THREE BRIDGES HOSTS A CELEBRATION

27 T hree Bridges branch held a special awards presentation evening recently to recognise the efforts and loyalty of long serving members of the union. The event was held at the new venue for branch meetings, the well-appointed Three Bridges Football Club main suite and boardroom, and was run in conjunction with Brighton and London branches. The evening proved immensely popular, with well over 100 people turning out, some of whom brought their children, making it an event for the whole family. Across the three branches, 20 people qualified for long service awards ranging from ten to 40 years, and a good proportion of those were able to be present on the evening. Health and work commitments prevented other members from attending, but arrangements have been made for them to receive their medals. Ten and 25-year medals were presented by RMT general secretary Bob Crow to John Spies and Martyn McCormack respectively of Three Bridges. Six 40-year medals were presented to Ken Ockenden and Brian Anderson from Brighton branch and Antony Ace, Dennis Kilshaw, Michael Tullett, Robert Walls all from Three Bridges branch. Although on a tight schedule, with all day meetings at ACAS, Bob took time to talk about the current situation in respect of pensions and government cuts. He said that whilst everyone needed to be aware of a changing work environment, the so-called ‘black holes’ in pension funds were not as serious as stated. A change in the way that actuaries calculated pensions meant that money for pensions now had to be available from day one for each employee, rather than when they retired, creating an apparent immediate shortage that in reality did not exist. Bob expressed the view held by many people that the government cuts would be devastating. He pointed out that Britain only finished paying for the First World War two years ago, and that we would not finish paying for World War Two until after 2020, much longer periods of repayment than agreed with the current deficit. An excellent buffet was provided by Jose Arguelles and his wife, and despite the high quality of the food there was inevitably some left over; rather than let it go to waste the union was pleased to donate it to a local children’s firework party. Three Bridges Branch secretary Dave Crawford, who organised the event thanked Bob Crow for coming, and also everyone who had helped make the evening a success, pictures of the event and minutes of the Branch Meeting held immediately afterwards are available on the website: www.rmt3bridges.org.uk. THREE BRIDGES HOSTS A CELEBRATION