RMT WINS TUC COMMUNICATIONS AWARDS

RMT won the TUC Best Use of Social Media award for an unprecedented second year in a row and picked up Best Campaign for its successful work saving every ticket office in the country after the previous government had earmarked them all for closure. Collecting the awards, web and social media editor Andrew Brattle commended all departments of the union: "Our campaign to save ticket offices is a testimony to the whole trade union movement. "We managed to secure the biggest ever response to a public consultation. The result of that was that we weren't just able to save one or two ticket offices, but we managed to save every single one,” he said. TUC judges praised RMT for a great cross-platform social media campaign, running off the single idea that ticket offices were still popular, despite government claims. “Celebrity tweets helped, and momentum built as the public got involved. “RMT kept the campaign agile and responsive, such as exploiting the narrative around outages on the Trainline ticket app. The social media work created enough visibility to really contribute to the union's wider campaign,” they said. Judges also praised the entire ‘well-executed’ ticket office campaign that achieved huge participation with simple messaging and a clear call to action which made good use of the increased name recognition that RMT has won in recent years. “Working with disability action groups brought in allies with strong stories to tell, and supporters were encouraged to share photos and stories, which were well integrated into the campaign. “Lots of excellent PR work helped RMT achieve favourable coverage across the media by demonstrating to outlets the impact the closures would have on their own readerships,” judges noted. The union was also commended in the best recruitment and organising category for the RMT calling card featuring a QR code to the online join form. Judges said that it was “a simple, but creative initiative that empowers members to be active recruiters for the union”. The union’s journal RMT News also won praise from judges as “comprehensive in its coverage of strikes and disputes and has some great member support pages”. 25 RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: november/december 2024 :: RMTnews JOIN TODAY Britain’s specialist transport union RMT WINS TUC COMMS AWARDS Union wins best social media award second year running WINNER: RMT web and social media editor Andrew Brattle receives award second year running