Robbie: Personal and Political
July 5th, 2008
About me
Robbie Segal, who is married with three children and two grandchildren, has been an active trade unionist since the age of 19 when, alongside other trade unionists, she was ‘locked out’ during an industrial dispute with the Express Newspapers. She has continued with her trade union activities in her workplace and through building practical and political support for other workers in struggle.
Robbie was an active and vociferous supporter of the Liverpool councillors, the mineworkers and their wives during the bitter 1984/85 miners strike and then again during the P&O seafarers strike.
She was a leading light in the campaign against the ‘Poll Tax’ and together with her husband Eric, who was jailed for non-payment of the poll tax, she was expelled from the Labour party.
Robbie has worked in Tesco’s for 22 years and has been an active Usdaw shop Steward for 21 years. She has been branch chair and continues to hold the position of branch secretary. She has held many divisional and national positions including chair of the Southern Region women’s committee and is well known for her inspirational speeches at the Annual Delegate Conference.
Read more about Robbie on her biography page.
Platform
Video interview
A Living Wage: I will launch a campaign to fight for a living minimum wage of £8 per hour for all retail workers, from 16 years to retirement age. I will fight to link pensions to earnings.
Yes to National free collective bargaining - No to Partnership: I will re-establish Usdaw as an independent trade union. I will fight to restore our vote on pay and campaign to resist Tesco’s proposed 2% target for absence.
Fight for Union democracy: I will return power to the Union’s elected lay-member Executive Council and ensure proper EC minutes are produced as agreed by ADM.
For a General Secretary on a worker’s wage: I reject the wage and the benefits totalling over £100,000 that John Hannett, the General Secretary, receives and the General Secretary’s Jaguar car. I will take the wage that I earn as a Tesco worker and all necessary
expenses will be open to scrutiny so that any member can check them. The money released will be used to campaign for our members benefit.