As RMT reps and activists, we want our union to be democratic, effective, inclusive, organising, winning, and socialist. And while pretty much every union activist will say that they want this, there are some who think we already have it, and others – including us – who recognise that it still has a substantial way to go.

We want our union to be less bureaucratic and more democratic, and to reach and involve the four-fifths of members who did not vote in the recent General Secretary election. We want it to stand its ground in the battles to defend jobs and pensions and to keep the guard on the train. We want it to do more to organise the most exploited workers, including launching assertive fights to win the in-housing of outsourced work, and to build union strength in every workplace, and to overcome its shortcomings in delivering equality and diversity. We want a political union that engages with the wider workers’ movement and demands change from local and national government.

It is understandable, and healthy, that different opinions exist within our union, and that members organise around those opinions. This includes organising around the platform we want to see put forward in an election and agreeing the best candidate to present and deliver that platform. Particularly in the case of a scheduled election, such as the forthcoming National President contest, we have the opportunity to do this. Without this discussion, we could end up with several progressive left candidates competing with each other, or backing a candidate who decides their own candidacy and platform. These have happened too many times before, and we would like to move on to a better process for this and other elections.

We propose to RMT activists who share this view that we work together to:

- draw up and unite behind a platform for the change we want to see in the union
- discuss and agree on a candidate to best represent and deliver that platform, who we can all unite to support.

A candidacy that has emerged from a process of collective discussion amongst activists who then unite in support of that candidate will be stronger, more rooted, and have a greater democratic mandate than one which was declared unilaterally.

Initial Signatories:

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