PRESIDENTS COLUMN

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: january 2017 :: RMTnews 21 President’s column I am just entering my second year as your President and have been fortunate to meet many of you and I look forward to attending as many branches and conferences as possible this coming year to hear members’ views and discuss the challenges ahead and as an all grades union there will be many! Watching the BBC’s One Show trying to discredit our dispute on Southern, as well as any other disputes that RMT is currently involved in, was extremely annoying but not particularly surprising. In the weeks leading up to the programme, we saw the predominantly Conservative national newspapers deliberately misrepresenting our reasons for taking action. The BBC stopped being a trustworthy organisation long ago and you only need to look at the biased reporting regarding Jeremy Corbyn to see that it has become nothing more than the mouthpiece for the rightwing press. According to research by the Media Reform Coalition, most BBC reports on Corbyn were loaded even though TV news providers are supposed to be governed by rules on impartiality and balance. It is a complete disgrace to show footage of myself from September, speaking at a political fringe meeting during last year’s Trade Union Congress entitled “Cameron's gone - get the rest of the Tories out!” and then pretend that I was referring to our Southern dispute. So why would I want the Tories out? Maybe it is because I dislike watching our beloved National Health Service in meltdown and being softened up, ready for full privatisation. Indeed, in the last week we have seen £57 million given to private firms that block GP’s from referring patients to hospitals. The junior doctors have long warned us about the dangerous government agenda being driven through by Jeremy Hunt and others. Or could it be that I don’t like the fact that we have over a million people queuing up at food banks and 1 in 5 parents are skipping meals so that they can feed their children? (Trussell Trust). These are shocking statistics considering we are supposed to be the fifth richest country in the world. I am still sickened by the government's budget last year that cut £4.4 billion from people that are too ill to seek full employment and then used the clawed back money to fund tax breaks for the rich! The Tories misguided austerity plan is just one more reason. Large - scale Public Sector redundancies, pay cuts and pay freezes lead to reductions in household disposable income and when people spend less, it creates a problem in the Private Sector. The end result is Private Sector austerity following on from the Public Sector austerity. Each household in Britain currently has an average unsecured debt of thirteen thousand pounds, not including mortgage debt. Globally, the 62 richest billionaires own as much wealth as the poorest half of the world population and one per cent of people own more wealth than the other 99 per cent (Oxfam, 2015-2016). So while RMT is an industrial trade union and all the disputes we are involved in have their own particular issues, we are also proud of our political history and we continue to strive for a better society for all. “Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with their experience”- Mark Twain IT REALLY IS ALL ABOUT SAFETY! harassment, threats of violence and stalking. As a trade union RMT addressed the problem nationally in 2013 by producing a model domestic violence policy which was drawn up by the National Women’s Advisory Committee after taking the advice from the organisation Women’s Aid. RMT now tables this policy with all employers with whom it has collective bargaining rights and continually requests that such a policy is recognised. This policy seeks to protect against further acts of violence whilst at work and to also provide support to the victim. Women can also experience violence at work, not related to a domestic relationship, but from other family members, colleagues or members of the public. It can occur at or outside the workplace and can range from threats and verbal abuse to physical assaults and homicide, one of the leading causes of job-related deaths. However it manifests itself, workplace violence is a growing concern for trade unions, employers and employees nationwide. Violence against transport workers is one of the most important factors limiting the attraction of transport jobs for women and breaking the retention of those who are employed in the transport sector. The women’s committee of the European Transport Worker's Federation has drawn up a survey to collect data and evidence on workplace violence against women in the transport sector in Europe. RMT will be supporting this call for evidence by emailing and texting the link to this survey to all female members and encouraging them to take part. www.surveymonkey.de/ r/LZTWFHMen Please do take the time to fill in this short survey, your replies will be treated in confidence and will assist to convince employers of the severity of the issue.