One is a firebrand socialist who believes trade unions must make a ‘militant stand’ – while the other believes in ‘reasoned argument’.
But despite their differing approaches, the general secretaries of the RMT and Nautilus unions are united in the struggle against P&O’s mass redundancies.
Mick Lynch, 59, was elected RMT chief last year and has continued the tradition of militancy established under former general secretary Bob Crow – causing regular pain to the travelling public.
Mick Lynch, 59, was elected RMT chief last year and has continued the tradition of militancy
This month it organised the worst Tube strikes in five years – with two days of walkouts against changes to jobs, pensions and working conditions.
Mr Lynch was once considered a centrist compared with Crow – but, after taking charge, he said: ‘The unions have got to make a militant stand – and use the strike weapon wherever it’s appropriate’.
The RMT chief – who called P&O’s treatment of staff ‘one of the most shameful acts in the history of British industrial relations’ – was born to Irish parents who came to London as teens during the Blitz to find work.
Their five children were born in ‘rented rooms that would now be called slums’, Mr Lynch has said.
Mr Lynch left school at 16 and trained as an electrician but was blacklisted due to union activity, so joined the railways.
While he once told a Guardian interviewer: ‘All I want from life is a bit of socialism’, he now lives in a west London street where the average house is worth £800,000.
Recent RMT accounts show he enjoyed a six-figure pay package – before he got the top job.
While rail strikes happen regularly, for Mark Dickinson, general secretary of Nautilus, which represents seafarers and allied workers, ‘going “out on strike” is actually very rare’.
He said last year: ‘In my 21 years at Nautilus, I cannot recall a time when members voted to fully withdraw their labour and take strike action.
‘It is not generally what maritime professionals do. We prefer instead to opt for a collaborative partnership, reasoned argument, and fair settlements as reward for our professionalism.’
But, writing in an online article about a ballot for strike action on P&O’s Dover-Calais route last year, he added: ‘Some employers are beyond the pale.’
Mr Dickinson has been general secretary of international maritime trade union Nautilus since 2009.
The married father-of-two first went to sea at the age of 16, starting his career as a navigating cadet.
He said of P&O’s actions: ‘It’s absolutely ripped the guts out of everybody.
‘I’ve seen some curveballs and some shocking developments over that time… but for a company to treat the legal process in such an underhand and callous way has shocked me.’
Mr Dickinson became involved in trade unionism in the late 1990s, when he undertook a year-long sabbatical to study industrial relations at the London School of Economics.
Mr Dickinson has been general secretary of international maritime trade union Nautilus since 2009
It led to him working for the then National Union of Maritime, Shipping and Transport, from January 2000, which became Nautilus after a merger with Dutch and Swiss maritime unions.
The 59-year-old, who was born on the Wirral, Merseyside, is a keen on land-based hobbies – including motorcycling. He lives with wife Keiko, 56, in an East London townhouse, believed to be worth £900,000.
The evening after news of the P&O redundancies broke, Mr Dickinson referred his 2,700 social media followers to a news clip about the impact of the Russian bombardment on Ukraine’s coastal cities.
He said: ‘As I head to bed after a difficult day, I spare a thought for my colleague Oleg (Grygoriuk) of maritime union MTWTU in Ukraine as he talks about the “tremendous tragedy” of the Russian assault.’