The Annual General Meeting - GLASGOW 2025

15 The Annual General Meeting GLASGOW 2025 The Annual General Meeting GLASGOW 2025 16 R MT annual general meeting delegate Ross Marshall, Central Line West - a London Underground worker of over 20 years - recalled with horror finding out about the killing of Jorge Ortega at Ilford Station last year. “I remember when I got the phone call about brother Jorge Ortega. A shocking incident. But the worrying and scary thing was, I wasn’t surprised,” he said. He has been raising the appalling upsurge in violence as a workplace issue repeatedly, but employers did not seem inclined to take action. “It had been spoken about, it had been raised by us, by other unions, and around the country about the level of shocking violence against transport workers. “My own grades, in the same year, three members of my team—three members of this union—suffered horrific assaults, among many. One was knocked completely unconscious and still suffers flashbacks and brain problems to this day. “How have we come to this? he said. It is a good question and part of the answer would appear to lie in attempts to de-staff the rail network and London Underground over the years. “In 2014, the first major job restructuring programme cut nearly 800 station staff roles from the network. Then in 2016, under the so-called “Fit for the Future” plan, management claimed they would modernise staffing—but instead, they left many stations operating with staffing levels reminiscent of Victorian times. And even now, we are still facing ongoing waves of job cuts. “The consequence is that there are parts of the Underground—especially after a certain time—that are becoming no-go areas. So, what do we do about it? Where are the BTP as a deterrent?” he asked. Mr Marshall’s frustration was understandable given that the British Transport Police has faced swingeing cuts. In 2025 alone, the BTP is facing significant funding cuts due to an £8.5 million shortfall. These cuts are expected to result in the closure of up to 17 BTP stations and the loss of nearly 300 jobs. He received rapturous applause when he pointed out in a recent survey of over 6,000 transport workers, over 75 percent are prepared to take industrial action, if company bosses do not do more to protect their workforce. “Members are prepared to take action and enough is enough,” he declared. Steven Finn, Leeds city agreed that on the rail network the situation regarding the BTP was equally bleak. “We’ve seen large areas of the country where there are no BTP available. “Recently we had two members sacked for taking matters into their own hands rightly or wrongly, but it was because of a lack of BTP response,” he said. In one of the most moving accounts at conference, delegate Joe Simpson described being assaulted during a shift and how RMT had helped him get through the investigation achieving a successful outcome where the company was held to account. Referring to the union’s campaign Action on Assaults, he said: “It raised my spirits this morning when I came in and saw this campaign I am passionate about it and we all should be. “The report states that 63 per cent of respondents experienced violence in the past year, with 85 per cent facing violence multiple times. “The most common form was verbal abuse, reported by 92 per cent, followed by threats of violence and physical assaults, which affected 63 per cent of those surveyed.” “Without the union I don’t know what would have happened,” he said. Jessica Robinson, Darlington highlighted the need to fund the BTP properly ACTING ON ASSAULTS RMT annual general meeting calls for action against assaults on transport workers The Annual General Meeting :: GLASGOW 2025 17 particularly during rowdy football matches. “If the government can spend plenty of money sending weapons to commit genocide, can they please spare a few quid to stop me getting lamped on a random Saturday afternoon?” she asked to applause. END OUTSOURCING RMT president George Welch opened AGM with a direct call to “end outsourcing— permanently and decisively,” warning that it “fragments workforces, drives down pay and conditions, and allows employers to shrug off responsibility.” He praised the effort of members to put public ownership “back on the agenda—not because it was gifted to us, but because we made it impossible to ignore”. Speaking on behalf of the young members conference, Keirin Offlands, East London Rail said that bringing in more train operating companies under Great British Railways (GBR) was an opportunity to remove the scourge of subcontracting. “Jobs such as gate line, catering, cleaning and safety- critical dispatch grades should be undertaken by in house staff not sub-contracted out to workers on worse pay, terms and conditions, and less strong or non-existent collective bargaining agreements. “Young people are deeply affected by precarious jobs and unemployment. Young workers are already overrepresented in precarious work. In Britain, young workers are twice as likely as older workers to be in severely insecure work. “With the looming skills shortage as nearly 50,000 rail industry employees are expected to retire by 2030, it’s vital that rail jobs entice people of all ages to work in rail as a secure, fulfilling and well unionised industry. “We need to end the race to the bottom in terms of jobs and pay. “The transport industry should be offering young people a career for life with good pay, terms and conditions, opportunity for progression and union recognition,” he said. FOR TRADE UNION RIGHTS RMT will seek to build alliances and strength with other trade unions to remove all the draconian legislation holding workers back, general secretary Eddie Dempsey told delegates. Delegates passed two motions on campaigning for the adoption of sectoral collective bargaining where the union operates and pushing the government to remove bans on sympathy strikes. Mr Dempsey spoke at length about current laws, praised the idea of statutory e- balloting and railed against the injustice of workers not being legally allowed to take strike action in support of others in a separate trade dispute. “I’m going to be really blunt here, I do not want any trade union legislation,” he said. “I couldn’t care less about thresholds because we beat those with better campaigning. We don’t want them, but they are not the biggest problem. “What I want is the ability to take my members out on strike as fast as possible.” He pointed out the notice periods required under anti trade union legislation were all “nonsense” and should be scrapped as they were biggest obstacle to workers taking action. “It prevents us from being able to respond like lightening when our members are under attack,” he said. Referring to the P&O scandal and the fact the union was restricted in what kind of support they could legally take, he added: “if any employer in a sector behaves like P&O, we want to be able to bring our members out in the entire sector”. MODERNISING MAINTENANCE Intolerable stress levels on Network Rail could lead to industrial action if unsafe staffing issues were not addressed. Delegates slammed the Modernising Maintenance programme which Network Rail forced through without a union agreement, cutting planned maintenance by 50 per cent, reducing frontline staff, and imposing wholesale changes to working practices. Charles Fisher, South East London Operations and Engineering said that these problems were a direct consequence of Modernising Maintenance. “We have lost many competent staff, and the reality is people have got so much additional pressure from this failed and discredited system. “People in Signalling and Telecommunications would rather leave and get another job than deal with the additional pressures Network Rail have unnecessarily created. “As a rep, you try and point this out to the employer, but we have been ignored. And we’re not going to tolerate this situation any longer,” he said. John D’Rozario, Birmingham Engineering who works on overhead line faults said that Network Rail did not have enough staff to cover all the issues which was increasing workloads and work-related stress. The Annual General Meeting :: GLASGOW 2025 FAREWELL: Eddie Dempsey presents outgoing general secretary Mick Lynch with his gold badge. Mick thanked the union and asked delegates to remember to listen to each other with respect. "We need to stay united in order to win," he said to a standing ovation. Keir Chewings 18 Paul Reilly, Nuneaton pointed out that he had 34 years’ experience in signalling maintenance. “The job is becoming increasingly stressful, with growing pressure to get all the jobs done. “In many cases, that pressure pushes people to cut corners just to keep up with production demands and respond to faults faster, with less competent staff. “When we first started on the railway, we had four grades, we had a technician officer, senior technician, a technician and an assistant technician. “This has been slowly whittled down over the years to a team leader, a technician and an operative,” he said. With a crisis in recruiting qualified staff and an over reliance on operatives, he said that fast track schemes were rushing people through with all the competencies on paper but not the necessary on the job experience and that this was negatively impacting on his work. “As a team leader, there is a lot of pressure. I do a lot of testing and tens of thousands of passengers rely on me doing my job correctly,” he said, adding that any mistakes could lead to a crash or derailment. BUS FIRES Delegates called for an investigation into the underlying causes of bus fires to understand how they can be stopped. Ed Sturgess, Newport IOW No 2 told delegates that a bus fire had occurred on the Isle of Wight only the week before AGM. “Yet we have received no evacuation training despite that fact that there is only one exit on the bus,” he said. Lee Odams, Notts & Derby bus said that bus and coach fires had continued to be an all too familiar feature in the UK. “Now is the time to take a fresh look at the root causes of catastrophic bus and coach fires as well measure on how best to prevent future ones, with such measures as fire suppression systems, the provision of improved fire- retardant materials for new builds,” he said. Delegates backed a call for new industry standards and legislation for design, construction, and furnishings to significantly reduce catastrophic fires and make public transport a safe way to travel without fear. FAIR TREATMENT FOR WORKERS Rail workers are calling for fair treatment after it was revealed that not all staff receive the same support following fatal incidents on the job. Delegates agreed that while train drivers got immediate help—like being replaced and supported by a manager—other staff, such as train crew and shunters, are often left to cope alone, sometimes only receiving a quick phone call. This two-tier approach was slammed on conference floor by delegates who shared moving and sometimes difficult stories about their experiences. Reflecting on consoling a member who had witnessed a fatality, Billy Kimm, Liverpool No.5 delegate said: “When I’ve had to go to houses, to meet members who have been affected it can clearly destroy people’s confidence”. He blasted train companies which failed to properly look after staff adding that they only see you as a “tool, a number and they don’t care about you”. Martin McCleary, Berwick Rail said that there was often no face-to-face support from the companies. “This is not about undermining the driver grades as it is essential they get support. But what we are seeing now, is a two-tier system which looks after drivers but not onboard crew. It is care for one grade and lip service for another”. Mandy Evans, Swansea 1 branch poured scorn on railway companies lack of care for staff adding: “It is about how incidents like this affect us emotionally. Where is the railway family? Chain of care? They don’t even know what that is,” she said. FIGHT FOR PEACE Delegates narrowly backed a call for the government to cease supplying weapons and military, logistical and intelligence assets to assist Israel’s genocide in Gaza and attacks on Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iran. Sarabjit Gill, Paddington No1 called for an end to supplying British-made weapons, military support, credit and billions of pounds in public funding to Ukraine rather than working for a negotiated lasting peace and disarmament. “We reject the politics of lowering living standards and cuts in public services to fund a policy of unending and escalating war that is relentlessly taking us to the brink of nuclear Armageddon. The Annual General Meeting :: GLASGOW 2025 Ross Marshall Sarabjit Gill 19 “The trade union and labour movement and the Labour Party should work actively for peace by promoting policies that end its promotion of global war,” he said. Dan Randall, Bakerloo opposed the motion and called for the continuation of funding for Ukraine to fight the ongoing conflict following the Russian invasion in 2022. Backing the motion David Duboff, Southampton Shipping said that the war in Ukraine did not start in 2022 but in 2014 when NATO powers armed and funded neo-Nazi forces which overthrew the elected government in Ukraine. RMT general secretary Eddie Dempsey said that the union did not support the Russian invasion but called for a negotiated settlement rather than endless funding for weapons to continue the conflict. Delegates supported a call for the Labour government to sever economic ties with Israel until it abided by UN resolutions and ended its programme of financial and military support for war in Ukraine and committed to work for a diplomatic, negotiated, lasting peace settlement. Left MP John McDonnell praised workers across Europe for their stance on the war in Gaza where some have refused to load ships with weapons bound for Israel. One such instance was when France’s CGT dockworkers refused to load arms at the country’s largest port in Fos-Marseille. Speaking at AGM, the convenor of the RMT parliamentary group reflected on his recent arrest at a pro- Gaza demo alongside former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. Expressing pride at his involvement in Palestine solidarity campaigning and condemning Israel’s bombing, he said: “It is a war crime and the amount of children being killed is unacceptable”. Pledging full support for the union in its campaigns ahead, he added: “Whether it is in Parliament or on the picket line I’ll be with you”. Eddie Dempsey thanked the Harlington and Hayes MP saying: “John has worked tirelessly not just on the Employment Rights bill but on our work around insourcing. “You’re a great friend to our union, a socialist and we are proud to have you in our ranks.” WOMEN’S RIGHTS Delegates expressed disappointment that many employers do not provide bespoke safe and secure areas for women members to breastfeed. RMT has written to train operating companies demanding action but have received a satisfactory a response. Delegates are now demanding that as part of all RMT collective bargaining agreements, recommended facilities include: a break allowance for mothers to express milk, provision of a clean, warm, private room that is not a the toilet for expressing expressed milk, a secure, clean fridge to store expressed milk and flexible working hours for breastfeeding mothers. Speaking on the unanimously endorsed motion, Darlington 1 branch delegate The Annual General Meeting :: GLASGOW 2025 Eddie Dempsey Rupert Pickering David Duboff 20 Jessica Robinson said: “In 2025 we still have breastfeeding mothers forced into dirty toilets during their lunchbreak to express milk with a cooler bag to put in if we’re lucky. “Employers do have a legal obligation to protect the health and safety of breastfeeding mothers and to provide a space for them to rest at some point during the working day, but everything else is currently just a guideline.” She added: “We’re living through an intense cost of living crisis which sends women back to work from maternity leave far sooner than they ordinarily would, because they cannot afford to live on the pittance that is statutory maternity pay.” Emma Abel, Sheffield and District told conference: “There is no legislation in place, so the employer has the choice as to whether they provide these facilities or not.” She mocked employers for failing breastfeeding mothers accusing companies in some cases of “sticking a sign on a broom cupboard door” which she declared a “token gesture”. FIGHTING RACISM RMT must resist the evil of racism and “protect the vulnerable amongst us” said delegate Uchenna Ngadi, Croydon No.1. He moved the unanimously backed motion calling for union branches to cooperate with local trades councils and community groups to combat the far right. “Fascism does not always come wearing jackboots. “Sometimes it wears suits, speaks in soundbites, or wraps itself in a flag and calls that patriotism. “But they always feed on division and racism. “Racism and fascism are on the rise, fuelled by right wing media and political rhetoric, exploiting economic hardships. Our conference condemns the targeting of minorities and applauds the activists who have confronted these movements,” he said. TAX THE RICH Scottish TUC general secretary Roz Foyer laid down the gauntlet to the political class in Holyrood and Westminster urging them to tax the rich and deliver for working people. In a wide-ranging speech, Ms Foyer praised the union for showing leadership in the industrial arena particularly during the national rail dispute. “On behalf of Scotland’s workers, I want to thank you all. For your leadership during the cost-of-living crisis. For reminding the working class of our power,” she said. She acknowledged that unions did now have a voice in The Annual General Meeting :: GLASGOW 2025 Charles Fisher FIGHTING RACISM: Delegates back Show Racism the Red Card ollowing a speech from Joseph Tema (far left) from the campaigning organisation Emma Abel 21 both Holyrood and Westminster. “But let me be clear: a seat at the table is not enough. Listening to unions must mean acting on what we say—even when it’s uncomfortable for the decision makers to hear,” she added. “Let’s be honest: our mainstream political class are drinking in the last-chance saloon. For all their talk of change, they haven’t stood up to billionaires, or really delivered for working people, & the voters have had enough, and are looking for solutions elsewhere.” “Let the tough decisions fall on the rich, not on workers, poorly paid pensioners or the disabled,” she said. SEAFARERS’ RIGHTS RMT demanded urgent action from the government to ensure unions can take pre- emptive legal action against law-breaking employers before they carry out mass sackings like those seen at P&O Ferries. The union is calling for powers to allow unions to stop rogue employers in the courts before they axe unionised crews and replace them with agency labour on poverty pay and exploitative rotas. Speaking on the Day of the Seafarer - an International Maritime Organisation event, celebrating the invaluable contribution of seafarers to global trade and the world economy, national secretary Darren Procter said: “If we are serious about saying ‘No More P&Os’, then we need laws that let unions get into court and stop the damage before it happens, not after workers’ jobs and lives have already been torn apart. “The government’s progress on the Seafarers Charter and the Employment Rights Bill is welcome, but now it’s time to finish the job,” he said. PENSIONERS RIGHTS Speaking on behalf of retired members Arthur Richardson condemned government attack on older people by means testing the winter fuel payment. “This decision has hit pensioners very hard with many of them living just above the pension credit threshold. “It is estimated that 2.5m older people are struggling to heat their homes and they will have to choose between heating and eating,” he said. Delegates backed a campaign for the reinstatement of the winter fuel payment with the union’s parliamentary group and to support the National Pensioners Convention campaign. They also backed a campaign to abolish the freeze on the personal tax allowance which has been frozen at £12,570 since 2021 and the present chancellor has proposed the freeze remains at this level until 2028. “This freeze has brought thousands of pensioners back into the tax net, many of those on modest incomes causing them much hardship,” said Mr Richardson. DEAL WITH HOUSING CRISIS RMT has called for the end of right to buy, rent controls and The Annual General Meeting :: GLASGOW 2025 Delegates celebrate the international Day of the Seafarer YOUNG MEMBERS: RMT officials with members of the young members conference which runs alongside the AGM every year. 22 L U Fleet delegate Rhys Harmer was presented with the John Cogger award for 2025 which is awarded annually to one young member a year for their outstanding contribution to the union. Eddie Dempsey said that Rhys had an enthusiasm for organising workers that was infectious which had helped to build the young members annual conference into one of the biggest in the union. “Rhys played an outstanding role during the national rail dispute as well as in the campaign to recruit outsourced workers on London Underground. He was the driving force behind the union’s Apprentice Charter to win better pay and conditions for young members. Rhys said that he was honoured to receive the award and called on branches and regions to encourage young members to step up to take positions in the union. “I am often told that we are the future of the union, but we know that young people up and down the country are already playing crucial roles which we should all celebrate and support,” he said to a standing ovation. The Annual General Meeting :: GLASGOW 2025 JOHN COGGER AWARD real action to tackle the housing emergency during a fiery AGM debate in Glasgow. Delegates poured scorn on the state of council and social housing, with many sharing their experiences of poor housing and housing rents, particularly young trade union members. Seconding the motion, Michael Bainbridge, RMT Offshore said that the housing emergency was due to “a private landlord set up, rigged in favour of capitalists, slum landlords and spivs. “They are the ones who profit from it, they have no concern for the working poor or their wellbeing,” he said. Jim Buchanan, Dorset Rail said that homeownership had become a pipe dream for most young people. “If you’re a youngster working in our industries you have almost no chance,” he said. He backed the call for establishing rent costs as a major factor in national wage bargaining saying that such a position would greatly benefit members. He said that the proliferation of Air BnB’s had led to: “people moved out and evicted, so I can now have a load of stag do wallies underneath me every weekend in the summer. “There is only one solution to this - an extensive programme of rented housing provided by the state for as the need exists or for life,” he added. Rhys Harmer, LU Fleet said that he counted himself lucky to live and work in central London in social housing in a good, unionised job, while the friends I grew up with outside London are all live in houses of multiple occupation. “I’ve got what I think everyone should have by right,” he said. He savaged the political class, adding: “They do not care because they are all homeowners. If you look at Tories and Labour, there is a humongous issue of home ownership in the political class.” Mr Harmer added that the crisis in housing had spread from London to major cities like Birmingham and Manchester, saying:” There is a serious issue over what housing is. Is it a necessity where people deserve to live or a commodity for the rich to make money on”. REMEMBER SPAIN: AGM delegates took time out to visit memorials in Glasgow to the hundreds of International Brigade volunteers who fought fascism in Spain between 1936-39. Brian Reynolds of Glasgow Shipping explains to delegates how the union helped erect memorials to those who fought fascism in Spain.