By a conference delegate
The 2003 RMT conference made several rule changes governing the use of the political fund (see back page for details). These rule changes will put the RMT into direct conflict with the constitution of the Labour Party. An affiliate of the party cannot support a party or person that stands against Labour in elections. There is a chance that the Labour leadership will try to expel us from the party that we helped to set up 103 years ago.
In the event of that happening we should campaign among the rest of the TUC and Labour Party for support. A massive campaign exposing the flaws in New Labour and calling on other unions to stand by us should be launched. The union leaderships should explore the possibility of starting a new movement to represent working people now.
Naturally the subject of renationalisation was high on the agenda. The HSE and the Railway Inspectorate were castigated for their lack of action over Potters Bar, Paddington and Southall. Conference called for company directors to be held accountable and imprisoned for negligence.
Conference debated the Chancery Lane crash and noted that it was a direct result of the maintenance regime under shadow running for PPP. Conference called on the Council of Executives to campaign to reverse PPP, for all track maintenance to be carried out in-house, and for guards to be reintroduced on all trains. A campaign for the renationalisation of all rail, bus and other modes of transport, to set up a national integrated transport system was called for.
Resolutions were passed defending public housing, and attacking racism in all its forms, and the BNP in particular.
Bob Crow told conference that racists would be expelled from the union.
The plight of our seafarer members was debated. One member told us of the 13-hour days worked and the flags of convenience being used to recruit foreign labour for half the price of UK seafarers. Some recruited in this way are earning as little as £2 a day. Because the Race Relations Act does not apply to ships it is legal to pay a foreign national less than a UK sailor doing the same job and it is legal to segregate black and white living areas on a ship. A campaign should be launched calling for trade union rights and equal pay for all seafarers.
There was only one woman delegate at conference. A resolution calling for creche facilities at union meetings was carried unanimously by a conference that realised it was not doing enough to encourage women's involvement. There are thousands of women working in the transport industry and they are totally under-represented at our meetings at all levels.
