Submitted by smileypantsjo on Thu, 10/12/2009 - 00:14.

A circular went out to branches earlier this year seeking delegate nominations to be LGBT Advisory committee members as a region we are reserved 5 places on this forum and I was slightly shocked to hear for the first time in a while that we did not receive enough nominations to fill our quota. It should be noted that we are usually the only region to fill all allocated seats.

At the original deadline date only Myself from TfL No.1 Branch and Bro. Heyes from Stratford No.1 had been elected onto the committee.

A new circular requesting nominations is at branches now and we still have 3 seats to fill so please get your nominations in.

The post lasts for 3 years and helps to shape what RMT delivers with regards to LGBT issues. Over the last 3 years we've helped develop and deliver trained LGBT reps... organised the annual LGBT conferences and also RMT's involvement in pride parades.

Also at the november meeting it was decided that in 2010 the national committee would be formally supporting RMT participation in Birmingham Pride (Sat 29th May) and Manchester Pride (Sat. 28th August) so if you would like to be involed in either of those parades please express your interest to the committee email inbox rmtlgbt@googlemail.com

The decision above does not mean that we wont have a presence in the 2010 Pride London Parade it just means that it won't be coordinated by the national committee. But to honest it was our regional LGBT officier Brian who did all the hard work for the success we had at last years Pride London - so no change there.

Also it was confirmed at this advisory committee meeting that the 2010 National RMT LGBT Conference will occur at the Holiday Inn in Belfast on Friday 14th May. This coordinates with the Shipping Grades Conference which is happening at the same venue at the same time.

Circulars are due to be sent to branches seeking delegate nominations and also resolutions to be submitted so please keep an eye out for them and get involved.

Anyone who is elected as their branch delegate should be reminded that you should not fly ryanair for union business and note that Belfast has two airports - Belfast City and Belfast International. Belfast City Airport is closest to the city and to the conference venue.

Full minutes will be uploaded to the RMT website in the New Year.