MODERNISING THE UNION

RMT's ground-breaking Call Centre 'London Calling' is celebrating its first anniversary. A team of dedicated members who phone up on behalf of the union have convinced over 1,000 lapsed members to re- join RMT over the last 12 months. “When 'London Calling' was launched last September we were confident it would be a success but we had no idea just how successful,” said national organising co- ordinator Alan Pottage. Volunteers attempt to call all lapsed members to find out if there is a problem and encourage any leavers to re- join and remain protected by the union. Alan said that this effort to re- engage with members indicates how important RMT feels about every member. As a result of the calls, many problem areas have been identified and information passed on to officials in order to find a solution. Callers have also been asked to phone members with information about specific campaigns and it is proving a good way to explain the union's policies and deal with any concerns or areas of confusion. The London Calling volunteers are all dedicated RMT members with a huge amount of experience, both in the workplace and in the union itself, and these abilities have helped enormously in this great success story. “The efforts that have been made have substantially increased our ability to communicate effectively with our members. “This has always been one of our general secretary's burning priorities and we look forward to another successful year,” Alan said. RMTnews :: october 2006 :: www.rmt.org.uk 12 R MT has won a grant from the Union Modernisation Fund to develop and implement a web-based membership system. The Union Modernisation Fund is a government grant scheme which gives money to unions “in support of innovative projects” which, it is hoped, will lead to “a transformational change in … organisational effectiveness or efficiency”. RMT’s application to the fund emphasised the benefits that a web-based system would bring in terms of improved communication with and between members and keeping membership records up to date. The bid was successful and the union will match the money awarded. The project to introduce the new membership system is to be known as the ‘ReMoTe Access’ project and is being led by Peter Waters, who has been seconded to the job of project manager from his position as head of membership. Miller Technology has been selected as the software supplier. Located in central London, Miller Technology is a specialist supplier of database systems to membership and contact based organisations, including a number of trade unions, such as UNISON, PCS and ATL. Peter said that the new system will lead to a number of noticeable improvements. “Once up and running, the system will allow members to access their own membership record, on-line and make changes to the detail held, directly on the membership database. “It will allow you to change such things as payment method, address, employer, grade, workplace and anything else we think would be appropriate. “Above all, the system will give you direct access, on-line, to current branch information, as well as local and national news,” he said. Branch secretaries will also benefit by being able to access up to-the-minute branch records and improving their ability to communicate effectively with their membership. Working with head office, branch secretaries will provide the information that will contribute, over time, to a profile of each member’s interests and activity within the union. Setting up the new improved system is a lengthy process, but Peter said that the system has to be built to the union’s requirements and his job is to ensure that RMT gets exactly what it wants for its members. The system will need to be designed, agreed and developed, before being thoroughly tested prior to release. “The plan is to go live with the new system late in February of next year,” said Peter. Members will be kept informed of the progress of the project through RMT News, so watch this space. London Calling MODERNISING THE UNION Peter Waters is overseeing the modernisation project