RMT DONATES TO ‘NICLAS Y GLAIS’ MEMORIAL

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: march 2019 :: RMTnews 29 R MT South East and Anglia region held an event at the March Railway Club recently to mark Ron Douglas’s seventy years’ service to the union. RMT general secretary Mick Cash presented Ron with a mounted badge collection as a small token of the union’s appreciation for the work he has carried out in the service of members. “I have known Ron for many years and he has always selflessly served the membership to the best of his ability. “He represents the very best of what this union does for its members day-in day-out and I am proud to know him,” he said. Ron joined the railways as a ‘box boy’ at Colchester signal box in May 1949 aged 15 before being called up for National Service. He re-joined the railways at Bluntshall signal box before becoming a relief signalman for Anglia region. He returned to Colchester signal box and became a route manager until retirement in 1998. Throughout his working life Ron was active in the union as a branch secretary, on sectional councils and as AGM delegate. He has represented people at tribunals, disciplinaries and hearings on behalf of the union. On retirement he became the regional retired members’ secretary for Anglia and continues to work with the regional council. He has also served three terms as president of the National Pensioners Convention and is standing for a fourth and final term this year. Ron said that he had enjoyed his time working on the railway and with retired members and the pensioners’ movement. “I have always tried to look after people that maybe cannot help themselves, it is what trade unionism is all about,” he said. As such Ron remains an inspiration to us all. F ollowing a resolution from the Bridgend and Llantrisant branch, the RMT South Wales and West of England regional council has made a significant donation towards the erection of a monument to commemorate the great Welsh socialist TE Nicholas - better known as 'Niclas y Glais'. Niclas dedicated his life to campaigning for socialism and peace and was imprisoned during the Second World War for his stand against the imperialist nature of the confrontation. A nonconformist preacher, then a dentist by profession, Niclas was also a prolific poet and translated the words of the 'The Red Flag' into Welsh. He was a close ally to the founder of the Independent Labour Party, Keir Hardie, acting as his election agent and then standing as candidate for the Merthyr/Aberdare constituency following Hardie's death. Niclas then transferred his allegiance from Labour to the Communist Party. Born to a family of tenant farmers on the Preseli hills in Pembrokeshire in 1879, the hardship of his rural upbringing moulded Niclas into a lifelong campaigner for socialism and trade unionism, ideals which intertwined with his Christian beliefs. The militarism and royalism of the British State were always a focus for his attacks, often from the pulpits of the chapels where he preached. Niclas y Glais was a man of principle who showed courage in his beliefs in the face of vilification and persecution. He was an internationalist who valued the culture of his native land, a campaigner for a more just society, a socialist and a patriot. He dedicated his life to these ideals before his passing in 1971. The call for a monument to commemorate Niclas came following the recent publication of his biography written by former BBC journalist Hefin Wyn, another son of the Preseli. "He is one of the heroes of the area" said Hefin Wyn. "There is a strong tradition of erected stones in Pembrokeshire. Niclas deserves to be remembered in this way. "The memorial will be on the mountain slopes close to his old home where he was brought up. This is the area that made him what he was a man of principle," he said. RMT DONATES TO ‘NICLAS Y GLAIS’ MEMORIAL RON’S 70 YEARS’ SERVICE