RMT AT RAIL LIVE

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: september/october 2026 :: RMTnews 20 A n RMT team took part in Rail Live, the annual trade expo for the railway sector, taking place at Long Marston, at the Porterbrook Rail Innovation Centre with 175 exhibitors in attendance. RMT’s team, made up of the union’s recruitment, retention and organising department (RROD, ran a stall and visited other exhibitors including engineering firms, to expand the union’s presence on the railway. The mission was to inform employers that changes to trade union legislation meant that come October, employers must allow RMT access to sites and inductions. It also meant that just 10 per cent of workers in membership the union can legally push for workplace recognition and, as the main union for the railways, it would be foolish to attempt to lock RMT out. The team also sought to find out how many sites employers operate out of and how many staff at each work site, as well as who their HR manager was - essential workplace mapping to prepare for more RMT recognition agreements. This approach enabled the union to get a deeper sense of the work of numerous small engineering firms, and new technologies being employed for mapping and defect detection. The tram was joined by former general secretary Mick Lynch, who drew many workers and supporters to the RMT stall and ensured that the union had an outsized presence in the expo. Bill Paterson of the org department said that, as a result of these efforts, the union gained several crucial relationships and opportunities to expand the union. “The real value, as in all organising, came in the conversations we were able to have and there is no surrogate for organising conversations, and the RROD looks forward to putting the information we gleaned to work,” he said. Photos credit: Jack Boskett Media Ltd. RMT AT RAIL LIVE