SIGNALLING MATTERS

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: march 2019 :: RMTnews 10 Could you find a more fitting location for RMT signallers’ organising conference than Crewe? Delegates were welcomed by the railway town’s Labour mayor Brian Wilson, who delivered a message from Crewe and Nantwich MP and RMT parliamentary group member Laura Smith, who was unable to attend due to illness. Ms Smith urged RMT members to remain vigilant over the EU’s drive to privatise railways across Europe after Brexit. “As we all know, the changes only technically apply in the UK until the end of 2020. But the future of the rail directives will very much depend on the type of relationship we have with the EU. “It is within these uncertain and divisive times that we’ve got to work together. There is no doubt in my mind that RMT is up to the challenge that lay ahead. Its members are in safe hands,” she said in her message. Delegates unanimously backed an emergency motion regarding Network Rail's pay offer which called for a discussion on the content of the offer, which was intended not to reach a binding decision but to form part of the wider consultation with members on the offer. A report on the discussion was to be placed before the NEC this month, along with the rest of the feedback from the month long consultation process involving all Network Rail elected representatives. Throughout the discussion, delegates echoed the sentiments previously expressed by officers and the NEC that the achievement of RPI was significant in the context of the lower CPI base which the Secretary of State for Transport had argued for rail pay deals but that other aspects of the offer were of real concern. RMT general secretary Mick Cash told delegates that RMT membership continued to grow by almost 5,000 against a tough industrial and economic backdrop. “Our finances are strong and we have been able to support members engaged in important disputes to the tune of over £2 million over the last two years alone. “We have had no hesitation in balloting workers in defence of pay, conditions, safety, pensions and victimised members. Despite all the barriers erected in our path we have continued to be that fighting, member led, democratic union we are all so rightly proud of,” he said. He also warned that bosses were rolling out digital control mechanisms in an attempt to “destroy militant, industrial trade unionism”. He said that the union had made important progress in disputes such as the guards’ strikes over driver-only operation, but also had to “think about what we’re going to do” in the coming years and decades. “The first message we’re going to be giving to the government is that we’re not changing, we’re still going to be a campaigning, member-led and fighting union,” he added. SIGNALLING MATTERS Delegates for the signalling and operations grades conference gathered in Crewe last month