RMT YOUNG MEMBERS LEAD THE WAY

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: march 2023 :: RMTnews 14 Young RMT members set out their stall for the future at a well-attended annual conference in Hastings last month. The jam-packed two-day event saw over 50 delegates debate motions from the floor, take part in interactive workshops on health and safety and neo-liberalism and hear speeches from the senior RMT leadership. Outgoing RMT young members chair Rupert Pickering told RMT News:“This has been one of our best conferences with a big attendance, a high level of participation and a real thirst among young members to make a contribution industrially to the union. “Many of our ranks have been out on strike during the national dispute and we are encouraging them to become reps in their workplaces and get active in their branches as they are the future of the union. “I say that we are the present, in the here and now, playing a crucial role now in our union's continuing struggles today,” he said. RMT general secretary Mick Lynch praised organisers for growing the conference and making it an accessible avenue for young members. “This conference ten years ago was tiny and we had around a dozen people attending so congratulations to all of you who have turned it into a viable part of our union. “It is vital you are here, vital you have your say and that you make a contribution”. Turning his attention to the national dispute, Mr Lynch said that RMT had rekindled “the fire of trades unionism” through its strikes and pickets beginning in May last year. “It is important what we are doing for society and for the country and we have to keep going. “I’m really proud to be a general secretary of a union like ours - at the forefront. “The people that are against us - the ruling class, the media, the commentators - hate us. And the reason they hate us is because we are the opposition. “There is a false consensus in politics at this time - that the world can’t change, and we have to continue with the structures handed down from the past,” he said. Referring to the East Sussex branch banner behind him, he pointed to embroidered image of socialist author Robert RMT YOUNG MEMBERS LEAD THE WAY RMT young members gathered in Hastings for their annual conference