PRESIDENT’S COLUMN

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: july/august 2020 :: RMTnews 25 I want to start with a message of solidarity to everyone for the work done to protect each other from the attacks on our safety from employers and the government. As the government’s push forward with the economic agenda we will be put under even more pressure as lockdown conditions around Covid19 are lifted. It is important to remember your safety is the most important thing and procedures for working safely are available and YOUR union supports you! Our industries will be attacked with pay freezes and job losses and will need everyone fighting to protect so whether your maritime, off shore or general grades when our campaigns start we must support and share with everyone we know to get maximum coverage for our members. As the saying goes: “If you fight you won't always win. But if you don't fight you will always lose”. The next few months will take all our collective efforts to fight off the attacks but with RMT militancy we will win! RMT Union is for all grades and led by its members, black and white — seeking the overthrow of the capitalist system replaced by a society based on socialism and justice for all, which promotes equality and opposes racism. At this particular momentous time Black people, who have historically bore the brunt of state and racial oppression, yet again face this burden as a consequence of the Coronavirus global pandemic and the inevitable economic decline which followed. Spurred on by the brutal police lynching in America of unarmed black man George Floyd, we join the worldwide protest movement and say ‘Black Lives Matter’. Our lives unequivocally should. This black-led struggle doesn’t take away or replace the fight of our class as a whole — with RMT at the forefront as an industrial trade union and with RMT’s National Black & Ethnic Members' Advisory Committee. We have all faced difficult challenges with-in our roles during the pandemic which has been unmeasurable and each of us has suffered. So this is a time to ask each other how we are and sparing a few moments to check is a must as our inner strength is tested to it's limit. Please be kind to each other. I would like to finish my column by wishing the general secretary a speedy recovery. Solidarity Michelle Rodgers President’s column KEEP SAFE already been taken by the British military to shift to a system of mobile rather than static defences. As a result, the network of pillboxes were abandoned and, after the end of the war, in many cases forgotten. After a chat with assistant general secretary Mick Lynch and local RMT Network Rail rep Ray Marney we were able to organise through the track team to have the Epsom pillbox cleared of vegetation and revealed in full, allowing for a comprehensive set of pictures to be taken before the undergrowth takes over and it is once again hidden from view. The box is in exceptional condition with only some minor damage to the original brickwork shuttering. The access and rear blast wall were sealed up long ago so we have no way of establishing the state of the interior. Interestingly, the pillbox was built into the derelict and bricked-up façade that is all that remains of the old Epsom Town LBSCR station to the rear of the shops in Upper High Street which was closed in 1929. RMT News would like to thank Ady Lavin and his team, along with Louise Carvey and Landi NDoja at Network Rail, for their assistance in bringing this story, and an important part of our hidden railway and military history, to life. As a result of their efforts and support we have been able to ensure that the Epsom railway pillbox is now properly recorded, registered and logged with the Surrey Heritage historians.