Shame of union boss who’d ‘party if PM died’
A RAIL union fatcat behind crippling nationwide strikes has said that he would ‘throw a party’ if Boris Johnson died due to being struck by coronavirus.
Steve Hedley, £100,000-a-year senior assistant general secretary at the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers union [RMT], went on a Facebook rant adding that he hoped ‘ the whole Cabinet of Tory b****** s’ also contracted it.
The unrepentant firebrand, who is an ally of former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, yesterday continued to vent his ugly thoughts on his public social media profile – despite his comments being condemned by the RMT as ‘wholly unacceptable’. Mr Hedley said yesterday that he ‘ stood by every word’ and would ‘not pretend to shed crocodile tears for Tories’.
He even maintained his outrageous stance in the face of stern opposition from union members, who described his comments as ‘unprofessional’.
In a series of distasteful remarks, Mr Hedley said: ‘I don’t want to offend you but if Bojo pops his clogs I’m throwing a party.’
He added: ‘I hope the whole Cabinet and higher echelons of the Tory Party have been touching various bits of him.’
And even when he was criticised by friends for his comments, he said: ‘Hitler, Mussolini and Franco were human beings too – would you use the same argument for them?’
The RMT provoked fierce criticism last year when it instructed its train driver members to strike over the Christmas holidays on South Western Railway, causing misery for hundreds of thousands of passengers.
The strikes were due to a long-running dispute over the use of guards on trains.
Last night, RMT president Michelle Rodgers and general secretary Mick Cash said in a joint statement: ‘Steve Hedley’s comments do not represent the views of this trade union and are wholly unacceptable.’