MEMBERSHIP PROJECT TOLPUDDLE

RMTnews :: may 2007 :: www.rmt.org.uk 36 Obituary CHRISTINE LAWRENCE September 21 1957 - February 21 2007 It is with great sadness that I have to report the death of Christine Lawrence. Chris came to RMT three and a half years ago and was employed in the membership department. She fitted in straight away and was a diligent and hard working member of that team and up until her illness had hardly had a day off sick. It was a shock to us all when, at the end of last year, we found out that Chris had terminal cancer. Chris loved her job and came to work as often as possible throughout her illness, despite the pain she was in, and it is testament to her courage and commitment that she managed to come to work on the odd day only weeks before she died. Chris had a very dry and slightly wicked sense of humour and probably the dirtiest laugh you’ve ever heard. She made many friends at Unity House and also amongst the membership many of whom were in contact with her when she occasionally helped out at reception. At her funeral there were at least 130 mourners and many RMT officers and staff were in attendance. It was a wonderful tribute to a colleague who was clearly loved and will be greatly missed by all who knew her. The celebration of her life following the funeral was equally well attended and many happy stories and anecdotes flowed along with the drink. Chris leaves behind a husband Jeff, son Kevin, daughter Charlotte and granddaughter Louise, our thoughts are with them. Kevin Carey Dear editor, On the way to work, around 15 months ago, I was involved in a car accident through no fault of my own that wrote off my car and I sustained neck, leg and wrist injuries. I was off work for two weeks. I contacted RMT and I was put in touch with Thompsons solicitors. I must say they have been very professional, keeping me updated and fully informed throughout my claim for compensation, which I have just received. I would like to thank the union for which I have been a member for over 10 years for the help and professional service I received. I would like to thank Thompsons for the way they pushed for my injury compensation. It is highly appreciated, many thanks again and keep up the hard work. Best wishes, Mike Turner Membership department staff have been working with the software supplier, Miller Technology, to ensure that the system does exactly what RMT needs it to do and they have also been transferring data from the old system to the first “test build” of the new database. Computer equipment has been installed at Unity House to run the new database and associated services, and key members of staff have been trained to undertake the testing of the new system. Once the new system has been tested to ensure that it is working properly, RMT staff will be trained to use it. We then hope to ‘go live’ with the fully developed system and it is at this point that the Branch and Regional Council Secretary training will get under way at the Education Centre in Doncaster. One major improvement will be that, when a member’s record is first opened, all of the important information about that member will be on the screen straight away and it won’t be necessary to search for information such as membership number, employer or workplace. Other information will be easily found a click or two away. This will enable RMT staff to respond more quickly to membership enquiries. Project Manager Peter Waters says that he is extremely pleased with the way everything is coming together. “As with any project of this kind, there have been problems and issues but, so far, these have been resolved to everyone’s satisfaction,” he says. Peter demonstrated the new system to a recent meeting of the Council of Executives and full-time officers. He felt they were suitably impressed by it. He says that he wants to raise the project’s profile from now on so that members, activists, officials and staff are fully aware of what is happening before the system goes live. “If you visit Unity House, you will see a display of the project in the reception area,” says. Dear Sir, Regarding the article ‘Dying for a rest’ in last month’s RMT News, I applaud everything Pete Gale said and I am pleased that at last somebody has spelt out the daily problems of bus and coach drivers. I know Pete and I worked at the same company for a couple of years and observed a man who worked tirelessly for his members, who did not always appreciate it. I have not seen a better union representative. Therefore, more importance and authority has been added to this article for me and I am grateful that Pete is working full time at the union, for perhaps through him we might enjoy a higher profile within the union. I am a National Express driver working for Bournemouth Transport, which is part of Transdev. We are about to start negotiations with the management over the annual wage review. When I tell you that we are at present on £7 per hour you will see the urgency of a considerable increase because we neither compete with other National Express drivers or with local bus companies. Can I ask you to give our shop steward Adam Lavin as much support as you can. He is a good man but everybody, whoever they are, can always do with a helping hand. Thank you. Brian Harris - Annharris979@aol.com MEMBERSHIP PROJECT RMT membership officer Peter Waters talks to RMT News about the new, state of the art web- based membership system - the REMOTE Access Project which will be going live soon LETTERS