Eddie Dempsey: Bureaucrats have scuppered RMT strike deal with Labour

RMT General Secretary Eddie Dempsey joins us at the TUC Conference in Brighton for a wide-ranging interview on the future of Britain’s trade union movement, the state of the London Underground, and the politics of Labour under Keir Starmer.

This week, the RMT is taking rolling strike action across the London Underground network in response to a long-running dispute over pay, staffing, and working conditions. Dempsey lays out the union’s case, explaining why members have been forced into action, what is at stake for transport workers, and how the RMT plans to defend jobs and wages in the face of mounting pressure from Transport for London and government policy.

Beyond the immediate industrial struggle, Dempsey addresses the RMT’s political position in relation to the current Labour government. With Starmer seeking to consolidate his authority, Dempsey explains the red lines for union affiliation and why the RMT continues to hold an independent stance. He outlines the conditions any political party would need to meet to gain RMT backing, from commitments to public ownership and workers’ rights to genuine grassroots democracy.

The conversation also touches on Jeremy Corbyn’s new party project and whether the RMT would ever consider affiliating with a movement that explicitly champions working-class interests and trade union principles. Dempsey argues that the union’s priority will always be to defend its members and the wider class, regardless of Westminster manoeuvres.

This is a candid, hard-hitting discussion on strikes, solidarity, and the future of political representation for working people in Britain.

Like PoliticsJOE? We need your support: