YOUNG MEMBERS MEET

RMTnews :: may 2005 16 ALTHOUGH THE conference attendance was small, it still proved that the young members in this union are passionate about improving their pay and conditions as well as their voice in the union. The predominant theme among the motions this year was the need for serious recognition and rights for the young members section. Dave Giles, Jubilee South & East London Line said: ‘I hate being referred to as ‘the kids’, it’s about time the RMT treated the young members respectfully.’ In order to advertise the young member’s movement, many motions called upon the RMT news and recruitment departments to produce propaganda aimed specifically at young members. There is a need to increase of activists amongst young people not just within the union but in social society as well, Tony Donaghey stated. “The need to attract young activists is vital for the future of this union. “There is still a lot of work to be done in shaping this young members conference, but this is a great attempt to involve young members within the union,” he said. Tony wanted to find out why young members are not as active as in the past, he claimed that Thatcherism and now Blairism within the New labour party had set back introducing young activists into politics and indeed trade unionism. The words socialism is deemed to be “bad” with the current trend being not to be politically motivated which is why the young member’s movement needs to be supported by all RMT members. Gerry Hitchen of the RMT organising unit agreed and said that “its disappointing to be here in South Yorkshire, an area full of trade union history and achievements only to discover that many young people don’t even know what a trade union is,” he said. It seems clear that the motions from the conference need to be taken very seriously for the future of the union. Education for the young members was another big issue at the conference. The media has been dominated by pension problems within the public sector which has led to all members, particularly the younger members, confused and worried about the future of their pension. A motion submitted by Plymouth No.1 branch urged RMT to introduce a pension education programme. Young members need to gain the knowledge required to understand pension issues and how the government is dealing with the question. Jubilee South & East London line branch requested that young members should be targeted for education so that they can learn about the union due to the negative image that the media have inflicted on trade unionism. Plymouth No.1 branch introduced a motion calling on the union to investigate ways of giving financial assistance to young members to ensure a better attendance at conference. Without this support, it would make the continual growth of this section increasingly difficult and put off potential activists from attending future conferences. Delegates agreed to finish conference early to support the recent Central Trains dispute We achieved a lot at this conference and hopefully it can develop to attract more activists to have an even better conference next year. YOUNG MEMBERS MEET The second young member’s conference, held in Nottingham, proved to be another successful step towards firmly establishing this new RMT group, writes Nick Quirk