REMEMBER SPAIN

29 RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: may/june 2024 :: RMTnews T he recipient for the STUC Scottish Union Learning Learner of the Year Award 2024 is RMT young member Ross Henderson.  The annual award, presented by First Minister Humza Yousaf at the STUC annual congress in Dundee, celebrates the achievements of Scotland’s trade unionist workplace learners.  A young worker with a hearing impairment, he has now successfully completed his apprenticeship and gained permanent employment with Scotrail following the creation of new courses organised by Dennis Fallen the RMT union learning organiser supported by Mick Hogg RMT regional organiser and Scottish Union Learning. He is continuing his learning journey and successfully applied for a place on an RMT learning course at Glasgow Caledonian University called Mind the Gap designed to prepare the learners go on to further study the Chartered Institute of Rail Operators (CIRO) Certificate course at Glasgow Caledonian University supported and funded by the employer. He is now encouraging his colleagues to participate in the workforce development opportunities organised by RMT Lowlands and Uplands learning project.  After joining Scotrail as a Customer Service apprentice just after lockdown had ended in 2020, Ross undertook a range of new union provided courses including one on deaf awareness. This is particularly important given the noisy environment often found in major train stations.  STUC general secretary Roz Foyer said that she wad delighted to present the award to Ross. “With the support of his union, he has overcome adversity and helped plot a route to successful employment for those who might follow. “As if this were not enough, he continues his professional development and is encouraging his fellow union members to do the same. We are very proud of Ross and his union for this invaluable work,” he said. RMT general secretary Mick Lynch added that Ross was a very worthy recipient of this award. “As a young RMT member, Ross has shown true determination and has not let any obstacle get in his way of learning. “Not only is Ross learning, but he has also gained confidence, he shares with pride his story with his peers at his workplace which are all great steps in union learning and organising in Scotland,” he said. Watch Ross' story in the Scottish Union Learning's Learner of the Year Award short film on You Tube. In February myself and some other trade unionists from Trade Unions in Communities in Edinburgh, Carmen Simon, Willie Black and the secretary from the Edinburgh Trades Council Des Loughney, flew out to Madrid to participate in a number of significant events to remember and pay homage to the International Brigadiers who left their homes in 1936 to 1939 to fight fascism in Spain We visited the graveyard in Taricon where a memorial proudly names the fallen Scottish Brigadiers. It was a great honour to be asked to read the roll call of the Scots who are immortalised in that Taricon Graveyard, while a Spanish comrade read out the names of the Spanish who are remembered there. We visited the beautiful village of Ucles in the province Cuenca, where the impressive fortress was used initially as a hospital treating the wounded in the civil war but unfortunately became a political prison where many were executed. Thankfully, the mass graves were recently excavated and the remains of the executed were given a proper final resting place in a cemetery nearby, we had the opportunity to lay carnations on the graves We also visited the battlefield in the Jarama to mark the 1937 Battle of Jamara and walked five kilometres over the very ground where so many made the ultimate sacrifice fighting Franco’s fascist dictatorship. Around 500 comrades turned up that day to witness the newly unveiled memorial in remembrance of the British Battalion volunteers. Several relatives of the volunteers spoke, citing the pride they have for their family members who came to the assistance of the people of Spain in what was their darkest years It was a trip I’ve contemplated for a number of years especially after my branch erected the Memorial to the Blockade Runners and one I will never forget. The friendship given by the Spanish people we met and the solidarity from the visitors from all over the world was fantastic. No Pasaran! REMEMBER SPAIN RMT Glasgow Shipping branch chair Brian Reynolds visits Spain to pay tribute to anti-fascist fighters STUC LEARNER OF THE YEAR 2024