Mick Lynch has called on the Labour Party to repeal the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill within its first hundred days in government if the party is elected at the next general election.
Speaking to Politics JOE, the RMT boss said the Bill could lead to workers being sacked for legally voting to take industrial action, and that could spell end-game for Labour and the unions if Sir Keir Starmer doesn’t repeal it in office.
“If they reneged on that, I can’t see a future for the formal connection between labour and the unions.
“They understand workers need rights”, Lynch said.
It comes as hundreds of people gathered in Parliament Square waving colourful union flags as they cheered at criticism of the controversial legislation.
Addressing the crowd – in which people held signs that read “defend the right to strike” and “bring down the Tories” – general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union Mick Lynch prompted applause when he called for a “mass campaign of workplace disobedience” if the Bill is enacted.
“We will not allow our members to be dismissed,” he said. “We will not allow our members to be disciplined. We will not obey work notices issued by the employer or issued by the Government. We will defy this law.
“If this law comes into fruition… the TUC and all of the trade unions affiliated and every worker in this country has got to unleash a mass campaign of workplace disobedience.”
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