RMT: shaping renationalised rail?

The 2026 AGM of the National Union of Rail, Maritime, and Transport workers (RMT) took place in Liverpool from 21-26 June. Delegates re-affirmed support for the union’s main campaigns and policies such as combatting assaults against staff, an end to outsourcing and fighting for pay restoration.

The first half of the week largely dealt with resolutions from the equality and grades conferences. Delegates spoke from across the industrial sectors in which RMT organises, from shipping to shunting. It was heartening to hear passionate speeches regarding these struggles and to apply lessons in different sectors.

The conference hosted several guest speakers, including Unison general secretary Andrea Egan and chair of the RMT’s parliamentary group John McDonnell MP. As the RMT’s showpiece event, it also allows the top table to provide their perspectives on the state of the union.

The main assessment from RMT general secretary Eddie Dempsey was that the union is in good shape to face the challenges of the next twelve months and beyond. It is a metaphor of a steady ship, with all that implies in terms of a warning — for example, to those who want to see the union pursue a more combative industrial strategy — not to rock the boat.

The leadership also presented the results of a long-awaited education review. Delegates were presented with a hefty report at 17:00 on Tuesday and given a ten-minute break to read it before the debate. Conference rightly protested, so the item was moved to Wednesday morning.

However, this was not the only occasion last-minute items landed on delegates’ desks. The ‘final’ agenda was only published four days before the start of conference, depriving branches of any opportunity to discuss its contents. Only the most switched-on would be able to appeal.

The top table largely had their own way throughout the week. As business was due to finish on Tuesday, the president called for a suspension to standing orders so another item could be heard after 18:00. Coincidentally, a fringe meeting hosted by RMT Rank & File, a network of reps and activists founded in 2025, was due to start at that time. By the time conference closed at 19:00, delegates were sufficiently fed up that holding the fringe became unviable.

The second half of the week dealt with political and industrial resolutions submitted by branches. A motion from East London Rail sought to commit the union to fighting for pay restoration, noting how much rail workers’ pay had declined due to historic pay freezes and below-inflation "increases". The motion passed, although an amendment, which I also supported, to include demands for “escalator clauses”, i.e., automatic increases to pay whenever inflation rises, in pay claims was voted down.

A motion from Manchester South branch proposed a framework for a new collective bargaining arrangement under the imminent arrival of Great British Railways. My branch had submitted an amendment calling for term limits for reps in full-time roles, arguing that it is important reps return to the shop floor to work under the conditions they have negotiated. This principle already operates in some areas of the union’s democracy. This amendment was defeated, with delegates arguing there should be no limit on the number of terms someone can serve if they are “the best person for the job.”

An emergency motion from the Bakerloo branch, carried unanimously, responded to the spate of antisemitic attacks earlier in the year. It defined antisemitism as “a dangerous form of bigotry, based on claims to identify an imagined form of conspiratorial power associated with Jews”, and committed the union to including education against antisemitism in its wider equality organising.

There was also debate around the union’s policy on some international issues. East London Rail branch submitted a motion calling for RMT to provide practical solidarity with independent unions in Ukraine. Another motion, from Edinburgh No. 1 and Portobello District, also sought to commit the union to positive solidarity with Ukrainian workers. Amendments to both motions, watering down opposition to Russia’s war (for example by seeking to amend a reference to “Russia’s war on Ukraine” to “the war in Ukraine”) were submitted by Paddington No. 1 branch, some of whose leading activists are members of the Communist Party of Britain.

The NEC gazumped the debate by presenting the conference with its own statement on Ukraine, ratified by the NEC two days prior to the AGM and only shown to delegates on the day of the debate, meaning there was little opportunity for scrutiny and no opportunity for amendment. The NEC statement is a curate’s egg, containing many of the positive commitments on practical solidarity from the East London Rail and Edinburgh motions, but also unilaterally incorporating the Paddington amendments.

A resolution on supporting workers, women, and youth in Iran, was also passed, although again with Communist Party-inspired amendments which tilted the emphasis away from struggle against the regime. The president ruled these amendments were automatically incorporated, after the mover of the motion indicated they did not object to them. It is unfortunate they were not debated separately, giving the AGM an opportunity to consider the differences in approach.

RMT AGM also deals with many constitutional and financial matters. This year, a 4.5% increase in the stipends paid to NEC members was agreed. RMT has a lay NEC, meaning its members are not employed union staff, but rather seconded from their shop-floor roles, to which they return after a three-year term. However, by convention they leave their employers’ payrolls for the duration of their term, and are paid what is in effect a salary by the union. In hindsight, the 4.5% increase should have been challenged, as the union has accepted 3.6% pay increases more or less across the board. A union leadership, even a lay leadership, should not see its salary increases outstrip those of the membership.

The conference concluded with discussion on proposed rule changes from the NEC, which are permitted every year. Branches are only allowed to submit rule changes every three years. One such rule change sought to limit the ability of branches to appeal NEC decisions, by narrowing the window within which appeals must be submitted. This directly overturned a decision of the 2025 AGM to maintain a longer window for appeals. As with the practice of making late-notice submissions to the AGM, which delegates have little time to scrutinise and no opportunity to amend, this rule change has a detrimental impact on the sovereignty of the AGM as a rank-and-file body.

The impending (partial) renationalisation of the railways remains a central political issue for RMT. On the issue of outsourcing, the union has done good work to proactively press our demands on how we want a renationalised railway to differ from the status quo. On other issues, not so much. The AGM passed some important resolutions on how the union should actively intervene to shape that process, rather than passively “waiting-and-seeing”. A more combative attitude industrially — fighting for above-inflation pay rises, with improvements to working conditions, rather than accepting RPI increases as long as they have no, or few, “productivity savings” attached — is needed to spur that intervention.