'We'd better get our marching boots on'

Speaking late on Sunday evening Mr Gordon emphasised the destructive role of the EU in "ordering" the austerity measures across Europe while simultaneously paying tribute to sister unions in Portugal and Greece for their resistance to the cuts.

"We have seen in Greece the tremendous demonstration of people power led by the Greek trade unions, but also including pensioners, the self-employed and school students against the 'austerity measures," he said.

"Last week our comrades in the Portuguese trade unions mobilised a demonstration of 300,000 people in Lisbon against austerity cuts - 3 per cent of the total population of 10 million.

"Comrades, we in this country had better get our marching boots on!"

Mr Gordon pointed out that the RMT had the ability to "organise and campaign for workers' rights, which unites members of all grades in a common industrial enterprise into one democratic organisation."

The RMT president, who is the first train driver to hold the position, highlighted the success of the union's campaign to stop compulsory redundancies in maintenance at Network Rail.

Paying tribute to lay members and parliamentary convener Labour MP John McDonnell, Mr Gordon said: "It is a tribute to this union and to the loyalty of our members employed by Network Rail that despite trawling for 1,500 redundancies in the name of 'efficiency', not one RMT member has been made compulsorily redundant by this company."

But Mr Gordon lambasted rail privateer Jarvis, calling its insolvency hours before staff were due to be paid "the most disgraceful events in the era of rail privatisation in Britain."

He praised the Jarvis workers' determination and said: "Their demand for 'Jobs Not Dole' is being echoed by workers all over Britain and the world."

The president added that workers faced a huge struggle against unscrupulous transport bosses but said that the root of the problems facing members was "capitalist globalisation."

"The main setbacks facing the transport industry are deregulation, liberalisation and privatisation," he said.