Mick Lynch addresses CWU strike rally, photo Paul Mattsson
Mick Lynch addresses CWU strike rally, photo Paul Mattsson

After five years as general secretary of transport union RMT, Mick Lynch has announced he is retiring.

The election of a new general secretary comes at a critical time, as RMT members and the wider working class face up to the reality of a pro-capitalist Labour government attempting to force through even more austerity.

Socialist Party members in the RMT discussed the way forward for the union in an article in the April 2024 edition of Socialism Today entitled ‘Militant Mick: Drawing up a balance sheet’.

“Our union needs to prepare for what is ahead. Doing so includes working to bring together the militant reps and activists to fight to reverse the steps back we have taken from Bob Crow’s approach. We need to strengthen our democratic structures and wage a campaign of ‘membership mobilisation’ to prepare our union for the battles we will certainly face under a Labour government. Campaigning for greater coordination with the other rail unions will also be needed. The experience of Starmer in power will also quickly raise the need for us to revisit the political issues, and begin again the pioneering work undertaken by Bob Crow to start to build a party of the working class…

“A Starmer government acting in the interests of the capitalist class will inevitably try to launch a new offensive against us, as part of its effort to curb the demands of the wider working class. We need to be ready.”

John Reid, former RMT NEC member, writes:

Mick Lynch is seen by thousands of trade unionists as someone who personified the ongoing militancy of the largest rail union the RMT. He led the RMT at the forefront of the strike wave and announced that “the working class is back”. Mick Lynch also dealt adroitly with the media, launching an onslaught against the bosses and capitalists. This action gave confidence to huge swathes of workers to take action and win.

Just as with Jeremy Corbyn previously, thousands of young people were enthused and became interested in socialist ideas as a result of his comments and the combativeness of the RMT,  which many workers regard as the ‘praetorian guard’ of the trade union movement.

However, Mick had an opportunity to build on the industrial platform by taking the fight on to the political level and building an alternative to Labour after the defeat and expulsion of Jeremy Corbyn and his anti-austerity pro-working class manifesto. The launching of Enough is Enough by Mick Lynch and Communication Workers Union leader Dave Ward offered that opportunity (see ‘Is Enough is Enough enough?’ in the December 2022 issue of Socialism Today).

However, this project, although sparking massive interest, never got off the ground. Instead, Mick put hopes in Starmer and the incoming Labour government.

Socialist Party members and supporters in the RMT will call on candidates in the coming election for general secretary to pledge to maintain and develop industrial militancy but to couple this with building a new workers’ party based on socialism, solidarity and internationalism, to give an alternative to working-class people to the pro-big business pro-billionaire policies of Labour, Tory, Liberal Democrat and Reform.

  • Red Line Zoom public meeting ‘Where now for the RMT after Mick Lynch?’
  • Sunday 23 February 5pm
  • Meeting ID: 899 3454 7112
  • Passcode: 077984