National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers

RMT

Full name	National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers
Founded	1990
Members	82, 278[1]
Affiliation	TUC, ICTU, STUC, ITF, WFTU TUCG, NSSN, TUSC
Key people	Mick Cash, General Secretary Sean Hoyle, President[2]
Office location	London, England
Country	United Kingdom
Website	Rmt.org.uk

The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (commonly known as the RMT) is a British trade union covering the transport sector.

The RMT is one of Britain's fastest growing trade unions. The RMT membership rose under and following the leadership of Bob Crow, with membership increasing from 57,000 in 2002^[3] to over 80,000 members in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the Crown Dependencies today.^[1][4]

History

The RMT was formed in 1990 through a merger of the National Union of Railwaymen (NUR) and the National Union of Seamen (NUS) to create a single transport industry trade union.

Political activity

The predecessor unions to the National Union of Railwaymen and the National Union of Seamen were founding members of the original Labour Representation Committee^[5] and after its creation the RMT became a prominent voice on the left of the Labour Party. In 2003 some Scottish branches of the RMT voted to donate some of their funds to the Scottish Socialist Party in protest against the policies of Tony Blair and New Labour, such as not renationalising the railways.^[5] This led the Labour Party to disaffiliate from the union in early 2004 for breaching Party rules.^[5]

The RMT announced in 2009 that it would be standing a slate of candidates in the 2009 European Parliament elections under the banner of No to EU – Yes to Democracy, a broad left-wing alter-globalisation coalition which aims to offer an alternative to the "anti-foreigner" and pro-business policies of the UK Independence Party.^[6] The RMT then became a founding member of the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition, a left wing political party which has contested the 2010 and 2015 general elections.

RMT is in favour of the UK's withdrawal from the European Union in the 2016 referendum on the subject. However, Sean Hoyle, Peter Pinkney, Paul McDonnell and John Reid from RMT have signed a letter in The Guardian newspaper, which opposes the Electoral Commission choosing Leave.EU, Vote Leave or Grassroots Out as the official group advocating for British withdrawal in the referendum, saying that:

We call on the commission not to give taxpayers' money to the Tory and Ukip-dominated Vote Leave, Leave.EU or Grassroots Out campaigns, or any amalgam of them ... We believe there are millions of trade unionists, young people, anti-austerity campaigners and working-class voters, whose opposition to the big business-dominated EU would not be represented by these organisations. ... We call on the Electoral Commission to recognise that a significant proportion of those who will vote against the EU do so because they support basic socialist policies of workers' rights, public ownership, and opposition to austerity and racism.^[7]

London Underground

The RMT represents the majority of London Underground staff, as well as many other workers in the London public transport network. The RMT has had a number of disputes with Transport for London and private sector contractors Metronet and Tube Lines ^[8][9] over pay, safety, pensions and job security on the Underground. These disputes have often resulted in industrial action, leading to periods of travel disruption in the capital over the last decade.^{[10][11][12][13]}

Affiliations

The RMT is affiliated to a number of political organisations and trade union confederations. In the United Kingdom and Ireland the RMT is affiliated with the TUC, the Scottish Trades Union Congress, the Wales Trades Union Congress^[14] and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions.^[15] Internationally the RMT is affiliated to the European Transport Workers Federation and the International Transport Workers Federation,^[14] as well as the World Federation of Trade Unions.^[16]

Politically the RMT is affiliated with the left wing political party the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition,^[17] which it co-founded and encourages members to participate in.^[18] The RMT is also affiliated to the Labour Representation Committee,^[19] a pressure group which aims to promote traditional socialist principles within the Labour Party. Some local branches of the RMT, such as Grimsby, are affiliated to their local Constituency Labour Party. In 2014, the RMT joined the Solidarity with the Antifascist Resistance in Ukraine (SARU) campaign in support of the Communist Party of Ukraine and the Donbass People's Militia against the EU and NATO-backed Ukrainian government.^[20]

RMT Credit Union

RMT Credit Union Limited is a savings and loans co-operative established by the trade union for its members in 2004.^[21] It is a member of UKCreditUnions Limited, a national trade association representing smaller credit unions, steering groups and support organisations.^[22] The credit union is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the PRA. Ultimately, like the banks and building societies, members' savings are protected against business failure by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.^[23]

Leadership

General Secretaries

RMT members protest at the 2011 anti-cuts protest in London

• 1990–2001: Jimmy Knapp
• 2001–14: Bob Crow
• 2014– : Mick Cash

Senior Assistant General Secretaries

• 1994-2002: Vernon Hince
• 2002-2014: Mick Cash
• 2014– : Steve Hedley

See also

• Transport in the United Kingdom
• Credit unions in the United Kingdom

References

External links

• RMT website
• The Marine Society