PRESIDENT’S COLUMN

President’s column MAKING THE GRADES The first conference that I attended this year was the young members gathering which took place in Newcastle. This conference has special meaning to me as I attended the very first one as a Council of Executives member in 2004 in Plymouth. This was a bold move by the union and one that has reaped dividends. It was exciting to take part in that very first conference and many of the delegates that year went on to bigger things within the union, including Nick Quirk and Steve Skelly who are currently members of the C of E. Indeed it is Nicks second term. That first conference set the tone for what future conferences would be and what they could achieve. It is now a common sight at annual general meetings to see young members addressing conference. This is vital because if the union is to have a secure future, then we need members from a younger generation in place to take over from the old guard. We need educated, talented, and especially dedicated, to take up the baton and take this union forward. At Newcastle I saw plenty of ability and feel confident that the future is in good hands. There were some farewells this year because of age, and of these I would especially like to thank Jayesh Patel for all the hard work he has put in over the years and I am certain that he has a good future with us. I am equally certain that the conference will flourish with Gaz Jackson at the helm. He has a lot of capable comrades to help him such as Lorna, Amy and Rafa to name just a few. Next up was the signallers’ conference, my own grade, which took place in Weston- Super-Mare. This is a conference that is growing in numbers again and it needs to when you consider the challenges ahead for the grades involved. The conference now takes place in February and this has enabled them to send resolutions to the AGM and I have had the honour of moving some of them. This was a very good conference and I was given a very warm welcome by my own grade. However, I found it very hard not to be able to take part in the debates! There was a special significance to conference this year, as it was the first time it had met since the announcement by Network Rail of the mass closures of signal boxes. However, after listening to the debates, I am confident that the grade is more than equal to the challenge ahead. This will include the fight to keep jobs, ensure PTR&R is adhered to and to make sure all new signalling centres are staffed by signallers only. It will be a long hard struggle and we will need to be vigilant every step of the way. It was good to see old friends, but also heartening to see a lot of new delegates. As long as this mixture of old and new continues we are in safe hands. The final conference that I have attended so far was the health and safety conference in Doncaster. This is a massive conference with well over 130 delegates in attendance. Although I have never been a health and safety rep, I do appreciate the large workload and huge responsibility that they have. Again, we face a challenge, as for the first time in over 100 years health and safety laws are to be overhauled. Our reps will be in the front line in the fight to keep safety ahead of the pursuit of profit. We need all their knowledge and skill to prevent more disasters happening on the rail, sea, oil rigs, buses and road transport. Finally I would like to thank all those who help to put these conferences in place. All three conferences ran like clockwork, and this is down to the branch volunteers and in the case of the health and safety and Young Members conferences Paul, Stephanie, and Andy. Thanks also to conference chairs and secretaries for making sure the agendas went smoothly. Peter Pinkney RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: april 2013 :: RMTnews 23 was well received by delegates as he slammed bosses in the transport sector who are set to slash 4,000 signalling jobs in favour of automation. “This is also about job opportunities for the next generation disappearing,” he said. Peter said the political situation was bleak, criticising the TUC for not building on two successful marches, the last one in October last year against the government’s austerity measures which are crippling public services. “It is all well and good attending those two marches but it is good to have demonstrations but you need to follow them up “My personal opinion is we need a general strike and the TUC needs to get some balls and do something about it,” he said. Looking at the wider economic situation, Peter said he did not blame the bankers for being bankers the group many blame for the financial crisis. “I don’t blame the Tory government, they are looking after their class. We need to start looking after ours and our union has a reputation as a fighting union,” he said. But remaining upbeat, Peter added that new reps were being trained up every week at the new education centre in Doncaster, to take the union message into workplaces up and down the country. “This will release full time officers to do pay deals and organising.” “Reps who go on those courses should be confident to represent members.” “Many of these young members coming through are activists and the future is looking good,” he said. Delegates agreed a number of motions calling on the officers of the union to initiate “pay negotiations with a formula that does not widen the gap between higher and lower rates of pay in the road freight transport sector” and reduced membership rate for City Link call centre and office staff.