REMEMBERING JIMMY KNAPP

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: september 2016 :: RMTnews 22 RMT has launched a regular e- communication dedicated to campaigns and activities in the maritime industry. RMT Seafarer gets the message out to members and encourage their participation in the fight to protect jobs and secure a future for UK ratings. The major focus is the launch of the Save Our Seafarers “SOS2020” campaign. This initiative is designed to raise the plight of our maritime industry and the repeated attacks on the workforce. RMT Seafarer outlines the hard facts about just how our maritime industry faces being run into the ground between now and 2020 through a combination of demographics, a lack of planning and investment and a wilful bending of every rule in the book to undermine pay and conditions and extend the scourge of social dumping. Members can submit articles and ideas to theseafarer@rmt.org.uk Jimmy in Kilmarnock earth Jimmy on my mind In Hurlford, village of your birth Back among your kind Flying hair and gravel voice Jimmy on my mind Gentle man, for you no choice But helping humankind Massive man, with giant’s heart Jimmy on my mind Still beside me, though apart Clasped close by years that bind From signal box to signal life Jimmy on my mind Railmen’s leader, stretched by strife Honed bright by days of grind Yet no rasped edges, like flint knapped Jimmy on my mind Your soft humility was capped And scarved by laughter kind You strove so all would go first class Jimmy on my mind For you your class was first and last Your credo underlined We’ve stood on platforms, done the lot Jimmy on my mind We’ve missed the train, sometimes the plot We’ve struck, we’ve marched, we’ve signed Your station too, someday I’ll reach Jimmy on my mind Til then your friendship, looks and speech With me safe left behind Jimmy still on my mind Rodney Bickestaffe Brighton TUC 2001 F riends and colleagues gathered at the graveside of former RMT general secretary Jimmy Knapp last month to mark the 15th anniversary of his passing. Glasgow Shipping Branch members laid a wreath and retired seafarer and RMT member Stuart Hislop read out a poem by Jimmy’s friend and former UNISON general secretary Rodney Bickerstaffe. CALLING ALL SHIPPERS REMEMBERING JIMMY KNAPP JIMMY –STILL ON MY MIND