PETER KELLY meets the renowned labor union chief, empowered by his Irish roots
Mick Lynch is no ordinary labor union leader. His ubiquitous presence on British TV screens, newspaper front pages, prime time talk shows and national radio phone-ins make him the modern face of trade unionism, recognizable to millions.
His Irish parentage has inspired an extra following in the mother country, while US organized labor leaders voice admiration and issue trans-Atlantic invites and impassioned solidarity.
As leader of Britain’s Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, Lynch’s name is synonymous with the ongoing strikes halting millions of rail commuters across the UK.
Europe’s largest city has been ground to regular ignominious halts while frustrated travelers ironically voice their majority support for Lynch’s stance against the chaotic Conservative government, now onto its fourth prime minister in three years.
Born of parents from Cork city in Ireland’s south and rural Crossmaglen in the north, the former railroad electrician credits his Irish upbringing in London for honing his required skills for this very public contest.
“They originated in a lot of family debates and arguments but also the same stuff in the Irish community” he jests. “Most of my training came from the pub. Having to hold your own in the workplace and in the way that our Irish culture works, is a very articulate culture right across the diaspora I think.”
Mick Lynch’s 40,000 UK union members have been engaged in nationwide strikes in response to threatened compulsory redundancies, pay freezes and reduced working conditions across Britain’s railway network. Now into its sixth month of turmoil, 22 days (and counting) of stoppages have produced stalemate, with further action planned.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government has issued threats of anti-trade union laws, which find comparison in the US.
“They’re trying to make us the bogey men of the problems around in Britain at the moment,” says Lynch. “We’ve seen similar announcements in America in recent weeks, especially with the potential railroad strike there.”
The second-generation Irishman has built links with counterpart unions in the US, and laments that only 10% of the American working population are unionized: “It’s a shame because there’s a strong history in America of trade unions. I read a lot about it. I’m in close contact with the Transport Workers’ (TWU) in New York, Local 100. It seems to me that those organizations, including the Teamsters are still going strong. I’m hoping for a comeback in American trade unionism, and a comeback in Irish-American support for them.”
Lynch reminds his stateside Irish diaspora counterparts of the benefits of organizing. “If we want a fairer society in America and in Britain, we need a strong trade union. Even if you’re not in the union, you benefit by having union organization in your sector, in your industry, or even in your city. If there’s a strong union in your city, it’s going to have a ripple-effect to other workers.”
Calling out right-wing politicians, presenters and pundits in live national media broadcasts has earned Lynch a cult following among not only the politically engaged but hitherto apathetic audiences, startled by his soft delivery yet determined and persuasive reasoning.
A regular on national panel shows, the articulate bald-headed union leader effortlessly bats away provocative jabs from partisan presenters ranging from comparing him to ‘the Hood’ caricature in ‘Thunderbirds’, to him dismissing as “twaddle”, punditry efforts to label him as a ‘Marxist’.
Mr Lynch famously called out a UK junior minister as a blatant ‘liar’ some 15 times across a TV studio desk, which the politician did not rebut. For this and other textbook perfect media performances, actor Hugh Laurie joined with other admirers and shared with his 1.5 million Twitter followers that “Mick Lynch cleaned up every single media picador who tried their luck today.”
The 61-year old Londoner admits, “the media have got this stereotype of trade unionists and trade unions. It makes me laugh. I get elected and the people that own these media conglomerates don’t get elected by anyone. They just have buying power and wealth.”
“I try to keep things humorous when I can, but I’m serious when it needs to be. But if people ask me stupid questions, to use a cricket term – it’s going to get ‘knocked over the boundary.’”
On those serious matters, if Britain is headed for a potential General Strike, Mick Lynch will likely be at the forefront. He calls them ‘Co-ordinated Phases of Action’ and ‘National Action Days’ and it remains a prospect contemplated by counterpart labor unions across the board.
“There’s no reason why you can’t coordinate what you do once you’ve got the mandate through the ballot of members,” he warns. But with this mood music beating a drum to further confrontation with the Conservative government, an all-out industrial relations war could define Britain’s domestic news agenda in 2023.
Characteristically, Mick Lynch is resolute against all odds. “What we are going to do is fight and resist. We’ve had all these laws before and my union historically for more than 100 years has been at the forefront of fighting them. When they crushed us between the wars, we came back. When they tried to crush us in the 80s and 90s, we’re still going. So we will come back.”