RMT leader Mick Lynch has declared the strike action over the past year to be fruitful, even though a pay agreement hasn’t been reached.
Voicing his perspective from the picket lines at Euston station, Lynch mentioned that the strike action has effectively thwarted plans that could have adversely affected RMT members.
This morning, millions of commuters experienced disruptions to their daily commute due to RMT walkouts. The union estimates that these strikes have cost the economy around £5bn since they began.
Aslef, the drivers’ union, also staged a walkout on Wednesday, with another strike scheduled for Saturday – the same day as the FA Cup final – over a pay dispute.
Lynch said, “We’ve successfully resisted a series of measures they proposed, such as making thousands of our members redundant, shutting down every booking office in Britain, overhauling our engineering workers, and reducing the catering service.
“Although we’ve not reached a pay agreement and don’t have any assurances for our members’ futures, we have prevented them from implementing the most harmful aspects of their plans.
“Our members have shown their continued support through three separate strike ballots as required by law, demonstrating the effectiveness of our actions.”
Meanwhile, a representative for the Rail Delivery Group, representing train operators, responded, “As the union’s rhetoric persists, it merely diverts attention from the industry’s significant financial challenges, with taxpayers subsidizing the 20% revenue shortfall post-Covid at up to £175m per month to keep trains running.
“The only sustainable solution is to implement long-overdue, common-sense reforms that would enhance services and punctuality for our passengers. Many of these proposed changes simply broaden best practices already implemented across parts of the network.”
