RMT boss says more UK workers should push for strikes

The leader of one of the UK's biggest transport unions has said he hopes workers in many industries follow rail staff in backing nationwide strikes.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch told the BBC's Nick Robinson that employees deserved protection from poor conditions and "rampant" inflation.

His union has voted heavily in favour of industrial action, which could start as early as next month.

The government has called the move "hugely disappointing".

Inflation has recently reached 9%, with the Bank of England expecting it to rise further later this year.

The 80,000-member RMT and other transport unions are demanding pay rises, improved conditions and no compulsory redundancies by Network Rail as it tries to make £2bn of savings over the next two years.

It was announced on Tuesday that RMT members at 13 train companies had voted by 87% to 11% - on a 71% turnout - in favour of industrial action.

Senior officials are expected to discuss a timetable for action from mid-June.

He argued that the RMT's "powerful and assertive" stance was in contrast to the "limp" approach taken by some unions - which he did not name - to negotiations.

They had allowed workers to be relegated to "League One", in terms of rights and conditions, Mr Lynch added.

He also criticised the Labour Party and the TUC, the umbrella group representing many of the UK's unions, including the RMT, arguing: "We can't allow people to just get poorer."

"I don't think the Labour Party will back us. I don't think [party leader Sir] Keir Starmer or [shadow health secretary] Wes Streeting or the new breed will go on the telly and say, 'These workers deserve a pay rise, and it should be like this...'

"They will say warm words, trite words."

Mr Lynch was more complimentary about Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner, who is seen as being more on the left of the party than Sir Keir, calling her an "ally".

But he added: "I tell the TUC... you've got to get out of your offices and into the streets and into the working-class towns around this country, and build it up again as if we were Victorians."

Network Rail's chief executive Andrew Haines has warned that "everyone loses if there's a strike" and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has promised to prioritise the movement of goods and food in the event of widespread strikes.

Asked about the effect industrial action would have on commuters and other rail users, Mr Lynch said: "I recognise that inconvenience and I don't want it to happen."

"I don't want to bring the country to its knees," he added. "I don't want my members to be on strike and lose money.

"I want them to have a contented work-life balance and get on with living their lives as happily and contentedly as they can."

"I hope we don't go on strike, but we have to have that in our top pocket," Mr Lynch also said.

You can listen to Nick Robinson's interview with Mick Lynch in full on BBC Radio 4 at 17:30 BST on Saturday, or on BBC Sounds or on the programme's website.