Mick Lynch

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Person.png Mick Lynch  Rdf-entity.pngRdf-icon.png
(trade unionist)
Mick Lynch.jpg
BornJanuary 1962
NationalityIrish

Employment.png General Secretary of the RMT

In office
May 2021 - Present

Michael Lynch, known as Mick Lynch, is a British trade unionist who has served as the General Secretary of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) since May 2021.[1]

Early life

Mick Lynch was born to Irish parents in London in 1962 and grew up in the Paddington area.[2] He left school at the age of 16 and qualified as an electrician.

Career

Mick Lynch worked in construction and joined a trade union, but found himself illegally blacklisted as a result. In 1993, unable to find work in construction, he began working for Eurostar, and became active in the RMT. Twenty years later, he received a large settlement for the illegal blacklisting.[3]

Lynch served two terms as Assistant General Secretary of the RMT, and two terms on its executive. In 2020, after General Secretary Mick Cash took time off due to ill health, Lynch was appointed as the acting General Secretary but stood down after a few months, accusing members of bullying and harassment. This accusation was similar to Cash's. Lynch won an election for the permanent role of General Secretary and took up the position in May 2021.[4][5]

2022 Rail Strikes

As part of the media coverage of the RMT's 2022 strikes, Mick Lynch gained widespread attention for his performances in interviews and debates on the BBC, Sky News and ITV[6]

The pundits and politicians facing him off adopted the curious position that unions are the real enemy of the worker, framing the RMT as intransigent dinosaurs holding rail-reliant ‘ordinary people’ to ransom. But who, exactly, are ordinary people? Rail workers could well be joined by teachers and nurses later this year if public sector pay and conditions don’t improve. It’s unlikely that we’ll see media bosses and MPs going on strike because they can’t afford the cost of living. Yet the spectre of the ‘British public’ is used as a shield by mouthpieces of the wealthy to attack organised labour.[7]


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References

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