ORGANISING EDEN

RMTnews :: april 2007 :: www.rmt.org.uk 16 RMT has won a recognition agreement for 150 bus workers at Truronian bus company after a two year campaign, which RMT organising co-ordinator Alan Pottage described as a “success story”. “There were a few things we’ve learned we need to inform the rest of the membership to encourage them to carry out similar campaigning,” he said. The campaign began when St Austell number two branch secretary Neil Hooper reported at several Regional Council meetings that workers at an unorganised bus company in Truro, Truronian, had approached him about joining RMT. This is the company that runs the shuttle service to and from the famous environmental Eden Project at St Austell. CAMPAIGN An initial campaign was eventually launched two years ago and the union asked for volunteers to help at a Regional Council meeting in Exeter. RMT is grateful to both Keith Erskine and Ray “Topper” Brown, who travelled from Southampton, to help Neil and the Organising Unit kick start the campaign. Alan said that the union received a good response from the outset and local follow-up meetings were quickly planned. “Unfortunately, this didn’t quite happen and several months went by without any developments and it is one lesson we have re-learned. “The union should respond immediately a potential target has been identified. “A delay of a couple of months could have been fatal and it is a sobering thought that this ‘greenfield’ bus company had been unorganised since 1987,” he said. Neil kept pushing the issue of Truronian and a proper strategy was put together including a regular presence at the bus station and holding many local meetings. Bob Crow made a personal visit, which had a huge impact, and over 40 workers attended and a volunteer organising committee was set up. ORGANISING COMMITTEE The committee focussed on recruitment and retention of members. This meant going through staff lists and comparing them to membership lists. A recruitment and retention strategy was then worked out that does not miss a single worker. “It’s also a good way of developing issue-based propaganda and it is a methodical way of doing things and is tried and tested,” said Alan. The committee made sure everyone had been asked and encouraged to join the union. The committee was also sent recruitment material and the union soon found that over 50 per cent of bus drivers were in the union. “Without doubt the best recruiters for the union are the men and women who work for the company and ‘member- centred’ campaigning remains a pillar in our strategy,” he said. Alan said that the union had to prepare a case using complex legislation that can bind recognition to an employer for at least three years. “We had to work out an appropriate group of workers, called the bargaining unit, to represent the workforce collectively. “We can’t just choose a group that has lots of members – we need to sustain an argument to show that they are a definable group for the purposes of complying with the legislation and that ‘is compatible with effective management’,” he said. Alan pointed out that the union never wrote the legislation and this type of wording revealed that employer groups such as the CBI had some influence over the legislation. However, the union’s work showed that RMT membership RMT News talks to RMT organising co-ordinator Alan Pottage following union recognition at Truronian bus company in Cornwall which services the Eden Project at St Austell ORGANISING EDEN ORGANISE: Allan Pottage outside the Truro Bus depot