Image source, PA Media

The powerful boss of the RMT union has been on the air waves again this morning. Here are the key things you need to know about Mick Lynch:

• Born in 1962, the youngest of five children and a son of Irish immigrants
• Grew up on a housing estate in Paddington, London
• Left school at 16 and worked in a factory, later becoming a skilled electrician
• Became involved in the trade union movement - fighting for workers' rights and safety
• Found himself blacklisted from construction jobs in the 1990s after forming a breakaway union
• Started working on the railways that same decade, and joined the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT)
• Replaced Mick Cash as the RMT's general secretary in November 2020 after successfully standing for election
• Became a polarising figure during a 2022 rail industry dispute, which has so far seen numerous strikes by rail workers. Likened to a 1970s union baron by then Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, and labelled "one of the most hated men in Britain" by the Daily Mail
• Also praised as a "remarkable performer" by former Tory MP Rory Stewart, and able to "make mincemeat of MPs" in the words of The Spectator
• A vegetarian who is said by his wife, an NHS nurse, to enjoy music (including punk band The Clash), as well as reading history and watching old films

Learn more about him here.

And here is a reminder of when the rail strikes are to be held in the run-up to Christmas:

Rail workers at 14 train companies and Network Rail have announced plans to walk out on Christmas Eve and not return until 28 December.

This is on top of previously announced strikes across four 48-hour periods including:

• 13-14 December
• 16-17 December

• 3-4 January
• 6-7 January

Read more here.

It's not just rail workers who are walking out - strikes have disrupted everything from postal deliveries to teaching in schools in recent months.

Other action planned this month includes:

• Nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are set to strike on 15 December and 20 December
• Postal workers plan strikes on 9, 11, 14, 15, 23 and 24 December
• Teachers in Scotland walked out on 24 November, with further strikes in December, January and February
• Baggage handlers for Menzies Aviation at Heathrow Airport will strike for 72 hours from 16 December
• Driving examiners will hold rolling strikes from 13 December to 16 January
• Three days of strikes, involving 2,000 Metroline bus drivers in London, have been called off while a pay offer is considered

The walkouts centre on demands for better working conditions and pay increases that keep up with rising prices.

Read more about these and other strikes here.

Strikes present government with political perilpublished at 10:26 Greenwich Mean Time 6 December 2022

10:26 GMT 6 December 2022

Chris Mason
Political editor

This is a country where, right now, posting a letter, getting a train, catching a flight, having a driving test, even going to school or seeing a nurse is - depending on where you live - potentially jeopardised, unlikely or subject to postponement.

Lots of stuff which we can normally take for granted isn’t working.

The breadth and scale of strikes present the government with obvious political peril, for this very reason - a sense of almost contagious unrest, overlapping anxieties about wages, terms and conditions as prices spiral.

There is deep irritation across the trades union movement about the government’s approach.

“They’re trying to wrap themselves in the cloak of Margaret Thatcher,” as one senior figure put it to me.

Another claimed ministers were not willing to meaningfully engage with them.

The government argues, on the rail dispute, that the transport secretary has facilitated talks to find a deal.

And ministers say inflation-busting pay rises are unaffordable and they must focus on getting inflation down.

Read more from Chris here

Finally, Lynch is asked about his own plans for Christmas.

"I'll probably be on some picket lines, the way it's going," he tells Nicky Campbell.

He observes he's "never not the general secretary" of the RMT union.

He adds: "Hopefully I'll see my family like everyone else."

The BBC Radio 5 Live call-in nears a close with a supportive message from a woman in Cardiff, who says she supports the strikes to ensure safety on the railway and to protect the jobs of workers.

Lynch says he understands there's a "mixture of feelings" over the rail strikes - including anger - but that he and his union members just want to run a "safe and friendly railway".

He adds staff are generally paid "very modestly", with the majority of those involved in this dispute earning less than £32,000 a year for round-the-clock shift work.

Rebecca in Salisbury, who works in the hospitality sector, suggests railway workers' favourable pension packages don't get put on the table during talks.

Mick Lynch explains: "The railway pension scheme is not part of the public sector pension provision in this country.

"It's a private sector pension scheme that is entirely funded by the contributions of our members and their employers, the same as national insurance.

"The [government] don't put a penny in our pension scheme."

Caller Bruce asks Lynch if he sees the railway improving.

He tells Radio 5 Live the railway is "grim up north at the moment".

He says: "Every time we want to catch a train back from Manchester to Sheffield, there's trains being cancelled every hour or so...

"We just give up hope travelling by train at the moment with these strikes."

Lynch says below-inflation pay increases are not acceptable, but it’s the terms and conditions that workers are being asked to accept that are the “primary issue” in these strikes.

He says the railway system is already badly understaffed, yet companies want to make up to 6,000 redundancies.

He says the "safety on the railway, the level of service that the public will receive" has been completely degraded "in the names of cuts and profits".

Image source, Getty Images

Lynch is asked if he will contribute to the cost of a three-day stay in London, by a caller who says he's waited six months for a hospital appointment. The caller says this unexpected expense is the result of a strike planned for 14 December.

Lynch offers his apologies for the disruption caused by the strike and says he does "appreciate the anger that brings forth". He adds he's spending all his "waking hours trying to resolve these problems".

A caller in the arts industry tells Radio 5 Live the strikes have had a "massive impact" on the arts sector and "we are at the doors of bankruptcy".

"How can you justify this?" she asks RMT union General Secretary Mick Lynch. "You are delivering a hideous blow to a sector that's already on its knees, your timing is wrong."

He replies: "We can't leave it till after Christmas because the issues are on top of us today; if we don't respond to what the companies are doing, they will make these changes and they will impose worse terms and conditions on our members in the immediate here and now.

"You can ask the companies why they don't leave their changes till the New Year."

Caller Sarah, from Gloucester, tells Radio 5 Live she admires Mick Lynch's campaign for his members.

She says: "The railway workers are actually people too and they are going through their own struggles.

Image source, EPA

Just to recap, rail workers at 14 train companies and Network Rail have announced plans to walk out on Christmas Eve and not return until 28 December.

This is on top of previously announced strikes across four 48-hour periods including:

• 13-14 December
• 16-17 December

• 3-4 January
• 6-7 January

About 40,000 rail workers are expected to walk out, with disruption likely in the days around the strikes due to trains not being in the right places.

Read more here.

Image source, Getty Images

More now from union boss Mick Lynch, who's been speaking to callers on BBC Radio 5 live this morning.

Some of the listeners are pretty angry about disruption to their Christmas plans due to rail strikes. Paul, for example, feels the timing of the rail strikes is a case of "blackmail" for people across the country who just want to see loved ones over Christmas.

On the flipside, Sarah thinks the rail strikes are "so important", pointing out that railway workers are "actually people too".

Responding to the first point, Lynch says he understands the timing is difficult, but that his RMT union has to respond to the imposition of contractual changes which are set to come in this month.

There follows a conversation about Lynch's opposition to the closure of ticket offices. Paul asks: "Who actually uses a ticket office?"

Lynch insists they are important for those who are vulnerable or visitors to this country. He says it's important that stations are fully staffed so there's a "friendly environment" for passengers.

He denies he's opposed to modernisation of working practices.

We'll get more from Mick Lynch in a moment, but first government minister Nick Gibb has urged the RMT not to "hold the country to ransom".

The schools minister said the RMT had rejected the offer on the table without even consulting their own membership.

"It's very disappointing that the RMT think that the way to conduct these negotiations is through holding the country to ransom and affecting the Christmas plans (of) hundreds of thousands of people up and down the country.

"We would urge the RMT to call off their strikes."

He described the 8% pay offer over two years as a "good offer" and in line with pay settlement happening outside the public sector.

In response to the question "why Christmas?", Mick Lynch says he's "very sorry" for the disruption the freshly announced rail strikes will have.

A BBC Radio 5 Live caller suggests Lynch should "give it a break till the new year".

But he answers by saying rail unions feel they have "no alternative" to strike over Christmas and as for his own union, the RMT, "we've got to defend our members", he says.

Union boss Mick Lynch is being questioned by BBC Radio 5 Live listeners now, on Nicky Campbell's phone-in.

You can listen via BBC Sounds here.

Stay with us as we bring you all the latest updates.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner has accused the “militant” government of failing to solve the rail strikes amid further walkouts being announced over Christmas.

She told BBC News: “These people who are going on strike are going to lose pay, they will lose their pay at a time when they need it most, they are not doing it at a drop of the hat.

“This is a militant Government that is not dealing with the issues and not resolving this strike action, and it’s frustrating.

She accused the government of “ratcheting up” the dispute to “attack workers’ rights and cause this disruption”.

But when asked what she considered a fair pay offer for RMT members, she would not be drawn on a figure.

She told Sky News: “I believe if we had a Labour government now we wouldn’t be in this situation.

"When Labour was last in power we didn’t have nurses taking industrial action, we didn’t have this level of disruption.”

Image source, PA Media

In defence of the latest rail strikes over Christmas, union boss Mick Lynch says staff are “being made poorer and sometimes impoverished while they’re working”.

The secretary-general of the RMT union tells BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that it’s a “regret” that the fresh industrial action will inconvenience passengers.

He acknowledges that the railways will wind down at an earlier time than usual on Christmas Eve, and that this does represent a “change of plan”.

However, Lynch blames the train companies for “escalating the dispute in some ways” by planning to impose contractual changes later this month.

He tells the BBC that those companies know how to resolve the ongoing impasse, but that their hands are continuing to be tied by the government.

Addressing this winter’s planned industrial action more widely, Lynch suggests there has been a “ general attack on working people… by employers and by the government”.

He adds: “The price of labour isn’t at the right price in this country, and what the unions have got to do is address that.”

Welcome to our live coverage of the latest on the rail strikes that have been scheduled in the run-up to Christmas.

Extra rail strikes are due to take place over the festive period, the RMT union has said, including Christmas Eve.

Staff at Network Rail, comprising about half the workers involved in a pay dispute, are expected to walk out from 18:00 on 24 December until 27 December.

A new offer was made by the company on Sunday, but the union is urging members to reject it.

Network Rail has accused the RMT of using passengers and workers as "pawns in a fight with the government".

Stay with us as we bring you the latest on how the strikes will affect you and reaction from across the political spectrum.