expectations were realised. WOMEN'S PAGE