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RMT general secretary Mick Lynch called the Government experts “selfish and irresponsible”, comparing how different railways staff members were to them. More planned disruptions have been announced as the railway union demands UK Government increases to pay. The union general manager then went on to discuss how hard railway staff had worked throughout the pandemic, with no option to work from home.
Mr Lynch told BBC Breakfast: “Well this Government are experts at being selfish and irresponsible, that’s not what our union is.
“And it’s not what the tens of thousands of ordinary men and women in our union are all about.
“We’ve been waiting patiently for two or three years for a real pay rise and a pay offer, we haven’t had that, for the vast majority of people involved in this dispute.
“What we’ve had in return for working all the way through the pandemic, in the workplace not working from home running our transport services, is the threat of thousands and thousands of job cuts.
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Mr Lynch added: “The stripping back of services, the closure of virtually all of the ticket offices in Britain, and the ripping up of our conditions.
“So we haven’t got a deal on pay for three years while inflation is rampant, we’ve got the threat of job cuts, we’ve got threats to the safety regime on our system.
“And our members have had enough, has have many British workers, we need a pay deal, we need job security, and we need decent terms and conditions.
“That’s what this dispute is about, the Government have got the key to unlock that, they’ve cut the funding to the railway by £2b.
“They’re stopping the companies from making proper offers and having proper discussions, and they need to loosen those shackles and get a proper deal so that we can avoid this disruption and these disputes.”
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Mr Shapps tweeted: “Very disappointing @RMTunion are taking action that could damage the rail network after taxpayers contributed £16bn, £600 per household, to keep jobs during Covid. We’re working with industry to reduce disruption caused by strikes but urge unions to come to talks with employers.”
Commenting on the strike, London Mayor Sadiq Khan described the strike as “incredibly frustrating and disappointing.”
Mr Khan added: “I know the RMT are unhappy with the deal we have from the government who attached many strings – I’m unhappy too – but the RMT should be working with me to remove these strings rather than punish Londoners.”
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