Recruiting Young Safety Representatives

Our ref: HSR/4/1

Head Office Circular: NP/16/23

18^th January 2023

To: The Secretary

ALL BRANCHES

REGIONAL COUNCILS

 

Dear Colleague,

 

RECRUITING YOUNG SAFETY REPRESENTATIVES

 

Your H&S (Health and Safety) and Young Members Advisory Committees are working on together on a campaign aimed at recruiting more young safety reps, the reason being that the majority of RMT safety reps are aged over 45, with the largest number of reps aged in their 50s. The latter cohort do a vital job in keeping our members safe at work, but we do need to recruit more young reps. 

 

The first meeting of representatives of the joint committees agreed a strategy, which includes a mapping/data crunching exercise, putting in place a system of mentoring support for the new reps, inviting Shelly Asquith, TUC H&S Officer, to run a workshop at the young members conference and promoting the campaign via RMT News, posters and emails.

 

At its meeting on 12^th January, your National Executive Committee noted and adopted the following report from its Health and Safety sub-committee:

We note the strategy report from the H&S Advisory Committee and Young Members committee – and we thank them for raising the vital issue of how to recruit young members to the role of RMT Safety Rep. 

 

We recognise that the success of this project is important to the future ability of RMT to be representative of its members. Currently the majority of RMT safety reps are aged over 45, with largest number of RMT safety reps aged in their 50s, something which poses an obvious problem - without the next generation of safety reps coming through. 

 

We therefore instruct the General Secretary to adopt the actions contained in the strategy document and that the General Secretary commits the necessary time and resources to enable the success of this strategy. For clarification in relation to the strategy document - delegates to young members conference will be asked to register their interest in becoming a safety rep (and not sign up) and in relation to the cut-off age for young members, this will continue to be 30 as per the RMT rule book. 

 

The General Secretary is further instructed to provide the NEC with regular progress reports on this project. Branches and Regional Councils to be informed accordingly.

 

I am acting in accordance with these instructions. Please bring the contents of this circular to the attention of relevant members. 

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

 

Michael Lynch

General Secretary