People Power 2: We saved station ticket offices

In late October last year the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) withdrew their threat to close every rail ticket-office in England. In so doing they resolved another area of dispute with the Rail , Maritime and Transport Union (RMT), but also with the quarter of a million people who responded to the public consultation exercise to protest against their plans.

In August 2022 at the first whiff of the threat to ticket-offices, members of the Morpeth and Pegswood Labour party began talking to travellers at Morpeth railway station to alert them and outline possible means of complaint. Once the RDG made their intentions official in July 2023 the local RMT branch mounted their own campaign helped by local Labour members. With the support of many Morpeth shops and businesses protest-cards were made available to be submitted as part of the public-consultation.

Cynics may point to an imminent General Election as a likely reason for the reversal of these plans by RDG. However, the Squirrel believes several features of this dispute-period are reasons for optimism.

Firstly , the RMT were able to remain solid in their resolve throughout a protracted period despite the attempts to undermine them. Their leaders Mick Lynch and Eddie Dempsey were effective media performers, regularly frustrating interviewers with their composure, wit and sound grasp of all the issues  - thereby challenging the stereotype of the 1970's tub-thumping " Union Baron ".

Secondly, public support for the RMT position was strong from the outset and remained so throughout the eighteen months, confounding the efforts of the government and media propaganda machine to denigrate them.

Finally and perhaps most importantly, the threat to ticket-offices united the public and trade union in presenting a concerted opposition to the RDG proposals in a way rarely seen in recent industrial relations.

It’s encouraging that people, of whatever political stripe, are prepared to protest when something they value is under threat . We are told that people no longer care about politics or democracy, but clearly it is still possible to successfully resist and protest, both formally through sustained official strike action, and informally through mobilising public opinion into an effective campaign.

Paul Thompson