RMT AGM shows long way to go on equalities

Submitted by SJW on 4 July, 2018 - 1:23 Author: By an RMT member

The Annual General Meeting of the Rail, Maritime, and Transport union (RMT) took place from 24-29 June in Edinburgh.

It was preceded by a Special General Meeting, on 30 May, which debated the question of whether RMT should reaffiliate to the Labour Party, voting by a narrow margin not to reaffiliate.

The AGM passed radical policy on issues like nationalisation of the banks, meaning RMT now joins the Fire Brigades Union  in advocating public ownership of the banks and finance. The motion, submitted by the union’s Bakerloo Line branch, commits RMT to campaigning for any future Corbyn-led Labour government to implement this policy.

Motions were also passed committing the union to mobilise for the demonstrations against Donald Trump’s visit on 13 July, and the protests against the far-right on 14 July. This latter is particularly significant, as statements from some RMT leaders around the 9 June anti-fascist demonstrations had played down the threat from the far-right.

Motions were also passed which aimed to bolster the union’s campaigns against “Driver Only Operation”, including ones which sought to widen the scope for using union funds to support sustained industrial action.

The AGM was also notable for discussion and activity around equalities issues. Some LGBT+ delegates and supporters led a walk out when Elaine Smith MSP, who had campaigned and voted against equal marriage, addressed the AGM. So scandalised was at least one other delegate that they abstained on policy submitted by the RMT’s LGBT+ conference, on opposing “gay cure” therapies, in “retaliation” for the way the walkout had allegedly “embarrassed” the union. This shows the significant work that still needs to be done in the labour movement around equalities issues.

This was also demonstrated by the fate of proposed amendments to RMT’s rule book that sought to empower the union’s equalities committees, which are currently only “advisory” bodies. Rule changes aimed to give the committees more scope to determine the agendas for their own meetings and conferences.

National officers opposed the changes, claiming they sought to disempower the union’s National Executive Committee (even though the changes would have had no impact on the NEC’s role or powers). The rule changes were also broken up and presented to the AGM in parts, with no prior discussion or consultation with the proposing branches, despite having been submitted as single proposals. They were defeated by margins of around three votes.

Other rule changes, on allowing branches to submit items for the AGM via email rather than just via post, and extending the deadline for amendments to the AGM, passed.

In more positive news for equalities issues within the union, the AGM passed a motion on union guidance for reps representing members accused of breaches of equalities principles (e.g., sexual harassment, bigoted language of behaviour, discriminations, etc.), which aim to ensure reps avoid arguments which “defend” the actions themselves or downplay the importance of equalities principles or policies.

Equalities activists within RMT plan to continue campaigning for the union to put equality at the heart of its work, and ensure that black, women, LGBT+, and disabled members’ voices are consistently heard within the union.

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