Rail union boss Mick Lynch has been shown in an unearthed clip calling for Channel migrants to be offered the same employment rights as British people as soon as they arrive in the UK. And Tory MP Sir John Redwood has taken the left-wing firebrand to task, warning his proposal would simply damage the living standards of workers in this country – including members of his own National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT).
Mr Lynch made his controversial remarks during a speech at the Central Mosque of Brent in November of last year.
Speaking in a year which has already seen more than 40,000 people cross from France in flimsy dinghies, he said: “Every worker has the same rights as every other worker – and that’s whether you’ve been here as a migrant for a long time with your family, or whether you’re a new migrant seeking to come into the country, whether it be on a boat or whether it’s on an airplane.
“What’s wrong with a full year of sick pay for people who have given their lives to our services? What’s wrong with a proper set of holidays above the statutory minimum?”
He further suggested workers from ethnic minorities were the victims of employer discrimination, adding: “You haven’t got to be a social scientist… to see who’s getting ripped off.
“It’s the people with the darker skin, the people who are the migrants of this country.”
Mr Redwood, the Tory MP for Wokingham, told Express.co.uk: “What he should be saying is that everybody who is here legally should have the same rights.
“What he is advocating there would clearly undercut every worker living in this country who has paid his or her dues.
“It would undermine his members, our economy and the rule of law.
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“This is precisely why they are called illegal. They are breaking the law, the very laws which help his members.”
Sir John was speaking on a day on which 20,000 RMT workers went on strike, bringing large parts of Britain’s rail network to a standstill, in a move which will likely disrupt this evening’s Eurovision event in Liverpool.
Mr Lynch had earlier used his appearance on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme to attempt to justify the legal action, saying: “Today is the last day under the anti-union laws that we can have a strike under the mandate.
“You get six months to run action. After that six months, you cannot take any more action.
“Today is the last Saturday of our previous mandate.
“We give two weeks’ notice under the law, which is what the Government requirement is, but if we didn’t take strike action today, we wouldn’t have been able to take any more during that mandate. So, that’s down to the anti-trade union laws.”
He continued: “We’ve not targeted Wembley or Liverpool or any of the activities that people get up to. There isn’t a day where people aren’t undertaking important activities, in business life or personal life.
“We don’t set the date of Eurovision. We don’t set the anti-trade union laws that require us to have a mandate that expires after six months.”
Express.co.uk has contacted the RMT for comment about Sir John’s remarks.
