OBITUARY: RMT COUNCIL OF EXECUTIVES MEMBER BRIAN MUNRO

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: july/aug 2014 :: RMTnews 27 BRIGHTON AND HOVE CITY BRANCH NOMINATE GARRY HASSELL FOR COUNCIL OF EXECUTIVES WATERLOO BRANCH NOMINATE BRIAN WHITEHEAD FOR THE RELIEF REGIONAL ORGANISER (SOUTH) BRIGHTON & HOVE CITY BRANCH NOMINATE ALAN POTTAGE FOR GENERAL SECRETARY TEESSIDE NOMINATE ALAN POTTAGE FOR GENERAL SECRETARY CAMBRIDGE BRANCH NOMINATES STEVE SMART FOR LONDON & ANGLIA REGIONAL ORGANISER WATFORD BRANCH SUPPORTS STEVE SMART FOR LONDON AND ANGLIA REGIONAL ORGANISER PETERBOROUGH BRANCH NOMINATE STEVE SMART FOR LONDON & ANGLIA REGIONAL ORGANISER GREAT NORTHERN RAIL BRANCH NOMINATE STEVE SMART FOR LONDON & ANGLIA REGIONAL ORGANISER MARCH & DISTRICT BRANCH NOMINATE STEVE SMART FOR LONDON & ANGLIA REGIONAL ORGANISER KINGS CROSS BRANCH NOMINATE STEVE SMART FOR LONDON & ANGLIA REGIONAL ORGANISER LONDON & ANGLIA TRANSPORT BRANCH NOMINATE STEVE SMART FOR LONDON & ANGLIA REGIONAL ORGANISER IPSWICH BRANCH NOMINATE STEVE SMART FOR LONDON & ANGLIA REGIONAL ORGANISER CAMBRIDGE BRANCH SUPPORTS MICK CASH FOR GENERAL SECRETARY THREE BRIDGES BRANCH SUPPORT MICK CASH FOR GENERAL SECRETARY MARCH AND DISTRICT BRANCH NOMINATES MICK CASH FOR GENERAL SECRETARY WOVERTON BRANCH NOMINATES MICK CASH FOR GENERAL SECRETARY F ollowing a seven year struggle against cancer, RMT leading activist Brian Munro has tragically died. Raised in the Drumchapel area of Glasgow, Brian was a working class Scot down to his bones. His upbringing led him to understand his situation from an early age, this led him to meet others with similar thoughts and he became a fighting socialist. This was at the height of Thatcherism and plans for taking back from the people their gas, electricity, water and railways were all well advanced. The destruction of the Welfare State and the all-out attacks on organised labour had begun. There were those who wanted to fight toe-to-toe and those who threw the towel in. For Brian it was easy to declare which side he was on, he was a fighter! He left Glasgow for London, not completely. His mum and family were there as was his beloved football club Celtic. During his final stage of illness he found the strength to travel and take part in the debate for an independent Scotland, a cause that he believed in. Brian worked in the offices at Waterloo Station, then as an LUL train driver. When he arrived at Waterloo offices there were no RMT members, when he left everyone was. On LUL he became a union rep, regional council secretary and Bakerloo branch secretary. He was central in organising and fighting alongside the rank and file workers who voted him on to the union’s leadership as a member of its Council of Executives just this year. Brian always forcefully put his beliefs. He didn’t bear grudges for long and expected the same from others. Lacking his maturity, they gave him a rough ride. He fell foul of people he said had “degenerated into the politics of the schoolyard and use venom to destroy the person not their arguments”. They never triumphed. The main event that arose from Brian heading south was meeting the love of his life, RMT member and long term partner Lucy Davies. They met, dated, became an item and in 2003 they had a daughter , Isabel , followed by Brenner in 2005. Brian was a truly loving father to his daughters and along with Lucy paid serious attention to preparing them for their lives ahead. His last message for the day to them is still on the wall at the family home “Practice your instruments! Read a book!“ When Brian needed cutting edge, experimental treatment to save his life, a fund was set up to raise the necessary finance. £55,000 was raised. The treatment failed but his comrades had tried, Brian loved them for it. Brian was just 45. The best was yet to come. A loving Dad – a son –a socialist fighter downed. “Oh grant me an ownerless corner of the earth Or pick me a hillock of stones Oh gather the wind wafted leaves of the trees To cover my socialist bones" Jim Connell R.I.P. Brian Munro 1969-2014 Geoff Revell OBITUARY: RMT COUNCIL OF EXECUTIVES MEMBER BRIAN MUNRO