Working-class heroes, Mick Lynch and the unions: An interview with Gregor Gall

Interview with Gregor Gall on his book Mick Lynch: The Making of a Working-Class Hero (Manchester University Press, 2024). Mick Lynch is general secretary of the United Kingdom’s National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT), seen as one of the most active, high profile and militant of unions. 2022 saw a series of rail industrial actions, the media coverage of which thrust Lynch into the media spotlight. His blunt, reasoned and reasonable, performance and deft handling of TV journalists saw various incidents go viral. Acclaim from some quarters followed and the moniker ‘working-class hero’ was frequently employed online and in mainstream commentary. Gall discusses this nomination of herodom and union leadership drawing on his political biography of Lynch.