STILL ORGANISING

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: july/august 2021 :: RMTnews 18 Exeter City Council Labour leader Phil Bialyk is a hard man to pin down and when RMT News finally caught up with him on his 65th birthday we could see why with such a busy schedule. Many readers will remember Phil as the affable RMT regional organiser for the South West who was always ready to share a funny story in his distinctive Devon accent. After retiring from his job at RMT after 40 years of service in 2017, Phil threw himself even further into local politics as he was already a Labour city councillor for Exwick ward for some years. “Apart from watching my children grow up the best thing to happen to me was being elected, as a bus worker in Exeter, as a full-time organiser for what was then the National Union of Railwaymen in 1987 and to do what I love, representing people and make positive changes to people’s lives. “The NUR and then RMT gave me the opportunity to learn skills which I still use every day as leader of a Labour council,” he says. Exeter has a long tradition of electing Labour councillors who are also active trade unionists and Phil is actually the fourth Labour council leader from NUR/RMT over the years including his predecessor Peter Edwards, another stalwart of the bus grades conference. This is maybe why Labour enjoyed the highest vote in Exeter for 20 years winning 11 out of the 14 seats up for grabs this year taking its total to 28 labour councillors and half of them are women. “Most of the senior positions in the council are held by women and I believe that they are the best people for the job,” Phil explains with some pride. Another reason for Labour’s success here, while its fortunes have declined in other areas including the so-called Red Wall, is the vision Labour councillors have for the city particularly in developing policies on housing, regeneration and climate change. “It would be easy to scale back our ambitions as a result of the Covid-19 crisis. But I will not let that happen. I am absolutely determined that the success our city has enjoyed over recent years will continue. “We will protect and maintain the services that we as residents all depend on. At the same time we will pioneer transformational programmes designed to address active lifestyles, clean growth, active travel, innovation, housing STILL ORGANISING Far from putting his feet up retired RMT regional organiser Phil Bialyk is now Exeter City Council Leader SHOWCASE: Exeter City Council is working directly with Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) to create a “showcase of what inclusive public realm development could look like” in the form of a brand-new Bus Station for Exeter.