Mick Lynch and Mick Whelan on ticket office closures and rail industry cuts

Joining campaigners at a march and rally against ticket office closures outside Downing Street on Thursday evening were the general secretaries for two of the UK’s largest rail unions, Mick Lynch and Mick Whelan.

Left Foot Forward caught up separately with ASLEF general secretary Mick Whelan and RMT general secretary Mick Lynch to discuss government attacks on the industry and the crucial fight to stop ticket offic closures.

“This is the worst Transport Minister and Rail Minister I’ve ever dealt with in my life,” commented Mick Whelan. “But at the end of this, the workers will still be here, the traveling public will still be here, and we will have our say.”

His ASLEF union members are on strike again today in the ongoing dispute over pay and conditions for train drivers who have been denied a ‘fair and sensible pay offer’ since 2019. Whelan blasted the government, who he accused of seeking to put people ‘back into their cars’ through ‘the managed decline’ of the industry.

“We have Tories that want to put this industry to managed decline and drive people away from the railways, back into their cars,” said Whelan.

“They don’t care about the people who travel on the railway or the people who work on the railway. Be under no illusions. They care about the people that they put in there to make hundreds of millions of pounds and pay their shareholders.”

Mick Lynch of the RMT union echoed this sentiment and warned the government against being on the wrong side of history when it came to ticket office closures.

“This government has got to make sure that they’re not on the wrong side of this argument. At the moment, they are. They’re trying to force through changes that nobody wants,” said Lynch.

Half a million people have now responded to the public consultant on plans to shut ticket offices at nearly 1,000 rail stations across the country which has been blasted by campaigners, unions and MPs across the political spectrum.

“Political groups, community groups, disabled groups, women’s groups—everybody is up in arms,” reflected Lynch. “The campaign doesn’t stop tomorrow. We’ll keep that going and we’re going to put every MP and every politician in the country under pressure to save our railway.”

Lynch also made an impassioned call for a ‘new workers’ movement’, which would seek to join up different campaigns with trade unions and progressive politicians to fight for equality, such as at the rally that evening which saw different movements coming together.

“We’ve got to be with everyone that’s campaigning to have their voices heard,” said Lynch.

“That includes youth needs, housing needs, the type of jobs that people are going to have going forward, apprenticeships, and all these exploitative employment models, all of that stuff is all part of one agenda.

“Whose side are you on? Are you listening to the people that are struggling for their futures, that want to be housed properly, that want clean water to swim in and drink, that care about the environment and the air that they breathe?”

And the obvious start for creating a community where everyone feels ‘valued and included’, starts with transport argued Lynch.

“Getting out of your house, playing your part in society, and in your community is a really important thing.

“So we need a good value railway where people can afford to travel, and are guaranteed a network from their home station to the interchange points, to their destination, where they’re going to get any assistance and accessibility needs addressed.

“It’s not about money for us, there’s no pay deal in this for us. It’s about our passengers and the communities that we’re a part of.”

The government and train companies claim the ticket office closures are a move to ‘modernise’ the rail industry by using digital tickets. Whilst also admitting that the effects could be devastating for vulnerable passengers.

Whelan slammed the argument that the government had the interests for the future of the industry at heart.

“We are not the saboteurs they put us out to be,” argued Whelan. “But they (the government) have no plans to invest in our railway.

“We will not have a digital railway in my lifetime or possibly the next 40 or 50 years.

“They’re doing a little bit on the East Coast. The next project they’ve got is Warrington. That’s hardly joined up thinking, so there’ll be decades before we have a digital railway that changes the face of our railway and gives the capacity that we need to be the green railway in an integrated transport system.

“But before we do that, we have to have people feeling confident that they can travel safely and what they’re doing currently with ticket offices – my people don’t feel safe traveling, so how would anybody else?”

Rail strikes

Train drivers’ from ASLEF union are on strike today, Friday, for 24 hours followed by an overtime ban on Saturday 2 September, which will coincide with a strike by up to 20,000 RMT members. Both concern long-running disputes over pay and conditions.

“These aren’t Mick Whelan strikes. These are strikes voted for by 92% to 99% of our members, for the fourth or fifth time,” commented Whelan ahead of the industrial action.

“There is no waning in the support for the strikes or action short of a strike. Our people want a pay rise, they want to fight for their futures, they don’t want to lose their conditions. And I’m proud to represent them.”

Hannah Davenport is news reporter at Left Foot Forward, focusing on trade unions and environmental issues

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