RMT AT TUC

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: october 2015 :: RMTnews 8 T his year’s TUC in Brighton was given a massive lift with the election of RMT Parliamentary group member Jeremy Corbyn as Labour Leader just 24 hours before the Congress got rolling. RMT had a full range of items submitted to the agenda covering both its industrial and political priorities. First up was RMT delegate Glenroy Watson speaking in opposition to a motion from Community that lauded the benefits of Social Partnership: “Why would we want to align ourselves with the architects of austerity? “There is a very real difference between dialogue and partnerships and RMT is wholly opposed to jumping into alliances with those very same people who are trying to screw us into the ground,” he said. Shipping member Ian Boyle led for RMT in two key debates on the maritime and offshore industries. Moving RMT’s amendment on the exclusion of seafarers from the protections of the national minimum wage and the Equality Act Ian told the Congress: “There are seafarers earning £2.30, working horrific hours under horrendous conditions and shift patterns and it is time that the scandal of the ships of shame was ended once and for all,” he said. Ian also spoke on RMT’s amendment to the Nautilus motion on the savage job cuts and attacks on safety across the UK oil and gas industries with our union specifically highlighting the continuing demand for a full public inquiry into helicopter operations and all aspects of offshore safety. Both motions were carried unanimously. RMT general secretary Mick Cash moved the set-piece Congress motion on the transport industry. Drawing attention to the Tory government’s renewed privatisation drive Mick opened up by listing the catalogue of previous disasters, from Hatfield to Potters Bar, that had been unleashed by corporate greed. “And now they are back again, with new attacks on staff and on services. “Well, we should be applauding those who have had the guts to fight back and I put the government on notice right now that if they don’t reverse the assault that they have unleashed then RMT will mobilise for the biggest national rail strike in a generation,” he said. Mick laid into the EU directives that are setting the pace for new waves of privatisation and saluted the solidarity and determination of members on CalMac who had shown the way by forcing major concessions through a prolonged campaign involving industrial action. “All of our transport services are public services and should be run by the public for the public. “Join our campaigns, support Action for Rail and other joint initiatives on our buses and elsewhere, and let’s rebuild a public transport system that we can once again be proud of,” he said. The motion was carried unanimously. RMT president Peter Pinkney moved motion 64 on the anti- trade union laws. The motion stood on its own alongside a composite involving other unions but the TUC General Council only supported the RMT position with “reservations” because it referred to “generalised strike action”. “I don’t understand what the objections of the General Council are and we are proud that our general secretary Mick Cash has stuck to his guns on this. "RMT is proud that we have put on a series of high profile strikes this year across a range of employers from Network Rail to London Underground, CalMac and First Great Western and we know that you get nothing unless you fight for it. “The Tories are always ruthless and maybe we haven't been ruthless enough and now is the time to get off our knees and coordinate and generalise our action,” he said. RMT’s motion was overwhelmingly carried. A controversial TUC statement on the EU, making a series of bogus claims about the benefits of membership and delaying a decision on the referendum until after David Cameron returns from his negotiations with EU leaders, was opposed by RMT. RMT delegate Chris Davidson asked from the rostrum: “Can someone please tell me why we would want to be part of an organisation that says you have to privatise public services?” The TUC General Council statement was approved. With Jeremy Corbyn making his first major speech as Labour Leader to the TUC the gathering was electrified as he set out a clear and direct alternative to the “poverty deniers” in government and as Mick Cash said on the fringe RMT had supported Jeremy and John McDonnell 100 per cent since “before it was fashionable” and would continue to do so. RMT at TUC Unions calls for decent public transport services and against EU diktats that demand privatisation and job cuts