RMT AT TUC

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: november/december 2024 :: RMTnews 8 Labour needs to abandon its fiscal rules and launch an investment programme that will help re-build Britain after 14 years of Tory misrule, TUC congress delegates declared in Brighton in early September. RMT, alongside Unite the union, moved a key motion which called for reforms to taxation including a wealth tax on the richest one per cent and a redistribution of wealth to raise £25 billion per year for public services and the NHS. To help fund this new investment, TUC affiliated unions will campaign for equalising capital gains tax in line with income tax, so that all income is taxed equally regardless of whether it comes from wealth or from workers. Speaking to delegates, RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said that Britain's economy, infrastructure and communities needed investment. “This is not an overnight job, but this country is in trouble, with our society hollowed out by austerity and four decades of pernicious Thatcherite economics. "Let's be clear, by adopting this resolution, the TUC calls on Labour to bring a significant real terms increase in public spending and investment with progressive taxation. "We cannot balance the books by cutting off the heating for our pensioners and Labour has to find a better way. "Labour has not allowed itself enough economic scope to address the country's needs, we need a fair economy that works for all people. "We welcome the Labour Party's early initiative on the new deal and public ownership of the railways, but we call out the misstep of punishing pensioners by cutting the Winter Fuel Allowance. "And we call on Rachel Reeves to think again," he said to applause. PUBLIC TRANSPORT RMT also gained support for a progressive transport agenda and delegates welcomed Labour beginning the process of taking the railways into public ownership but urged the new government to deal with rolling stock leasing companies and private companies operating on freight. Congress also agreed to campaign for the full implementation of the New Deal within the public transport, maritime and offshore sector, including ending outsourcing and extending collective bargaining for those workers who choose it. RMT president Alex Gordon said that he was looking forward to the creation of a "unified system with a single railway for tens of thousands of railway staff". However, he cautioned: "We also need to end the scourge of outsourcing on our railways which exploits a vulnerable and fragmented workforce. "We need to protect our environment by getting freight on to rail and bring that into public ownership. And finally, we need to end the egregious rolling stock racket that fleeces us for hundreds of millions of pounds every year," he said. END HARASSMENT One of the key issues debated at Congress was the urgent need to tackle sexual abuse and harassment in the workplace. Among several powerful speeches from women delegates in other unions, RMT delegate Marie Harrington spoke of her experiences on the railway and the need for trade unions to confront sexual harassment amongst their own members. RMT AT TUC RMT delegates to TUC Congress call for investment in the economy and developing public transport