After four years in the post, Mick Lynch has announced his retirement as general secretary of the RMT.
Lynch gained a quasi-superstar status among workers in 2022. He stirred up the strike wave of that year – the largest in three decades – through his calls for coordinated action against Tory attacks. He inspired hundreds of thousands with his trenchant sense of humour against aggressive hacks.
“The super rich are getting richer and richer. Workers are getting poorer and poorer. We refuse to be poor anymore.”
Class talk by @RMTUnion Mick Lynch pic.twitter.com/Oeqrl8Nc6o
— Jorge Martin ☭ (@marxistJorge) June 25, 2022
Unsurprisingly, therefore, the hypocritical hawks at the Daily Mail have come demanding their pound of flesh, accusing him of living on a lavish salary and expenses. This high talk from media barons cannot convince us that Lynch is anything short of a dedicated class fighter.
It is up to the labour movement – not capitalist mouthpieces – to decide on the pay of its officials. And that is why we stand for all elected officials to receive an average workers’ wage.
Whatever his personal reasons for stepping down, we cannot neglect the context of Lynch’s retirement. The strike wave has stalled. And Starmer is turning onto the offensive against workers.
In 2022, Lynch talked of putting class struggle and socialism back on the agenda. He urged that if Starmer came to power, the unions should continue to use their industrial weight to put pressure on the government.
Since then, however, he has scolded the left, suggesting that any Labour sceptics should “grow up and vote for Starmer”.
Mick Lynch says Mick Lynch must ‘grow up’ and see Starmer is the only alternative. https://t.co/m5jQ2zumoC pic.twitter.com/OEQkapMSmR
— Alex (@andamarxist) May 1, 2024
Such ‘pragmatism’ and illusions reflect Lynch’s unfortunate reformism.
His overt hostility to revolution is no doubt rooted in the wrecking behaviour of so-called ‘revolutionary’ sects within the unions. But by restricting the movement’s demands to mere tinkering with the system, you inevitably end up accepting the present state of affairs.
The coming period requires not just militant leadership, but revolutionary leadership – those determined and prepared to fight to the finish.
