RMT union elects Bob Crow’s former deputy Mick Cash as leader

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/sep/22/rmt-elects-mick-cash-leader

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Mick Cash, the assistant general secretary of the RMT union, has been elected as its new leader to replace Bob Crow, who died earlier this year.

Cash was assistant general secretary of the union for 12 years before the sudden death of Crow in March. The union had become regarded as one of the most militant, as well as one of the most successful, in winning pay rises for its members across the transport sector.

A former railway track worker and engineer before becoming a full-time union official, Cash, 54, beat four rivals in the vote. He has been acting general secretary since Crow died suddenly, taking over while the union remains engaged in a dispute with London Underground over planned ticket office closures.

Cash said there would be “no deviation from the industrial, political and organising strategy” that Crow had implemented. He said: “Our fight on pay, jobs, working conditions, pensions and safety continues on every front and in every industry where we organise members.”

However, Cash has long been seen as a moderate within the union. He remains a member of the Labour party, although the union is no longer affiliated.

At a fringe meeting in Manchester for the party conference on Sunday, Cash strongly criticised Labour for stopping short in its proposed reform of rail, urging shadow transport secretary Mary Creagh towards renationalisation.

Cash signalled that strikes were likely to continue as he took the helm of what he called a “fighting and militant union”. He added: “RMT stands united and determined in the on-going struggles we are engaged in on London Underground, on the railways, offshore, in the shipping industry and on the roads and buses. This union is in fighting shape for the battles that we know lie ahead.”