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Link to this page: https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/articles/15933
Posted on 9 January 2013 at 12:05 GMT
RMT increases membership
Rail, maritime and transport union RMT announced today that it has continued to increase its membership in the past twelve months in the teeth of the most savage attacks on jobs and working conditions for a generation.
The union has had a net gain of 1,456 members through 2012, taking the total to 77,549 - an annual growth of nearly 2%.
The union has increased its membership every year since the 59,277 total when General Secretary Bob Crow was elected in 2002.
Bob Crow said:
"These membership growth figures at RMT, in the most hostile employment conditions for a generation, are a testament to the fighting, campaigning stance of this trade union and the energy and determination of our members, activists, officers and staff who are out there building the organisation day in and day out.
"RMT has shown, through pay rises like the recent 3.5% deal at Network Rail, that militant, industrial trade unionism is the only defence that working people have got in the face of the savage assaults meted out in the name of austerity under the direction of this rotten government.
"RMT isn't resting on its laurels, the entire organisation is geared up to make recruitment, education and training an absolute priority as we prepare ourselves for the battles ahead."
From an RMT press release
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The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.
The results of austerity have been graphically demonstrated as public services strain to cope with the crisis.
The government has now ripped up its 'austerity' mantra and turned to policies that not long ago were denounced as socialist. But after the corona crisis, it will try to make the working class pay for it, by trying to claw back what has been given.
- The Socialist Party's material is more vital than ever, so we can continue to report from workers who are fighting for better health and safety measures, against layoffs, for adequate staffing levels, etc.
- When the health crisis subsides, we must be ready for the stormy events ahead and the need to arm workers' movements with a socialist programme - one which puts the health and needs of humanity before the profits of a few.
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