YOUNG MEMBERS GETTING ORGANISED

RMT helpline 0800 3763706 :: may 2008 :: RMTnews 23 The young member’s conference held in London was another successful event, firmly establishing this section as an important area in terms of recruitment, retention, education and activism. Senior Assistant General Secretary Mick Cash opened the conference by explaining how important it is for young workers to be involved in political movements. “Politicians are important as they inflict things on us as transport workers such as privatisation, flags of convenience and continual attempts to erode our terms and conditions of work so it’s important to be actively involved in politics and fight for your future,” he said. He also expressed pride at how the union is developing young members, working alongside the education department and organising unit to promote and educate new members coming into the union and the workplace. Joanne Parry, Transport for London branch warned that “in an environment of global decline in trade union membership, it is so vital to promote the importance of trade unionism to the youth of Britain before it is too late”. Becky Crocker, Camden No.3 added that “we should be seeking to create a position within the union to work for the needs of our young members”. Ross Marshall, Central Line West introduced the campaign to protect affordable homes and put pressure on the government to provide more council housing. “We need to take a serious look at the rising cost of housing in which young people are taking huge risks in taking out large mortgages to get on the property ladder,” he said. UNION LEARNING James Liness, European Passenger Services said that the union should continue to promote education in the workplace. “The rail union learning scheme is a great way of learning new skills in a good environment but what we need is more union learning reps throughout the country from all areas of the transport industry,” he said. This was echoed by guest speaker Jen York, the development worker for the RMT Learning project, who emphasised the importance of urging companies to encourage education in the workplace. Other guest speakers included Hamish Drummond of the PCS union who spoke to the conference about the history of working class struggle and James Fitzsimmons from the Cuba Solidarity Campaign who gave a report on the latest news of the campaign. A young member’s Parliamentary meeting will be organised so that the issues discussed at this and previous conferences can be asked directly to MPs and invited speakers. For further information on RMT Learning please contact Andrew Brattle on 020 7529 8820 or email rattle@rmt.org.uk YOUNG MEMBERS GETTING ORGANISED EC member Nick Quirk reports on this year’s young member’s conference which took place in London recently