The Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) has announced a replacement for its infamous former general secretary Mick Lynch.
Eddie Dempsey, who served as the RMT’s senior assistant general secretary, will take the top job on Friday after being elected unopposed.
Dempsey, a veteran of the railway industry and former train driver, played a key role in the more than two year industrial dispute that battered the UK’s railways after Covid-19.
But he attracted controversy in 2022 after it emerged he had posed with a pro-Putin seperatist in Ukraine, Aleksey Mozgovy, prior to his assassination.
The union has come under fire over the last decade amid concern over some of its bosses’ sympathy with Russian seperatists in the east of Ukraine.
Brendan Kelly, a regional organiser for the west and southwest, spread Kremlin propaganda that the Ukranian government is allied with fascist forces, according to a report in the Times.
“I am honoured to be elected as RMT General Secretary. Our union has a proud history of standing up for working people, and I will ensure that continues,” Dempsey said in a statement on Thursday.
“The challenges ahead are significant, but we will meet them with the same unity, strength, and determination that defines RMT.
“I want to pay tribute to Mick Lynch for his leadership and dedication to our members – he has set a high bar, and I will do my utmost to build on his legacy.”
Outgoing Lynch, who had served as general secretary of the RMT since 2021, said Dempsey had played a “pivotal role in our union’s recent successes.”
“He has the experience, determination, and leadership qualities to take RMT forward, and I have every confidence that he will continue to stand up for our members with strength and resolve.”