Not since Steve Martin and John Candy were forced to trek across America in Planes, Trains & Automobiles has there been such fuss about travelling home for the holidays.

A fresh wave of strikes by the RMT, who are looking to secure pay rises in line with inflation and job guarantees, brought some members of the commentariat to apoplexy with its general secretary Mick Lynch routinely referred to as Dr Suess’ creation, The Grinch, who famously stole Christmas.

The 60-year-old clashed with the likes of Nick Ferrari and Richard Madeley, the latter of whom was accused of “interviewing himself” as he sought to establish when the Christmas period truly begins.

RMT workers are far from the only ones taking industrial action in what has been described as a second winter of discontent but their struggle has been the most high-profile, with the union’s general secretary held up as both a hero defending the interests not just of his members but of the working class and as, well, the Lynch Who Stole Christmas.

Read More: Opinion - Those whingeing about public sector strikes need to take off blinkers

Blacklisted

Lynch is of Irish descent, his teenage parents moving to London at the height of the blitz to find work. Born in 1962, he and four siblings grew up in the Paddington estate, in what he told the Guardian earlier this year were “rented rooms that would now be described as slums”.

From an early age he was rooted in the ideals of trade unionism - Lynch has described James Connolly as his political hero. Having left school at 16 and qualified as an electrician, Lynch found himself working in the construction industry but was secretly blacklisted for his union activities.

Between 1993 and 2009, more than 40 firms funded and maintained confidential files on at least 3,200 workers, pooling information on their employment history and political views. Those viewed as troublemakers were denied jobs.

Construction companies were forced to pay out over £35m in compensation to blacklisted workers – Lynch was awarded £35,000 and keeps the cheque framed on the wall of his office.

RMT rise

Having been forced out of the construction industry, Lynch found work on the Eurostar in 1993 where he became active in the RMT. When Mick Cash stepped down from his role as general secretary, citing stress and harassment, in November 2020 Lynch was elected to replace him.

Trade union leaders don’t generally become national figures outside of industrial disputes, and the Londoner came to wider attention with the announcement earlier this year of a series of strikes on the rail network.

The Herald: Mick Lynch on a picket lineMick Lynch on a picket line

With inflation standing at over 9 per cent in June, members requested a pay rise of 7%, as well as guarantees over redundancies. When Network Rail offered just 2%, with a further 1% linked to job losses, three days of strikes were announced.

Having been raised on debates around the kitchen table and with a firm grasp of the detail, Lynch became a social media sensation in various media appearances from the picket lines. Asked by Kay Burley on Sky News what would happen if agency workers sought to cross the line, the RMT general secretary asked sardonically “do you not know how a picket line works?”.

On Good Morning Britain, Richard Madeley opened his interview by quizzing the union leader on whether he was a Marxist, into revolution and trying to bring down capitalism. “Richard, you do come up with the most remarkable twaddle sometimes”, came the reply. Piers Morgan was widely mocked for asking why Lynch had “evil, terrorist, criminal mastermind” The Hood from Thunderbirds as his Facebook profile picture. Supporters of the strikes were quick to remind the former Britain’s Got Talent judge that Thunderbirds isn’t actually real.

Brexit

With his increased profile though has come increased scrutiny – and not all of it Grinch related.

Lynch has been and remains a vocal supporter of Brexit, with the RMT advising its members to vote to leave in the referendum. He has cited European Union legislation such as the Fourth Railway Package, opining it would make it illegal for railways to be taken into public ownership. However, the package does allow trains and tracks to be owned by a single holding company. Italy’s primary train operator, TrenItalia, is wholly owned by a company called Ferrovie dello Stato which is, in turn, 100% state controlled. The same is true with SNCF in France, Deutsche Bahn in Germany and in most EU states.

The Herald: RMT General-Secretary Mick Lynch on a picket line outside St Pancras station in London yesterday

The RMT leader also received criticism after he told the New Statesman “the EU provoked a lot of the trouble in Ukraine”. Pressed by the BBC’s Nick Robinson he made clear “we support Ukraine’s self-determination, we support Ukrainian trade unions and Ukrainian people” and that he and his colleagues were “totally opposed” to the invasion.

Read More: RMT leader Mick Lynch maintains dignity during Richard Madeley rant

Compromise ahead?

Much has been made this week of YouGov polling showing that the public support for the rail strikes has turned, though viewed through another lens the support has been remarkably consistent.

A poll in the week after the first strike dates in June showed 41% supported the action with 45% opposed, while the October numbers had the backing higher still at 45% and opposition at 42%. Even now, following months of strikes across several different industries, 41% were found to be in favour while 50% support the overtime ban despite the fact it will affect Christmas week itself. There’s support for strikes among 18-24-year-olds and 25-49-year-olds while only the over 65s polled were against the overtime ban.

It would appear that Lynch and the RMT are in a stand-off with the Conservative government - whose approval YouGov puts at around 15% - who they have blamed for failing to give Network Rail a platform to negotiate, but a rapprochement could be on the horizon.

On Friday Lynch offered hope that strikes planned for the New Year could be avoided.

He told Sky News: “There are some very simple steps the employers and ourselves could take together to get a solution, and that means a common sense approach, both sides getting to a commonly held position – and I think we can do that in the next period.”