Support Steve Hedley
By Mark Langabeer, South Devon RMT branch, personal capacity.
For those who may not be aware, the Rail Maritime and Transport union (RMT) are in the process of electing a new general secretary. Four candidates are standing, and I’ll be voting for Steve Hedley, the current Senior Assistant General Secretary. Like Bob Crow, he has been vilified in the press. The representatives of the bosses dislike Hedley the most, and he is, in my view, the man for the job.
I attended a hustings meeting via Zoom, in which the four candidates gave statements for 10 minutes. There seemed unanimity on most issues. However, Hedley didn’t use the “against politicians” line advocated by his rivals. This type of argument harks back to the days of syndicalism and the idea that industrial strength is all that is required to solve our problems. Like the left within Labour, Hedley has been smeared with the allegation of being anti-Semitic.
During the past two years, the RMT has suffered from internal divisions which appear to have little to do with policy. Bob Crow built up huge authority within the union. His successor, Mick Cash, appears to have enemies, some of which, are of his own making. However, in my view, it is rooted in the false belief that industrial muscle alone, gets results.
Bob Crow increased union membership
During Bob Crow’s time, the union grew from 60,000 to 80,000 members. Rail companies competed for staff and bore the cost for losses, as a result of industrial action. The campaign to prevent driver-only operation has not been particularly successful. Southern Rail had over 40 days of strikes and South-West trains had over that figure.
The Tories are out to crush the RMT as a militant force, by bearing the losses as a result of industrial action. Less than two years ago, Cash was re-elected, but not unopposed. It was his rival who won the support of my branch, because he expressed support for the interests of bus workers in the union. It is a false narrative that the union is only concerned with rail workers. I voted for Cash because there were no obvious policy differences. Cash won that election, but it appears a certain bitterness prevailed.
Then came the decision to suspend Hedley because of remarks he made about Johnson contracting Covid. Cash claimed that there had been an unprecedented number of complaints from members. To my knowledge, no actual figure has ever been given. I’ve seen a report on Facebook suggesting 80 complaints. Whether this will affect Hedley’s chances of election remains to be seen.
RMT should fight inside Labour for radical policies
Cash also accused the National Executive Committee of bullying and was off sick for a long period. Lynch, the junior Assistant General Secretary, who assumed the leadership, also went sick. Then the RMT conference, lifted Hedley’s suspension and he ended up as temporary GS of the Union. Cash has decided to retire on health grounds and Lynch has decided to run for the leadership; he is in my view the main rival to Hedley.
Although Bob Crow was a giant within the RMT, he mistakenly believed that disaffiliation from Labour was the right thing to do when Labour was dominated by Blair. He championed the idea that there was an alternative to Labour. Bob Crow had no perspective that Labour could move to the left and reject the policies of Labour’s right-wing.
It’s true that Labour’s right- wing have regained the ascendancy, following the election defeat in 2019. However, a struggle is and will develop over Corbyn’s legacy on policy issues. The RMT should reaffiliate to Labour and fight to retain the radical policies of both the 2017 and 2019 election manifestos. Whoever wins this general secretary election, the union will be under attack by the Tories. The ripping up of RPI pay awards and the closure of final salary pension schemes will be the order of the day. Non-political unionism and the rejection of “politicians in general” is the equivalent of a boxer being asked to enter a ring with one hand tied behind his back. As one member of our union put it, “it’s time we went home”.
January 19, 2021
