RMT Wightlink vote for strike action to defend Paul Kelly

14 December The RMT website have announced a positive result at Wightlink in a ballot over the victimisation of activist Paul Kelly. (Details of Paul's case can be found here)

Bob Crow, the General Secretary of the RMT, will be addressing members in Portsmouth Thursday 15th December following the successful result of their ballot for strike action on Wightlink ferries.

The meeting, which will take place at 7pm at Fratton Railway club, has been organised as part of the campaign to defend elected RMT representative Paul Kelly.

Commenting on the result Bob Crow said; “Paul Kelly’s case is one of the most blatant examples of victimisation for union activities you will ever come across. Once again RMT finds itself having to defend an elected and accredited union representative, whose only real crime is to continually defend the members he represents, regularly challenging the company and ensuring all agreements are followed correctly.


“RMT remains available for talks and we will pursue all channels to obtain justice in Paul Kelly’s case.”

The ballot for action returned the following results:

Are you prepared to take strike action?

Total Votes Cast... 117

Those Voting ‘Yes’... 87

Those Voting ‘No’... 30

Spoilt Papers... 0

Are you prepared to take industrial action short of a strike?

Total Votes Cast... 117

Those Voting ‘Yes’... 101

Those Voting ‘No’... 14

Spoilt Papers... 2

The NSSN congratulates the members and activists of the RMT for this excellent result. Hopefully this will give a strong incentive to management to reinstate Paul without delay. If this does not happen, it is a clear sign RMT members are prepared to stand behind Paul in escalating the dispute with management.

Readers can build support for Paul's dispute by down loading the NSSN petition calling for his reinstatement and getting it signed at your union branch and workplace.