Mick Lynch said he will step down as General Secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT), the country’s largest rail workers union, a post he has held since 2021
Mick Lynch has announced plans to retire as General Secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union.
The 63-year-old, who was elected to the post in 2021, has become one of the most influential union leaders in recent years during a prolonged period of strikes under the last Tory Government. The long-running dispute ended in September when RMT members voted to accept pay offers from train operating companies and Network Rail.
As opponents tried to cast him as a hard-left villain during the strikes, he skewered interviewers and Tories spouting anti-union rhetoric. When asked by GMB’s Richard Madeley if he was a Marxist in 2022, he retorted: “You do come up with the most remarkable twaddle.” He also clashed with then-Tory MP Jonathan Gullis, saying he was “talking nonsense” and spouting stuff written by Conservative central office.
Actor Hugh Laurie tweeted at the time: “I don’t know enough about the rail dispute. I only observe that RMT’s Mick Lynch cleaned up every single media picador who tried their luck today.”
A qualified electrician, Mr Lynch worked in the construction industry before being illegally blacklisted for joining a union. He helped to set up the Electrical and Plumbing Industries Union in 1988 and joined the RMT after he began working for Eurostar in 1993.
In a statement, he said: “It has been a privilege to serve this union for over 30 years in all capacities, but now it is time for change. This union has been through a lot of struggles in recent years, and I believe that it has only made it stronger despite all the odds.
“There has never been a more urgent need for a strong union for all transport and energy workers of all grades, but we can only maintain and build a robust organisation for these workers if there is renewal and change.
“We can all be proud that our union stood up against the wholesale attacks on the rail industry by the previous Tory government and the union defeated them.
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“RMT will always need a new generation of workers to take up the fight for its members and for a fairer society for all and I am immensely proud to have been part of that struggle”.
The RMT’s executive committee is expected to elect a new General Secretary in May. Mr Lynch will remain in post until a successor is appointed.
Mr Lynch joined the Mirror in successfully campaigning against Tory-backed plans to shut almost every railway station ticket office in England in 2023. The proposals from train firms to close ticket counters at 974 railway stations were dropped following a huge outcry from passengers.