REMEMBERING BILL RAWCLIFFE

24 RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: october 2021 :: RMTnews We come today to say farewell to our friend and Brother Bill Rawcliffe. To honour his life and to offer support and our sympathies to his family and friends. I am grateful and honoured to have been asked to say a few words on behalf of the national union. Bill was a man of strong, and forthright views. He was tenacious and passionate; strong-willed and charismatic; inspiring and, sometimes blunt. I knew Bill for many years from our engineering conference, AGMs, and various events around the country. We always spent time together at these meetings. You had to stand your ground with Bill and I believe that’s how you earned his respect and friendship. You couldn’t worry about disagreeing with him, because he loved the cut and thrust of debate and argument and would always find a way to “intensify” a conversation and then burst the bubble of tension with humour. He was great company and incredibly funny. And integrity ran through his bloodstream. Initially, Bill worked for the Railway as a messenger in the mid-1970s before moving over to the P-way and then joining the Army in 1977. Personally, I can’t imagine Bill obeying orders in the army but we know it was a relationship that lasted for four years. I have no account of how many charges he was put on in that time but I can’t believe Bill was a passive or obedient soldier. Bill was back on the railway and in the union in 1983 as a trackman within the York No.1 branch. Throughout his numerous years of service, Bill served the members in nearly every position that could be held. As Branch Secretary of York & District Branch, Branch Membership Secretary, Cash Collector, local representative, stage 2 representative, health & safety representative and as an AGM delegate on multiple occasions. He was elected to serve on the Union’s National Executive Committee from 2019. Bill was a fine advocate of the rank and file, the core of our union, and he represented the heart and soul of what we need to do. Bill fought to protect jobs both individually and collectively, from disciplinary hearings to redundancy consultations across numerous grades within the transport industry. Many RMT members will remember Bill’s campaigning as a former Jarvis worker and RMT representative for the redundant Jarvis workers which he led from the front. He was committed, passionate and inspiring in that campaign – determined that those workers would be heard and would receive justice. It even led to him standing for Parliament against Ed Milliband in 2010. But he was more than that. He was a true Yorkshireman from a large and loving family and I would think from there he gained his values. While in the Army in the late 1970s he met and married Sharron and when they moved back up to York, he re-joined British Rail and found his industrial destiny out on the P- Way. Bill and Sharron had more than 40 years of marriage together and raised their two sons Jack and William. I know how much he loved and cherished his family and I know they are devastated by their loss. As Sharon has said: “Bill was the very best of the best, a true Yorkshire man, honesty, integrity, passion served up in a no-nonsense blunt Yorkshire way. His passion for the rights of people and his love of the battle sometimes intruded into our family life - but after 43 years with that amazing man I would not change a single thing except this heartbreak.” So, we have lost one of the best of men. He was taken too early and we all have to deal with that terrible blow. We have to offer our strength and support to Sharron, his family and friends. We have to continue to work for the values he believed in and that he dedicated his life to. For a strong and effective voice for working people, and for a fair and just society. Sharron – we thank you for all the time that you gave us with Bill, so that he could give his all for what he believed in. We join you in grief at his passing, and with you, we hold cherished memories of this wonderful and amazing man - our dear friend and brother – Bill Rawcliffe. Thank you REMEMBERING BILL RAWCLIFFE RMT general secretary Mick Lynch gave the eulogy for Bill Rawcliffe at his funeral last month