Union resists Starmer’s dog-whistle pandering to racists
The London Transport Regional Council National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) will demonstrate outside the Home Office on 17 September against the deportation of nearly two hundred workers on the London Underground and for Transport for London (TfL). A further sixty workers are currently at risk of deportation.
The Starmer regime has changed visa rules as it panders to the racist right, pushing workers in all industries out of qualification for visa ‘sponsorship’, even those who have worked in the UK for years.
The protest will take place from 8am outside the Home Office, Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DF. Attendees are encouraged to bring union banners if they have them.
This is outrageous! For those us who are too elderly or
for some other reason unable to attend Demo- is there
a fund to subscribe to for the support of the Rail Workers?
None that I could find MW. Maybe contact the Union directly and ask them to set something up and write to your MP?
Starmer is again showing his true colours. The lawfare PM is threatening to deport up to 200 London Underground workers just because their roles are newly classified as “medium-skilled”. Says it all….
https://socialistworker.co.uk/trade-unions/rmt-workers-protest-against-very-racist-deportation-plans/
So working people who have legally contributed to the country for years, paying taxes, national insurance etc are going to be deported from the country because they are the “wrong” skin colour/ethnicity as a result of Herr Starmer changing the rules to appease the knuckle draggers who want to take the country back eight centuries and start another Crusade.
Can we have a vote to deport the knuckle draggers and their supporters instead?
Disgusting as Right Wing Labour in a battle of the Right Wing Lumpen act to out cruel each other and swim in the same grotesque political gutter.
These diverse citizens helped to contribute £25b to the UK economy and a significant number for example work on night shifts keeping society going as many of us sleep.
They also came here healthy & educated (paid for by their former countries) + even paid their own fare here so are Free Workers who contribute, pay tax & help
make UK society work.
But the rich must be pissing themselves with laughter as the Right stir up racial tensions (as their meal ticket) to try to divide the diverse w class as the rich laugh too literally all the way to the bank!
So well done the RMT.
And what are migrant workers & refugees who claim asylum but unorganised workers that the RMT to their credit are trying to address.
Solidarity.
FWIW – The Deportation programme is happening because of Starmer’s own white paper titled ‘Restoring control over the immigration system’, which introduced sweeping changes to the skilled worker visa program.
These changes, which took effect on 22 July 2025, raised the minimum salary threshold for visa sponsorship from previous levels to £41,700 per year for new applicants. Skilled jobs like station assistant and trainee positions were reclassified and removed as eligible roles for sponsorship. Labour in name only intentionally did that!
TfL workers who were hired under the assumption they could transition from graduate visas (typically two-year, non-sponsored routes) into skilled worker visas upon gaining experience are suddenly being denied it!
This is a classic oppression technique: Starmer changes the rules and how they are satisfied £41,700 per then punish those who can’t comply! Even the blue tories wouldn’t be quite so obvious about it.