To: All RMT Members

Dear Colleague,

Your Union. Your Voice.  Important information on RMT's ballot to keep your union's Political Fund so your union can keep campaigning to defend YOUR interests at work.

I am writing to give you advanced notice that your union will be holding a ballot of all members and campaigning for a YES vote to keep the RMT Political Fund so that RMT can continue to campaign to defend and advance your interests at work.

The law states we must ballot our members every ten years to ask you to agree to keep the Political Fund. We need to keep the Political Fund to defend and improve your rights. The postal ballot is taking place between 16 September and 21 October. Civica will be acting as the Independent Scrutineer and will oversee the conduct of the ballot. Their address is Civica Election Services, The Election Centre, 33 Clarendon Road, London, N8 0NW.

Remember the ballot is not about political affiliation or whether you personally pay into the Political Fund.  You are voting on the basic right to keep the Political Fund so that RMT can continue to campaign to defend and advance your interests at work.

Your Political Fund is used to support a number of campaigns that affect RMT members at the workplace, these include:

• Better pay with reduced hours
• Defending jobs and conditions
• Protecting pensions
• More rights at work
• Improved health and safety

Other good examples include your Political Fund being used to support campaigns to oppose ticket office closures, defeat anti-union minimum services legislation and also campaign for new employment rights for workers after the P&O scandal.

In the last RMT Political Fund ballot in 2014 RMT members voted by a resounding 96% in favour to keep the Political Fund. Let's work again for a massive YES vote and send a clear message that your union will keep campaigning to defend and improve your interests.

Voting papers will be sent directly to members' homes or to another address which you have requested in writing that the union treats as your postal address.  Any member who has changed their home address or wishes their ballot paper to be sent to a different address and has not yet notified the union, should contact the RMT Helpline on 0800 376 3706, or email info@rmt.org.uk.

YOUR UNION. YOUR VOICE. USE IT, DON'T LOSE IT

Without the Political Fund we will lose our political voice. We will not be able to run political campaigns on the issues that affect you at the workplace. The employers are not required to have a Political Fund and can spend millions lobbying against your interests. That is why it is vital you VOTE YES to keep the Political Fund.

More information on the Political Fund ballot and campaign materials to help builds the YES vote can be found here https://bit.ly/3X7LPN0

Yours sincerely,

Michael Lynch
General Secretary