RMT boss Mick Lynch ‘has not met Government minister since January’
T
ransport union chief Mick Lynch has stated he has not met a Government minister since January regardless of strike motion persevering with.
Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union will strike on July 20, 22 and 29, following greater than a yr of business motion in a long-running dispute over pay, jobs and situations.
Station workers, practice managers and catering workers can be concerned within the motion, with passengers suggested to verify their journey preparations.
Amid talks between ministers and different unions, Mr Lynch informed Sky’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme: “No contact. They seem to pick out the RMT as a special category where they can’t negotiate on a reasonable basis.
“We’re available to talk to them, but I don’t think I’ve met a Government minister since January, and even the employers now have stopped negotiating.
“So I don’t know whether they’re waiting for all this other stuff to be cleared out the way. We don’t know if there’s going to be settlements yet – they’re out for referendum and consultation with their members, we’ll see.
“They’ve certainly offered the others more than we’ve been offered. There’s no strings attached to those deals; we’ve got to accept a whole host of change and dilution to those terms and conditions, and job losses.”
Mr Lynch stated strikes will proceed till an settlement is reached.
Shadow enterprise secretary Jonathan Reynolds stated: “I think the Government’s got to recognise – I think it has recognised – its early approach was completely wrong.
“And actually the lack of respect they’ve shown for a lot of the public sector, I think, has been one of the aggravating factors in the industrial action we’ve seen.”