All of the national advisory committees conferences get to submit 2 motions to the RMT annual general meeting.

A motion is a proposal for action, a well written motion will address the following:
-what the issues are
-what needs doing
-who should do it

At the young members conference 2012 which took place in London this February a number of motions were debated, some also fell (did not gain a majority) Out of the ones which were passed it was agreed which 2 would be sent to the #RMTAGM12.

All of the national advisory committees conferences get to submit 2 motions to the RMT annual general meeting.

A motion is a proposal for action, a well written motion will address the following:
-what the issues are
-what needs doing
-who should do it

At the young members conference 2012 which took place in London this February a number of motions were debated, some also fell (did not gain a majority) Out of the ones which were passed it was agreed which 2 would be sent to the #RMTAGM12.

Through the debate it was obvious the biggest concerns young members have is about job cuts/unemployment and pensions.

Both are massive issues and seem to be beyond the control and influences of individuals, this is why we need the union to have a strategy which should involve every member. Such a strategy was proposed in these motions and I am pleased to report that both were passed unanimously.
It is important to remember even though these have been passed it is up to every member to educate, campaign and build the solidarity we need to win these disputes. The union is us.

1) Pensions Motions- http://www.rmt.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/81781

“item 59-As part of its deficit reduction and cuts agenda the government wants public sector workers to pay more pensions contributions, work for longer before retiring and receive less on retirement than workers currently do. The government claims this will make public sector pensions affordable and sustainable for the future. However most of the public sector pension schemes, including those for teachers and the NHS, are running surpluses and are paying money to the treasury. Therefore the extra contributions will be paid back to the treasury and used to cut the deficit not make the schemes sustainable.
The government tried to divide workers by claiming that public sector workers don’t deserve decent pensions because private sector workers don’t have decent pension provision. They have also offered a better deal to older workers, trying to divide older and younger and workers.
Younger workers are worse affected by the pension changes as they will have to work until 68 or even 70, and will receive much less as pension accruals will be pegged to CBI not RPI in the future.
On June 30 and November 30 public sector unions took coordinated strike action to defend their pensions. Despite government claims that workers didn’t want to fight and the public didn’t support strike action 2 million workers came out on strike on N30 and 61% of public sector supported the strike, including almost 80% of 16-24 year olds [source: BBC News]
The pension attacks are part of the government’s wide cuts agenda. The government claims there is no money for services, jobs & pensions and they have to reduce the deficit to prevent the bond market from turning on Britain (as seen in Greece, Italy and Ireland.) In reality the government wants the working class to pay for bailing out the banks by cutting public services, slashing jobs, reducing pensions and reducing employment rights.
To defeat the attacks on pensions and the governments cuts we need a campaign that unites private and public sector workers and counters the government’s propaganda attacks the trade union movement and public sector workers.

This conference calls on the RMT:
• Continue to publicly support all strike action taken against the pension attacks and the government cuts and counter the government anti-trade union propaganda.
• As far as possible to coordinate any further strike action the RMT takes with strike action taken by the public sector unions;
• To support a general strike against the government’s cuts agenda”

2) Failure to fill vacancies and threatening young people’s jobs- http://www.rmt.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/81781

“Item 60- This branch notes that companies are failing to recruit when colleagues change grades or retire. This keeps more people unemployed for longer, including over 1 million skilled or semi-skilled young people.
While many train operating and other companies continue to make healthy profits at the expense or our fair paying passengers, there is no excuse not to use some of that profit and employ people to keep our services running and to help the wider economy. It is important to give employment opportunities to people in society who are seeking work.
This Branch requests that the union should aim to adopt a policy of avoiding wherever possible, a reduction in the complement of grades in any negotiations and conduct a survey to establish the amount of unfilled vacancies within our industries”