# Peter Pinkney > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Peter_Pinkney > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Peter_Pinkney.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Pinkney > Source revision: 1337354568 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **Peter Pinkney** (born 1956) is a [British](/source/British_people) [trade unionist](/source/Trade_unionist), who served as President of the [National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers](/source/National_Union_of_Rail,_Maritime_and_Transport_Workers) (RMT) from December 2012[1] until 2015.[2] Born in [Saltburn](/source/Saltburn-by-the-Sea),[3] Pinkney completed an apprenticeship as a welder and joined the [Amalgamated Society of Boilermakers](/source/Amalgamated_Society_of_Boilermakers). He found employment at a steelworks in [Middlesbrough](/source/Middlesbrough), and became a junior [shop steward](/source/Shop_steward). However, when the works closed in 1978, he was unable to find a new job in the industry and instead joined the [Royal Navy](/source/Royal_Navy), serving as a submariner.[4] Following a five-year stint in the Navy, Pinkney studied at a polytechnic, and joined the [Communist Party of Great Britain](/source/Communist_Party_of_Great_Britain).[4][5] He found work as a railway signalman, working in the world's oldest signal box, in [Stockton-on-Tees](/source/Stockton-on-Tees). He also joined the [National Union of Railwaymen](/source/National_Union_of_Railwaymen), which later became part of the RMT. Pinkney became first a union representative, then branch secretary and regional secretary.[4] Pinkney's union involvement further increased following the election of [Bob Crow](/source/Bob_Crow) as general secretary, and culminated with Pinkney's election as president in 2012; the highest lay official of the union.[4] As President, Pinkney pledged that the RMT "will fight for the abolition of capitalism and replace it with a socialist system".[6] During Pinkney's time as president, Crow died unexpectedly, and Pinkney took his place on the [General Council of the Trades Union Congress](/source/General_Council_of_the_Trades_Union_Congress).[3] In February 2015, Pinkney confirmed that he would be standing as a [Green Party](/source/Green_Party_of_England_and_Wales) candidate in [Redcar](/source/Redcar_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) in the [2015 general election](/source/2015_United_Kingdom_general_election).[3] In the election he came fifth of six candidates with 2.2% of the vote.[7] In February 2016, Pinkney signed a letter in *[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)* alongside Sean Hoyle, Paul McDonnell and John Reid from the [National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers](/source/National_Union_of_Rail,_Maritime_and_Transport_Workers) (RMT), in which they voiced their opposition to the [Electoral Commission](/source/Electoral_Commission) choosing [Leave.EU](/source/Leave.EU), [Vote Leave](/source/Vote_Leave) or [Grassroots Out](/source/Grassroots_Out) as the official group advocating for [the UK's withdrawal](/source/Brexit) from the [European Union](/source/European_Union) in [the 2016 referendum on the subject](/source/2016_United_Kingdom_European_Union_membership_referendum). The letter said that: We call on the commission not to give taxpayers' money to the Tory and [Ukip](/source/UK_Independence_Party)-dominated Vote Leave, Leave.EU or Grassroots Out campaigns, or any amalgam of them ... We believe there are millions of trade unionists, young people, anti-austerity campaigners and working-class voters, whose opposition to the big business-dominated EU would not be represented by these organisations. ... We call on the Electoral Commission to recognise that a significant proportion of those who will vote against the EU do so because they support basic socialist policies of workers' rights, public ownership, and opposition to austerity and racism.[8] ## References 1. ["Senior RMT Officials"](http://www.rmt.org.uk/about/rmt-structure/senior-rmt-officials/). Retrieved 7 February 2015. 1. ["New RMT President makes significant contribution to 'new party' debate"](https://web.archive.org/web/20150210012047/http://www.independentsocialistnetwork.org/new-rmt-president-makes-significant-contribution-to-new-party-debate). Archived from [the original](http://www.independentsocialistnetwork.org/new-rmt-president-makes-significant-contribution-to-new-party-debate/) on 10 February 2015. 1. Wearmouth, Rachael (7 February 2015). ["RMT Union President: Why I'm standing for the Greens in Redcar"](http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/rmt-union-president-im-standing-8598307). *[Evening Chronicle](/source/Evening_Chronicle)*. Retrieved 7 February 2015. 1. ["A faithful servant of his class"](https://morningstaronline.co.uk/a-c2da-a-faithful-servant-of-his-class-1-2-3). *[Morning Star](/source/Morning_Star_(British_newspaper))*. 27 June 2015. Retrieved 5 July 2016. 1. Chakelian, Anoosh (26 February 2015). ["From Labour careerists to middle-class Marxists: Peter Pinkney, the union boss and Green candidate"](http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2015/02/labour-careerists-middle-class-marxists-peter-pinkney-union-boss-and-green). *New Statesman* 1. ["RMT president pays tribute to Bob Crow"](https://morningstaronline.co.uk/a-214d-RMT-president-pays-tribute-to-Bob-Crow). *[Morning Star](/source/Morning_Star_(British_newspaper))*. 24 June 2014. Retrieved 7 February 2015. 1. ["Redcar"](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/constituencies/E14000891). *BBC News*. Retrieved 28 July 2023. 1. Letters (21 February 2016). ["Don't give taxpayer's money to Tory and Ukip Leave groups"](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/feb/21/dont-give-taxpayers-money-to-tory-and-ukip-leave-groups). *The Guardian*. Retrieved 11 March 2016. --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Peter Pinkney](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Pinkney) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Pinkney?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.