RMT elects Mick Cash

[313103]

News reaches me that Mick Cash has been elected as the new General Secretary of the RMT. No feeds yet, but soon as I find them I will post.

This from yahoo news. https://uk.news.yahoo.com/rmt-union-elects-leader-160807157.html

RMT union elects new leader

The man who served as deputy to rail union leader Bob Crow for 12 years has been elected his successor following the sudden death of the union legend earlier this year.

Mick Cash, 54, beat four rivals in a ballot to become the new general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union.

Mr Cash, who has been a member of the RMT and its predecessor National Union of Railwaymen for 35 years, stood in as acting general secretary after Mr Crow died in March.

He is more moderate than his rivals for the post, but is regarded as a vastly experienced negotiator who has won some hard-fought agreements for union members.

Watford-born, he has spent all his adult life in the railways, working as a railway engineer before becoming a union official.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Just announced on the 1730 Radio 4 news. No change of political will at the Unity House Autonomous Oblast.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-29318044

He said: "I am proud and honoured to have been given the enormous responsibility of now taking our fighting and militant union forwards, six months after the bitter loss to the Labour movement of Bob Crow

 

[Carlisle]

No change of political will at the Unity House Autonomous Oblast.

Spot on there

 

[Rhondda Rudie]

http://www.rmt.org.uk/news/mick-cash-wins-election-for-rmt-general-secretary/

 

[yorkie]

Just a gentle reminder that our rules regarding the posting of 'articles' (which include announcements, blogs, press releases, statements, other external media/documents, etc), are as follows:

• If posting an article you should put the text in QUOTE tags (
  
  ), provide details of the source and make a relevant comment to promote discussion.

I've edited the original post to comply. Don't worry about posts #3 and #5 this time but if you can bear this in mind in future that would be great

It can be particularly difficult to follow for blind people,or people using mobile devices in areas of poor signal (e.g. on a train), or people accessing the forum at work where news sites may be blocked, especially when half the posts so far would require navigating to external sites, finding the relevant content, then navigating back, and in future the thread might not make sense to anyone reading the thread if the hyperlinks no longer work.

Links are great and we do appreciate them being posted, but we just also require a comment (which can be very short) and a relevant quote (which, again, might not need be particularly long).

Many thanks!

 

[FenMan]

An apposite name.

It should be a requirement for all trade union leaders to have monosyllabic first and last names and I'm pleased that RMT members have recognised this.

 

[hughavinalaf]

Keeping it simplistic....Is he a good choice?

 

[infobleep]

I've nothing against unions except the fact some align themselves to political parties. It actually puts me off joining one and I work in the public sector.

 

[trentside]

Keeping it simplistic....Is he a good choice?

We'll see, won't we.

I've heard a few comments from members who aren't happy about his election - but I'm reserving judgement until we see how he performs.

 

[jopsuk]

By "align themselves to political parties" you of course mean Labour, the party that was founded to represent the unions.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

We'll see, won't we.

I've heard a few comments from members who aren't happy about his election - but I'm reserving judgement until we see how he performs.

What was the turnout and %s like? There will always be people in any election who aren't happy about the result, usually because their choice didn't win, but that's democracy!

 

[DarloRich]

I wonder how long it is until this thread is used by the Tory boys to complain about unions?

It is hardly a surprise Mick Cash being elected as he seems to have had the highest profile of the candidates and was almost the second in command under Crow.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

I've nothing against unions except the fact some align themselves to political parties. It actually puts me off joining one and I work in the public sector.

I don’t think RMT contribute to the Labour party. God forbid a union should try and ensure legislation is passed to protect its members from the worst excesses of employers.:roll:

 

[Greenback]

It would be nice if this thread didn't degenerate into provocative statements designed to cause arguments either between rail and non rail staff or between union member and non union members.

Please help by keeping the discussion relevant to Mick Cash and the RMT union without going off topic to talk about unions in general and whether they are good or bad.

Thank you!

 

[trentside]

What was the turnout and %s like? There will always be people in any election who aren't happy about the result, usually because their choice didn't win, but that's democracy!

As far as I can see, they've yet to be published - would also be interested to know.

 

[WatcherZero]

I wonder how long it is until this thread is used by the Tory boys to complain about unions?

It is hardly a surprise Mick Cash being elected as he seems to have had the highest profile of the candidates and was almost the second in command under Crow.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---


I don’t think RMT contribute to the Labour party. God forbid a union should try and ensure legislation is passed to protect its members from the worst excesses of employers.:roll:

Your right they disaffiliated around a decade ago though they have on rare occasion since given donations, the unions leadership is politically far to the left of the Labour party so they dont get along.

 

[infobleep]

It would be nice if this thread didn't degenerate into provocative statements designed to cause arguments either between rail and non rail staff or between union member and non union members.

Please help by keeping the discussion relevant to Mick Cash and the RMT union without going off topic to talk about unions in general and whether they are good or bad.

Thank you!

I wasn't wishing to discuss whether unions are good or bad and I'm aware of how labour was formed, without knowing all the full details of it.

However as someone who votes but doesn't want to align myself to any particular party outside of the day I vote, I am put off by unions that have links to certain parties. It doesn't matter which party they have links to, could be the Monster Raving Looney Party for all I'm concerned, I'm still put off by it.

 

[infobleep]

Your right they disaffiliated around a decade ago though they have on rare occasion since given donations, the unions leadership is politically far to the left of the Labour party so they dont get along.

OK. It was the comments Mike Cash made about the Labour movement's loss of Bob Crow that made me think they were still linked.

 

[DarloRich]

OK. It was the comments Mike Cash made about the Labour movement's loss of Bob Crow that made me think they were still linked.

You are confusing the wider labour movement with the labour party - I also am unsure you really understand what a Trades Union is for and what it seeks to do if you are worried about political affiliations.

No controversy/personal attack suggested - I think the misunderstanding you express is quite a common or interchangeable one. Perhaps in the past this was the case but it is not so clear cut these days.

 

[Rhondda Rudie]

Having voted for Mick Cash I'm delighted he won. He has big shoes to fill as Bob was hugely popular among the membership. Reassured to hear there will no deviation from the path the union was following under Bob.

 

[infobleep]

You are confusing the wider labour movement with the labour party - I also am unsure you really understand what a Trades Union is for and what it seeks to do if you are worried about political affiliations.

No controversy/personal attack suggested - I think the misunderstanding you express is quite a common or interchangeable one. Perhaps in the past this was the case but it is not so clear cut these days.

Thanks for clarifying that. I misunderstood. I saw the word Labour with a capital L and took it to mean the Labour Party. Especially as traditionally unions were aligned to parties like Labour.

I've only recently been in a job where there is a union that actively promotes the fact I can join them so what I know about unions is really only what I read in the newspapers and what I've heard from other colleagues at my previous job. At my previous job I was working along side a mix of public sector staff and contractors, myself being agency staff. Of course one can't believe what they read in the newspapers or even BBC Web Site at times.

 

[infobleep]

Having voted for Mick Cash I'm delighted he won. He has big shoes to fill as Bob was hugely popular among the membership. Reassured to hear there will no deviation from the path the union was following under Bob.

If Mick does a reasonable and fair job then good luck to him with it all. I'm sure some of the newspapers will be on a witch-hunt or are journalists more fair these days?

 

[ainsworth74]

Having voted for Mick Cash I'm delighted he won. He has big shoes to fill as Bob was hugely popular among the membership. Reassured to hear there will no deviation from the path the union was following under Bob.

My impression had always been that Bob Crow was certainly liked by a great many of the RMTs membership but that equally he was disliked by many as well.

 

[Mojo]

If Mike does a reasonable and fair job then good luck to him with it all. I'm sure some of the newspapers will be on a witch-hunt or are journalists more fair these days?

Is calling him Mike going to be like spelling the former leader's surname as Crowe?

 

[Michael.Y]

However as someone who votes but doesn't want to align myself to any particular party outside of the day I vote, I am put off by unions that have links to certain parties. It doesn't matter which party they have links to, could be the Monster Raving Looney Party for all I'm concerned, I'm still put off by it.

Unions aren't closed shops any more. Four or five unions on the railways is commonplace nowadays (RMT, ASLE&F, TSSA, UNITE, ATCU). You don't have to be in a particular one, although it helps if you're in one that's relevant to your job. As an agency worker for example I wouldn't recommend the PFA or UDM. But there are many more, some small granted, but you may find some that suit your needs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Trade_unions_in_the_United_Kingdom

 

[313103]

If Mike does a reasonable and fair job then good luck to him with it all. I'm sure some of the newspapers will be on a witch-hunt or are journalists more fair these days?

He has only been in the job 5 minutes and forum members are getting his name wrong :roll: A la CROW'E' no less.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Unions aren't closed shops any more. Four or five unions on the railways is commonplace nowadays (RMT, ASLE&F, TSSA, UNITE, ATCU). You don't have to be in a particular one, although it helps if you're in one that's relevant to your job. As an agency worker for example I wouldn't recommend the PFA or UDM. But there are many more, some small granted, but you may find some that suit your needs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Trade_unions_in_the_United_Kingdom

ATCU is not recognised for negotiating purposes in the rail industry.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

If Mike does a reasonable and fair job then good luck to him with it all. I'm sure some of the newspapers will be on a witch-hunt or are journalists more fair these days?

Does anyone think that the newspapers were hoping that Mick Cash was elected, with his somewhat left of Labour thinking being a ready-made target for them ?

 

[1018509]

I'm no hardened Unionist but was/am a member of the RMT and am fully aware that but for the RMT I wouldn't have received the redundancy payment from Tube Lines and the pension I have from TfL without them; so RIP Bob Crow and long live the RMT with Mick Cash at the helm.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Is calling him Mike going to be like spelling the former leader's surname as Crowe?

How about Mike ££££

 

[brianthegiant]

Regardless if you're for/against/ambivalent about unions, the small museum at Tolpuddle in Dorset provides an interesting history of the union movement in the UK from the Tolpuddle martyrs to the present day.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

I remember in the early 1970's when after a speech being made about "workers aspirations" by a trades union leader, of some broadcaster asking a sample of about 30 workers in that same union what their "aspirations" were....Not one of those being interviewed appeared to know what an "aspiration" was and one of them even thought it was something to do with "difficulty in breathing when working in a dusty place of work".

 

[Busaholic]

I remember in the early 1970's when after a speech being made about "workers aspirations" by a trades union leader, of some broadcaster asking a sample of about 30 workers in that same union what their "aspirations" were....Not one of those being interviewed appeared to know what an "aspiration" was and one of them even thought it was something to do with "difficulty in breathing when working in a dusty place of work".

Whereas all Old Etonians know that Aspirations of London is the purveyor of finest leather goods and can be found just off Bond Street (not that one needs to find it oneself, what's a chauffeur for?)