RMT’s Mick Lynch insists rail strikes ‘have been a hit’ regardless of lack of pay deal after nearly a yr

The boss of Britain’s greatest rail employees union has insisted strikes have been a “success” – regardless of no pay deal being agreed but after nearly a yr of commercial motion.

Mick Lynch, common secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, stated the rail strikes – which began in June 2022 – had managed to stop bosses from pushing by way of redundancies and controversial reforms equivalent to mass ticket workplace closures.

He additionally claimed an additional success was the inspiration his union had supplied to workers in other sectors.

Mr Lynch was talking amid widespread disruption on Friday after round 20,000 employees, together with guards and rail managers at 14 corporations, walked out as soon as once more over pay and situations.

Read extra:
Train strikes: Which services will be affected this week?

A walkout by practice drivers’ union ASLEF was additionally held on Wednesday, with extra motion deliberate this weekend, as a part of the continued rows between the federal government and the unions.

Saturday’s walkout by ASLEF members will have an effect on individuals travelling to the FA Cup final at Wembley, the Epsom Derby in Surrey, the England v Ireland check match at Lord’s, and Beyonce’s Renaissance tour date on the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Mr Lynch, talking from a picket line at London’s Euston station, stated practice firms had been responsible for the disruption and added strikes can be referred to as off as quickly as a “fair” deal was agreed.

But he stated the motion had already achieved outcomes, as railway corporations “haven’t been able to implement any of their plans”.

He stated: “We’ve pushed them [rail bosses] back on all the stuff they wanted to do – they wanted to make thousands of our people redundant, they wanted to shut every booking office in Britain, restructure our engineering workers, [and] cut the catering service.

“What we’ve not received is a pay deal, we’ve not received any ensures on our members’ futures, however we’ve stopped them doing the worst points of their proposals and their concepts.”

Mr Lynch added: “It has been a success, our members are still with us, they’ve had three ballots to continue with the strike action under the law.

“Other individuals appear to have been impressed to struggle again and take motion in their very own industries, so it has been a hit and it is put commerce unions again on the map in Britain.”

The RMT and ASLEF have rejected pay offers put forward by the federal government thus far this yr, on the grounds that proposed phrases on situations and pay weren’t ok, particularly amid ongoing high inflation.

But another disputes have been resolved, together with a separate row involving RMT employees at Network Rail, after members voted to accept a revised pay offer in March.

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A spokesperson for the Rail Delivery Group (RDG), which represents the UK’s practice service suppliers, hit again on the RMT’s claims and stated “commonsense” reforms were “lengthy overdue”.

They said: “There have been three pay offers provided which the RMT government have reneged regardless of their negotiators within the room agreeing the phrases.

“We’ve said all along we just want railway workers to have their say on the fair and affordable offer of up to a 13% rise over two years, plus guarantees on job security.”

The RDG added: “The only thing they [the RMT] have achieved is continuing to take money out of their members’ pockets, inflicting misery on thousands of people and damaging an industry which is vital to Britain’s economy and their own members’ livelihoods.”