PRESIDENT’S COLUMN

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: january 2016 :: RMTnews 21 President’s column I would like to start my first column by applauding all the candidates that took part in the election for RMT president. It is a testament to the strength of grassroots activism in our union, that so many worthy candidates were available for what is the most senior lay position in the union. I would also like to thank the great team that supported me over what was a long campaign period. There are many challenges that face us all and a strong united union is vital as we strive to fight back and deliver for our members. One of the biggest challenges faced by all unions in this country is the governments ‘anti’ Trade Union Bill, which attempts to remove worker’s ability to take industrial action. It’s shameful that 183 year after the Abolition of Slavery Act was passed in parliament, we see a Bill that seeks to criminalise trade unionist for having the temerity to think that they have the right to withdraw their labour. Ultimately workers that cannot withdraw their labour are little more than modern day slaves. Looking ahead I will campaign for: • A publically owned and democratically run railway fit for both our members and the travelling public is achievable with the majority of the public now in favour of a re- nationalisation. They want ticket offices open and a guard on every train. • We must do all we can to defend our off-shore members as predatory bosses use the excuse of crashing oil prices to rip up hard fought terms and conditions and put safety at risk. • We need to support our road freight and taxi members, deregulation is selling them out. • Our bus members are feeling the pain as ‘Bus Service Operators Grants’ are cut around the country. Political and industrial pressure must continue. • Network rail must always put safety before profit and privatisation will not deliver that. • Social dumping of seafarers and exploitation of foreign nationals has long been a problem and must stop. • TfL’s fit for the future programme is as insincere as many of their previous initiatives and we must continue to hold Boris’s cronies to account. • The progressive rules regarding RMT subscriptions [affordability] that allow our lowest paid workers to remain members should be protected. Recently I was pleased to accept an invitation to attend the AGM of Liverpool 5 branch, which gave me the opportunity to talk to the very people that run our union the rank and file. Billy Kimm should be very pleased indeed as I observed a model branch where all participated with knowledge, enthusiasm and more than a little humour. It also gave me the opportunity to say goodbye to one of my dearest friends in our movement, outgoing president Peter Pinkney. I had the greatest respect for Peter before he became president and after his three year term that included the loss of the greatest general secretary our union has ever or is ever likely to have, Bob Crow. My admiration for Peter couldn’t be any higher. RMT is already the most progressive trade union in the country and I’m committed to maintaining the member-led philosophy that has made us the union we are today. I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible over the next three years as your president. Finally, many of my predecessors often quoted Marx, Engels, Lenin etc. and I think you learn a lot about someone from the quotes they choose so here’s mine. “Being honest may not get you a lot of friends but it will always get you the right ones” John Lennon. In Solidarity Sean Hoyle SOLIDARITY AND UNITY As you get off the Tube at Westminster and look up at the buildings you can only be overawed by the skill and craftsmanship of the working people that were put to work to erect them. Once inside the decorative decadence can lead you to some understanding of how some develop a level of undeserved self-importance and pomposity. Fortunately there are small areas of real importance like the plaque dedicated to Emily Wheeler Davidson – a suffragette who gave her life in support of votes for women – put there by Tony Benn helped by Jeremy Corbyn. We met members of the RMT’s parliamentary group of MPs, such as new convenor Ian Mearns who achieved the feat of doing a mini-sessions with us in between whipped votes, former convenor and now Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell MP, Trade Union Group chair Ian Lavery and Grahame Morris who is also a whip. An outstanding contribution was made by Angela Rayner MP. She came from a job in domestic services and confessed to not having a GCSE or attending a college. But pushed by her trade union peers she was elected and proudly represents her home constituency of Ashton-under- Lyme. She was far from the stereotype of an MP as you could get with unequivocally good intentions and quick to offer help to those trying to move the Labour party back to creating an actual fairer society. The two most important points for me from this week were that all RMT members can and should apply for a place on the political school. And, going back to Professor Seifert explanation of class and Charles Darwin on the first day, a humming bird and an ostrich are both still birds and it should not be differences people should focus on but your similarities.