“The profits of the top FTSE companies have gone up 73% since 2019. When are we going to ask if they’re greedy?"
The RMT’s senior assistant general secretary Eddie Dempsey has been praised for the manner in which he’s taken on the corporate media, not only informing the public but also taking apart the misconceptions and myths being peddled against the strikes and the RMT.
Appearing on the Jeremy Vine show this week, Dempsey had the perfect response for those accusing trade unions of being greedy. He said: “It’s a bit of a cheek having a programme asking trade unions if they’re being greedy for asking for a pay rise.
“The profits of the top FTSE companies have gone up 73% since 2019. When are we going to ask if they’re greedy? What about the railway companies that have been ripping off this country for years. No one asks about their profits or whether they’re being greedy.”
Asked about the inconveniences the strikes will cause to people, Dempsey replied: “People will find it hard on a strike day but people will find it hard when it’s not a strike day because there’s people in this country spending 18% of their incomes traveling on trains. We’ve got the highest fares in Europe because profiteers have been robbing this country blind for years.
“At the same time, later on in this year, energy prices are going to be so high some of my people will be spending two full months of take home pay on energy and you’re telling us that we’re greedy for expecting workers to keep up with that.”
Dempsey also told Channel 4: “The general public know they’re being mugged. Profits are through the roof, corporate pay is obscene and the only ones being asked to tighten their belts are working class people.”
His media appearances led to praise online, with one Twitter user writing: “The UK major broadcasters @BBCNews @SkyNews @itvnews might not like Mick Lynch being on our screens anymore, but the @RMTunion come up trumps again with straight talking, cool as cucumber Eddie Dempsey telling it like it is …”
Another user wrote: “Eddie Dempsey and Mick Lynch @RMTunion have done such a fantastic job informing the public, and decimating those that come up against them doing media rounds. This is because the points they are making are irrefutable facts.
“Runaway company profits are the problem, not wages.”
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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