50 years of service to the RMT by John Stewart, Leeds RMT Branch Secretary

That this House joins the RMT in celebrating Leeds RMT Branch Secretary John Stewart reaching the milestone of 50 years of RMT membership; welcomes the 50 years service award given to him by the RMT at a recent special event in the West Riding pub opposite Leeds train station; notes that he joined the union in 1976 as a freight guard at Goole goods yard, later becoming a passenger guard in Leeds in 1983 working for British Rail; congratulates him on the remarkable achievement of being elected Branch Secretary of the Leeds City RMT Branch at every Branch AGM since 1997; recognises that his nearly 30 years as Secretary of the RMT's Leeds City Branch have been characterised by his tireless and successful work representing RMT members in Leeds and his collegiate and effective work with the wider labour and trade union movement across Leeds and beyond; celebrates his decades long stewardship of what is the RMT's second biggest branch with over 1600 members; values the practical difference his incredible record of negotiation, representation, organisation and service in the RMT has made to the lives of workers in Leeds; and celebrates the positive impact he has made as a champion of the RMT and an ally and friend of all workers in Leeds.