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| RMT Branch members and RTUC guests assemble |
On 27 July 2019, Reading Trades Union Council delegates joined the Reading Branch of the RMT as esteemed guests for the annual RMT branch social. The feast was staged at Wallingford Station before the teetotal attendees were invited to take a turn driving a steam train on the Cholsey and Wallingford Railway. Kevin Brandstatter (GMB), Nikki Dancey (GMB), James Denny (RMT), James Ford (RMT), Colin Masters (RMT), Dave McMullen (GMB), Jim Parker (Unite), Chris Reilly (RMT), Barbara Roberts (RMT) and Tanya Wills (Unite) attended from RTUC.
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| Taking a possession (of sorts) of the Cholsey & Wallingford Railway... |
The event, while being a comradely, lighthearted social, nonetheless had a sobering, generous purpose to it: £247 was raised on the day (rounded up to £500 by the Reading RMT branch) for the families of Michael Lewis and Gareth Delbridge, the railway workers killed by a train near Port Talbot on 3 July. The railway fraternity and the trade union movement more generally must continued being social - but we must also never forget the sacrifices of those who have gone before.
