PRESIDENT’S COLUMN

President’s column UNITY IS STRENGTH The first thing that I would like to do in my first column as president is to pay tribute to the other candidate Mick Lynch. He ran a fair and hard campaign and I think we both raised major issues that need to be addressed. The graciousness that Mick has shown in defeat is an example to us all. It is easy to be magnanimous in victory, but much harder in defeat. I am sure there will be further opportunities for Mick, and I wish him well, and look forward to working with him in the future. I would also like to wish outgoing president Alex Gordon good luck for his future. I would also like to thank all the people who supported me and put in so much work on my behalf. I could not have won without their tireless campaigning on my behalf. This was a team effort and it was all of us together who were successful. For those who did not support me, I am sure we can all work together to maintain and build on all the work of the last few years that has made us such a strong, democratic, fighting union. However, one of the worrying things about the election was a turnout of just under 18 per cent. If we are to continue to build the fight for better conditions for all our members, we need to address the apathy of the rank and file. This will be one of our biggest challenges in the near future. I intend to get out to the workplaces, branches, and regional councils across the country as much as possible. I will talk to members and non- members but, more importantly, listen to them. I want to know their concerns, how they see the union and how they would like it to progress. I will also encourage others in the leadership to do the same. We also need to put the divisions in this union behind us and try to work together for the betterment of all members. Our motto is Unity is Strength, and we need to live up to that. Only by being united can we move forward. You can be absolutely certain that the leaders of the various industries that we represent are united. And we need to be the same. One of the areas I will be especially interested in is education. Having been a tutor for some years, it is something close to my heart. I am proud to be part of a union that is expanding its education, not only by the new extension in Doncaster, but also with the increasing amount of courses in the regions. Only by giving our members the knowledge and tools, can we be successful in the battles to come. I am sure that with the education officer Andy Gilchrist and the excellent panel of tutors, we will continue to expand and develop the courses. We also need to maintain and improve on the recruitment and retention that we have achieved in the last ten years. Remember every one of us is a recruiter. Alan Pottage and his team have done excellent work, but they need the help and support of all of us to continue to do this. Again I am sure that we will continue to build in this area. Finally, the leadership of this union is not in London, it is the rank and file, the members who tell us what to do. In other words, everyone of you reading this. For the next three years I am in your hands. Peter Pinkney RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: january 2013 2012 :: RMTnews 23 reconvene meetings and agree to union demands. This included the reinstatement of two members after being dismissed for over eight months, two further redundancies rescinded and all members at Beckton won the same rates of pay and this all followed the previous ballot resulting in a victory and payments for moving to three- car operation for those members ballotted. One unique part of the settlement meant that 35 people employed since the company chose to close the final salary pension without consultation with the union in 2009 got back into the closed pension. Another 17 affected and any other new employees gained match pension contribution’s up from six per cent to 10 per cent with members making a maximum six per cent contribution. As a result of all this activity RMT membership has increased from 70 per cent in 2009 to well over 90 per cent to day from around 600 SERCO staff. Branch chair Ray Shackleton is in no doubt as to why the branch has been transformed over the last three years. “Darren has put in a huge amount of work to build the unity and confidence this branch now enjoys and that is one of the reasons I got involved myself,” he says. Darren returns the compliment by insisting he could not have done it without the support of members, reps and the branch committee. So where next for Darren and the DLR branch? “Clearly Carlisle cleaning and security staff working on the DLR contract need our support and they have already taken industrial action on two seperate occasions, initially to demand the London living wage and olympic recognition and then adding various terms and conditions demands having been reballotted. “We know from experience that all-grades working together can get results for everyone”, says this determined branch secretary.