... said a few years ago that his railway union would take industrial action to raise the wages of nurses and care workers but, ... nothing ever happened?! (not Mick but certainly one male rail union boss interviewed on TV, I remember)
On 19 June 2022 on Radio 4, 'Broadcasting House' extracts:
"There are so many people in this country who are vulnerable ... living a life where they don't know where their next bill is going to be paid from. And now we have a working class working full-time hours having to go to food banks and take state benefits. We are not going to go that way as a railway workforce. ... I would take a general strike if we could get one. That means that working people are fighting back for equality in our society. We have a society that is completely skewed. There are more billionaires than we have ever had. Profits, dividends and the stock market are in a very healthy position while working people with full employment (under 3% unemployment) are having to take state benefits. That means the rich are doing too well compared with the working class.
"We are 40,000 people fighting this struggle on behalf of railway workers under attack. I'm not in a political party. I'm a political person but I'm not driven under an agenda given me by a clique or a faction. I'm an independent person and my only responsibility is to RMT members at this time and the broader trade union movement. But it is clear that the only way that working class people are going to get a better deal is through united industrial action because it appears that the traditional politicians are not up for that fight ...
Paddy O'Connell said, "You think the Treasury are the nanny, the mummy and the daddy of Network Rail. That there is no real independence for Network Rail. Can you prove that?"
Mick: "Absolutely. They are not operating as an independent corporation. They are taking their orders directly from DfT officials and they have Treasury officials sitting at the table. That is true for the tocs as well. They are all waiting for their orders from Parliament and from Westminster. If they were free to negotiate and were unshackled and they have told the press this week that that is the case, I think we could get a settlement this week. It is Shapps, Johnson and Sunak who are stopping a deal being done this week."
Anthony Smith, Chief Executive of Transport Focus, an independent watchdog but sponsored/funded by DfT, said, "We need a reset of industrial relations on the railways ... the Treasury must keep investing in the railway so passengers can book and rely on the railway.
We want a transport system that operates for the benefit of the people, for the needs of society and our environment – not for private profit.
We call on our members to stand firm, support the action, mount the pickets and demonstrate their willingness to fight for workplace justice. RMT, as reported by the 'Canary', 20 June 2022
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