SUPPORTERS of the ongoing rail strikes by the RMT will gather for a demonstration of solidarity in Glasgow on Saturday.
Over 40,000 RMT members are currently on strike over pay freezes, lack of job security, and the threat of compulsory redundancy for thousands for workers.
A rally in support of the strike will assemble at Glasgow's Buchanan Street steps at 10am, June 25, before marching to Central Station. Representatives of GMB, Unite, EIS, EIS-FELA, CWU, Unison and the Glasgow Trades Council will participate in the demonstration.
In a statement to The National, activist and writer Jonathon Shafi, one of the rally's organisers, said that this was a chance for Glaswegians to stand together behind the rail workers.
“A victory for the RMT will be a victory for all workers," he said. "As the cost-of-living crisis takes hold, the trade union movement is indispensable to the whole working-class, which yet again are asked to pay the price after a decade of austerity.
“The Tories are all over the place at the present moment, and people have had enough. Why is it that the super-rich have got richer during the pandemic, while the workers that kept society going in the last few years are cutting back on essentials? Meanwhile, fat cat bosses take home exorbitant bonuses.
“This gathering is a chance for everyone who supports the rail strikes and everyone who wants to see some justice done to come together to say that Glasgow is standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the RMT.
“They have already lifted the mood of millions of people who understand that taking strike action is the way to win. But that also means there must be popular expressions of solidarity, and that’s what we want to show.”
Commenting on the strike action, RMT general secretary Mick Lynch this week said: "RMT will continue its industrial campaign until a negotiated settlement is reached."
