EDUCATION CONFERENCE

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: july/august 2026 :: RMTnews 12 R MT tutors and Union Learning reps met at the union’s education advisory conference in Poole Dorset for training and debates. A training day updated ULRs and others on latest developments including how to make a social media video led by Dunya Kamal and Niki Kanukuntla from the TUC. RMT education manager Michael Cudjoe spoke about new ways of working at the Bob Crow National Education Centre from catering to course no shows and the reconfiguring of classrooms to make them fully accessible. RMT national executive member Gareth Jameson gave a report including the current position of the union’s ongoing national education review and tookquestions from delegates. RMT president George Welch addressed conference about on the business of the national union and the need to drive the union’s political narrative campaigns. This included the need for a new Employment Act II and for all reps to build the union’s strength through recruitment and organisation in every workplace. Ivor Riddell introduced a film commemorating the 100th anniversary of the General Strike, emphasising the lessons learned and from many other disputes and campaigns which followed. There was also time for a trip to the Tolpuddle Martyrs museum where Tom De Wit gave a talk on the development of the Martyrs annual festival in July and museum in the village. Conference thanked the education advisory committee made up of Ivor Riddell, John Holmes, Paul McClaughlin and Jo Parry and RNLI College and Poole Bus branch for hosting the event. R MT members at Carlisle Support Services (CSS) working on the Northern rail contract have taken further 48- hour strike action. The action follows the company’s continued refusal to negotiate a proper pay settlement through collective bargaining, despite increasing demands being placed on frontline staff including gate line operatives and revenue officers. CSS has recently claimed that it has “honoured our agreement to implement an annual pay uplift in line with the Living Wage increase”. However, this increase was not the result of any negotiated agreement with the union but stems from the company’s commitment as an accredited Living Wage employer. RMT general secretary Eddie Dempsey said that the annual Living Wage uplift was a commitment Carlisle had made as a Living Wage employer, not a pay rise negotiated through collective bargaining. “Our members perform vital frontline railway roles keeping stations safe, assisting passengers and protect railway revenue, all while facing increasing responsibilities and daily pressures. “These workers deserve a negotiated pay settlement that reflects the value of the work they do, not a minimum wage whilst refusing to engage meaningfully with the union on pay. “The whole episode underlines why all outsourced rail workers should be taken in-house as part of the future of Great British Railways as soon as possible,” he said. EDUCATION CONFERENCE CARLISLE SUPPORT SERVICES STRIKE