We never wanted to disrupt Eurovision with a train strike, union insists

King Charles III and the Queen Consort at the M&S Bank Arena, host of this year's Eurovision Song Contest. Phil Noble/PA Wire

Militant union leaders blame strike laws for disrupting rail travel for thousands of people traveling to the Eurovision Song Contest next month in Liverpool.

Senior union sources told the Telegraph about the strike by the Railway, Maritime and Transport (RMT) Workers' Union «not affiliated with Eurovision.»

Instead, they blamed union laws that force leaders to notify two weeks before the strike. Saturday, May 13 is the «next available date», sources said.

However, the timing puzzled railroad chiefs, as the RMT could have chosen May 12 instead to minimize some inconvenience to the Ukrainians. going to the event after the country's Eurovision victory last year.

Today, RMT declined to comment on its strike strategy, with a union representative pointing fingers at the railway companies and the government for «torpedoing» negotiations.

The union's decision to start a new wave of strikes is the latest in a string of upheavals that have taken place over the course of a year-long dispute.

Supreme industry figures have drawn a line under the situation after the RMT agreed to put an end to a proposed deal from train operators by a vote of its members.< /p>

While RMT publicly accused its employers of «dropping» the deal Thursday night, the change in views is believed to have been based on a different «interpretation» of items that were not changed.

But the Eurovision attack, which contestants see as a serious show of solidarity with Ukraine, will raise new questions about links between Russian separatists and a senior RMT official.

In 2015, RMT Assistant Secretary General Eddie Dempsey wrote an enthusiastic obituary for the pro-Russian separatist leader. Photo: Yui Mok/PA Wire

Eddie Dempsey, RMT Senior Assistant Secretary General, wrote an enthusiastic obituary for Alexei Mozgovoi, the former leader of a Russian-backed militia in rebel-held Donbas.

The article originally appeared in the left-wing newspaper The Morning Star. — before deletion — the article was reprinted by Russia Insider. Mr. Dempsey had previously met Mr. Mozgovoy during a trip to the region.

Mr. Dempsey, published in 2015, said that Mr. Mozgovoy “led 3,000 volunteers, including a communist battalion, as part of their Ghost Brigade… who [were] resisting the so-called anti-terrorist operation of the US/EU-backed Kiev junta for more than a year.”

Mr Dempsey further applauded Mr Mozgovoy for “exposing statements of Western politicians. and their puppets in Kiev, that the Novorossiysk resistance is nothing more than a Russian invasion.»

Responding to the allegations when they were uncovered a year ago, the RMT said that «the union does not support either Vladimir Putin or his actions in Ukraine.”

Mr Dempsey said: “I fully agree with the position of the union.”