National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers
Encyclopedia
The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) is a trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...

 in the United Kingdom which unionises transport workers. It has more than 80,000 members, and its current general secretary is Bob Crow
Bob Crow
Robert Crow , who is better known as Bob Crow, is a British trade union leader, the General Secretary of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers and a member of the General Council of the TUC...

. It is one of Britain's fastest growing trade unions, increasing its membership by more than a third in the first five years of Crow's leadership.

It was formed by a merger of the National Union of Railwaymen
National Union of Railwaymen
The National Union of Railwaymen was a trade union of railway workers in the United Kingdom. It an industrial union founded in 1913 by the merger of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants , the United Pointsmen and Signalmen's Society and the General Railway Workers' Union .The NUR...

 (NUR) and the National Union of Seamen
National Union of Seamen
The National Union of Seamen was the principal trade union of merchant seafarers in the United Kingdom from the late 1880s to 1990. In 1990, the union amalgamated with the National Union of Railwaymen to form the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers .- The National Amalgamated...

 (NUS).

Predecessors of the RMT were among the unions which set up the Labour Representation Committee in 1900. In 2003, some Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 branches of the RMT, affiliated to the Scottish Trades Union Congress
Scottish Trades Union Congress
The Scottish Trades Union Congress is the co-ordinating body of trade unions, and local Trades Councils, in Scotland. With 39 affiliated unions as of 2007, the STUC represents around 630,000 trade unionists....

, voted to donate some of their funds to the Scottish Socialist Party
Scottish Socialist Party
The Scottish Socialist Party is a left-wing Scottish political party. Positioning itself significantly to the left of Scotland's centre-left parties, the SSP campaigns on a socialist economic platform and for Scottish independence....

. This led the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

 to disaffiliate the union in early 2004. In Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 some branches supported Forward Wales, led by the former Labour Welsh Assembly member John Marek. The RMT is affiliated to the Left pressure group the Labour Representation Committee
Labour Representation Committee (2004)
The Labour Representation Committee is a British socialist pressure group within the Labour Party and wider labour movement. It is often seen as representing the most left wing members of the Labour Party.-Overview:...

 (LRC), which is named after the original LRC of 1900, and works to restore socialist principles within the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

. Some local branches of the RMT, such as Grimsby
Grimsby
Grimsby is a seaport on the Humber Estuary in Lincolnshire, England. It has been the administrative centre of the unitary authority area of North East Lincolnshire since 1996...

, are still affiliated to their local Constituency Labour Party (CLP).

The RMT announced in March 2009 that it would be standing a slate of candidates in the 2009 European Parliament elections
European Parliament election, 2009 (United Kingdom)
The European Parliament election was the United Kingdom's component of the 2009 European Parliament election, the voting for which was held on Thursday 4 June 2009, coinciding with the 2009 local elections in England. Most of the results of the election were announced on Sunday 7 June, after...

 under the banner of No to the EU – Yes to Democracy
No to the EU – Yes to Democracy
No2EU – Yes to Democracy is a left-wing electoral alliance which was initiated by the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers to contest the June 2009 European elections in the United Kingdom. The party fielded candidates only in Great Britain...

, a broad left-wing alter-globalisation coalition which aims to offer an alternative to the "anti-foreigner" and pro-business policies of the UK Independence Party. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2009/03/10/exclusive-tommy-sheridan-to-stand-for-euro-elections-86908-21185994/

London Underground

The RMT in recent years are best known to the British public through media exposure for their on-going clashes with London Underground
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...

 and its privatised contractors Metronet
Metronet
Metronet Rail was one of two companies in a public-private partnership with London Underground.Metronet was responsible for the maintenance, renewal, and upgrade of the infrastructure on nine London Underground lines from 2003 to 2008. This included track, trains, signals, civil work and stations...

 and Tubelines. In the early 21st century, clashes leading to industrial action costing London business millions of pounds per day and causing travel disruptions have included concerns over pay, safety, pensions and job security. In 2009, one such strike coincided with an England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...

 international match. RMT leader Bob Crow claimed that either the transport commissioner or the Mayor of London
Mayor of London
The Mayor of London is an elected politician who, along with the London Assembly of 25 members, is accountable for the strategic government of Greater London. Conservative Boris Johnson has held the position since 4 May 2008...

 blocked an agreement with the RMT on the eve of the strike only 35 minutes after LU management had agreed to it. On June 15, 2011 the RMT announced a strike will begin on June 19, 2011, disrupting the Wimbledon Championships.

On 24th June 2011, the strikes were cancelled after London Underground reinstated the Tube driver at the centre of the dispute.
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