Jump to content

National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 90.241.230.65 (talk) at 15:53, 30 April 2009 (rm see article). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

RMT
National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers
Members
80,000
AffiliationsTUC, STUC, ITF
Websitewww.rmt.org.uk

The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) is a trade union in the United Kingdom which unionises transport workers. It has more than 80,000 members, and its current general secretary is Bob Crow. It is one of Britain's fastest growing trade unions, increasing its membership by more than a third in the first five years of Crow's leadership.[1]

It was formed by a merger of the National Union of Railwaymen (NUR) and the National Union of Seamen (NUS).

Predecessors of the RMT were among the unions which set up the Labour Representation Committee in 1900. In 2003, some Scottish branches of the RMT, affiliated to the Scottish Trades Union Congress, voted to donate some of their funds to the Scottish Socialist Party. This led the Labour Party to disaffiliate the union in early 2004. In Wales some branches are now supporting Forward Wales, led by the former Labour Welsh Assembly member John Marek. The RMT is affiliated to the Left pressure group the Labour Representation Committee (LRC) [2], which is named after the original LRC of 1900, and works to restore socialist principles within the Labour Party. Some local branches of the RMT, such as Grimsby, are still affiliated to their local Constituency Labour Party (CLP).

The RMT announced in March 2009 that it would be standing a slate of candidates in the 2009 European Parliament elections under the banner of No to the 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. [2]

General Secretaries

London Underground

The RMT in recent years are best known to the British public through media exposure for their on-going clashes with London Underground and its privatised contractors Metronet and Tubelines.[3]In the early 21st century, clashes leading to industrial action costing London business millions of pounds per day[4] have included concerns over pay, pensions, safety and job security.

References

  1. ^ Bob Crow: workers' friend?, BBC, September 5 2007
  2. ^ [1]
  3. ^ Train drivers' union ASLEF represents London Underground train drivers, and has co-ordinated disputes with the RMT
  4. ^ BBC NEWS | England | Second Tube strike hits London

Template:Organized labour portal

Stub icon

This article about an organisation in the United Kingdom is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Stub icon

This article related to a United Kingdom trade union is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=National_Union_of_Rail,_Maritime_and_Transport_Workers&oldid=287069681"