7th Annual RMT Garden Party report
Campaign News | Tuesday, 30 June 2009
“This is now one of the great events of the labour movement calendar” declared Tony Benn at the 7th annual RMT Garden Party in June in front of an audience of more than 400 at Maritime House, the RMT’s south London headquarters.
RMT General Secretary Bob Crow praised the gains of the revolution: “The Cuban people against all the odds have developed medicines to not only give the Cuban people a better life but have exported them all over the world” and called on President Obama:
“If you can’t lift the blockade then do one thing and release the Miami Five”.
Speeches, including contributions from John McDonnell MP and Keith Sonnet, chair of CSC, were interspersed with music and dancing and live sets from Raices Cubanos, The Conservatives and the Alabama Three.
“We have lived with dignity for the last 50 years and created friendships that are indestructible” said final speaker and guest of honour Aleida Guevara, who ended her speech with a beautifully sung version of a Jose Marti poem.
