The RMT and Mick Lynch have to be more than just talk

Even though it was flagged in advance, there was still a sense of shock in seeing Mick Lynch, the RMT union leader, on Have I Got News For You.

His recent appearance was reminiscent of Boris Johnson’s and invited the same question: is he a serious player or has the publicity gone to his head and he’s now more of an entertainer, a celebrity? Indeed, can we expect to see Mr Lynch, who has just called another six months’ worth of rail strikes, in the jungle any time soon?

There’s no doubt that Mr Lynch has pulled off the remarkable feat of grinding the country to a halt and causing misery for passengers while maintaining, even elevating, his personal popularity. On the left, there are those who speak of him as a future Labour leader, so assured and self-confident are his performances. He’s articulate, quick-witted and disarming – qualities that would stand him in good stead at the despatch box and confronting the right-wing media.

It's remarkable how Mr Lynch and his colleagues have maintained an iron grip on their union. For an organisation just 40,000 strong, it’s come to occupy a pivotal position in the nation’s life, feared by transport chiefs and government ministers alike.

Yet is all well within Mr Lynch’s bastion? Within any trade union there are mutterings of discontent – there are bound to be, it’s the nature of the beast, a grouping of thousands of individuals and their circumstances and views – and industrial action is a pressure business in which feelings can run high. Nevertheless, there is disquiet in some quarters as to how hard, exactly, the hierarchy is pursuing a settlement at the price of raising theirs and the RMT’s profile. Lars Patrick Berg MEP (originally elected to the European parliament as a member of the right-wing party Alternative for Germany, but now a member of the softer right Liberal-Conservative Reformers party) has been openly critical of the RMT in an article in the Global Legal Chronicle.

One comparison being made is with the situation in which P&O workers, many of them RMT members, were summarily dismissed. It’s been claimed that the union encouraged its members to reject offers of compensation from the management. An RMT spokesperson said: “This suggestion is false. RMT fought tooth and nail to win back members’ jobs and secure the best possible deal for those who unlawfully lost their livelihoods.”

John Lansdown, an ex-P&O Ferries sous-chef and the only worker to bring a legal claim after the sackings, has accused the union of not doing enough to support him. He charged the RMT bosses with being politically motivated and prioritising left-wing ideology over the needs of members. “The RMT union is more about scoring political points,” he claimed. “It’s become a self-righteous protest group”.

When this was put to the RMT, it was dismissive: “We are a democratic industrial trade union whose number-one purpose is to win our members better terms and conditions.”

Mr Lansdown has had to finance, from his own pocket, the suit against P&O Ferries. He’s portrayed as very much alone, fighting a lonely fight.

A legal opinion has come to light that recommended the seafarers accept the P&O Ferries package. The RMT moved to reject it. Said Mr Lansdown: “Reason being, it was against the union’s interests to ask solicitors to say to people like me that this [was] a good offer or a bad offer. [Since] they just wanted them not to accept the offer. The reason for that was to make sure the RMT stay[ed] relevant.” It’s surprising then that the RMT’s leaders should disclose they had a legal opinion suggesting employees ought to take P&O Ferries’ offer. When pressed for an explanation, all the RMT spokesperson would say was: “We do not discuss internal legal opinions with the media.”

They’re reluctant, apparently, to back members in bringing their own legal claims – possibly because it’s the individual who gets the glory and securing victory can be difficult and expensive. Mr Lansdown has cited someone who worked for another ferry operator, DFDS. She went to the RMT for assistance after realising her pay was below the national minimum wage. It looked like a clear legal case and the RMT advised as much. But then nothing happened. She waited for the RMT to take up the cudgels, to put her in touch with its lawyers so she could begin proceedings. In the end, she gave up and was so frustrated with the union that she cancelled her membership. The RMT official line? “Discussions with individual members on legal matters involves confidential information that we do not discuss in the media.”

In the order of things, these are one-offs, and they are minor compared with the bringing of collective national strike action. They could, however, point to a pattern.

Steve Hedley was assistant general secretary of the RMT from 2012 until 2022, when he left suddenly. He said in an interview that it was a medical retirement. But the suspicion is that he went because of disagreements with the leadership’s strategy and tactics. Not so, said the RMT, insisting “Steve Hedley took early retirement due to ill health”.

He accused the union of not being willing to go to court or to encourage individual members to bring legal complaints. He added that it came down heavily on dissenting voices within the ranks, seeing them as a threat to the leaders’ hegemony.

Mr Hedley said the RMT feared it was becoming irrelevant and, because the union knew it had little bargaining power, resisted the P&O Ferries offer. The RMT would be undone, he predicted, by its leaders’ incompetence and poor behaviour.

The counterargument is that the RMT has done a commendable job in demonstrating its power and putting itself at the top of the news agenda. On the flip side, it appears to belong to a bygone age, dinosaurs battling extinction. This is especially pertinent in the transport sector, where employers are constantly exploring new, cheaper, digital and robotic applications. The RMT is desperately trying to stand its ground against acceptance of the driverless cab.

That does not necessarily make for a happy union, one in which solo members can feel they’re listened to and, when they have a case of their own, are properly encouraged and backed.

Mr Lynch has achieved the rarity of adulation and notoriety at the same time. It would be a pity for him personally if, in ascending to his moment in the sun, he flew too close. If he wants to be taken seriously, he must behave as such.

That means no more comedy quizzes, not in the middle of an industrial conflict that is harming millions of lives and damaging an already weakened economy. It means actively trying to find a solution, leaving no avenue unexplored. It means doing, not talking, and, definitely, no more playing for laughs.