Eddie Dempsey

{{Short description|English trade unionist (born 1982)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Eddie Dempsey

| image =

| image_size =

| office = General Secretary of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers

| term_start = 7 March 2025

| term_end =

| predecessor = Mick Lynch

| successor =

| office2 = Senior Assistant General Secretary of the RMT

| term_start2 = April 2022

| term_end2 = March 2025

| predecessor2 = Steve Hedley

| successor2 = John Leachhttps://www.rmt.org.uk/about/rmt-structure/senior-assistant-general-secretary/

| office3 = Assistant General Secretary of the RMT

| term_start3 = October 2021

| term_end3 = April 2022

| predecessor3 =

| successor3 = John Leach

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1982}}

| birth_place = New Cross, London, England

| citizenship =

| party =

| otherparty = Connolly Association

| residence =

| education =

| alma_mater =

| occupation = Trade unionist

| website =

| nickname =

}}

Eddie Dempsey (born {{circa}} 1982) is the general secretary of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT), a trade union in the UK. He was previously elected as the assistant general secretary of the union in October 2021 to serve a five-year term until October 2026.{{Cite web |title=Senior Assistant General Secretary |url=https://www.rmt.org.uk/about/rmt-structure/senior-assistant-general-secretary/ |access-date=31 August 2022 |website=RMT |language=en}} After Mick Lynch stood down as general secretary of the RMT union, Dempsey was elected to the office on 7 March 2025.{{Cite news |last=Jones |first=Alan |date=6 March 2025 |title=New RMT leader Eddie Dempsey to celebrate by playing bingo at local social club |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/business/new-rmt-leader-eddie-dempsey-to-celebrate-by-playing-bingo-at-local-social-club-b2710087.html |access-date=7 March 2025 |work=The Independent |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Holden |first=Michael |date=6 March 2025 |title=New RMT union general secretary announced |url=https://www.railadvent.co.uk/2025/03/new-rmt-union-general-secretary-announced.html |website=railadvent.co.uk}}

Dempsey supported general secretary Mick Lynch on media duties during the 2022 United Kingdom railway strikes,{{Cite web |last=Jarvis |first=Chris |date=11 August 2022 |title=RMT's Eddie Dempsey once again nails how Britain is kept running by the working class |url=https://leftfootforward.org/2022/08/rmts-eddie-dempsey-once-again-nails-how-britain-is-kept-running-solely-because-of-the-working-class/ |access-date=31 August 2022 |website=Left Foot Forward |archive-date=31 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220831224855/https://leftfootforward.org/2022/08/rmts-eddie-dempsey-once-again-nails-how-britain-is-kept-running-solely-because-of-the-working-class/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |date=18 August 2022 |title='Attitudes are changing in this country': On the picket line with Mick Lynch and Eddie Dempsey |first1=Marcus |last1=Wratten |first2=Eliza |last2=Pitkin |url=https://www.bigissue.com/news/employment/attitudes-are-changing-in-this-country-on-the-picket-line-with-mick-lynch-and-eddie-dempsey/ |access-date=31 August 2022 |website=The Big Issue |language=en |archive-date=31 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220831060329/https://www.bigissue.com/news/employment/attitudes-are-changing-in-this-country-on-the-picket-line-with-mick-lynch-and-eddie-dempsey/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Wayne |first=Mike |date=31 July 2022 |title=The Mick and Eddie Show is the new hit from the trade union movement |url=https://www.counterfire.org/articles/opinion/23371-the-mick-and-eddie-show-is-the-new-hit-from-the-trade-union-movement |access-date=31 August 2022 |website=Counterfire |language=en-gb |archive-date=31 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220831134642/https://www.counterfire.org/articles/opinion/23371-the-mick-and-eddie-show-is-the-new-hit-from-the-trade-union-movement |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Manji |first=Fatima |date=13 July 2022 |title=RMT Union: 'Everyone deserves a pay rise' as more strikes planned |url=https://www.channel4.com/news/rmt-union-everyone-deserves-a-pay-rise-as-more-strikes-planned |access-date=31 August 2022 |website=Channel 4 News |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |last=Leach |first=Francis |date=18 July 2022 |title=While big business have their disco, unions raise the alarm on wages |url=https://www.australianunions.org.au/2022/07/18/while-big-business-have-their-disco-unions-raise-the-alarm-on-wages/ |access-date=1 September 2022 |website=Australian Unions |language=en |archive-date=16 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220816214233/https://www.australianunions.org.au/2022/07/18/while-big-business-have-their-disco-unions-raise-the-alarm-on-wages/ |url-status=live }} writing about the RMT's strike action in an article for the Morning Star,{{Cite web |title=Eddie Dempsey |url=https://morningstaronline.co.uk/author/eddie-dempsey |access-date=31 August 2022 |website=Morning Star |language=en}} and speaking at a Manchester rally for the 'Enough is Enough' campaign, supporting calls for a national day of action in October 2022,{{Cite news |last1=Kimber |first1=Charlie |last2=Ringrose |first2=Isabel |date=30 August 2022 |title=Huge Enough is Enough rally in Manchester shows mood to fight |work=Socialist Worker |url=https://socialistworker.co.uk/news/huge-enough-is-enough-rally-in-manchester-shows-mood-to-fight/ |access-date=1 September 2022 |archive-date=31 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220831171538/https://socialistworker.co.uk/news/huge-enough-is-enough-rally-in-manchester-shows-mood-to-fight/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |last=Lazenby |first=Peter |date=31 August 2022 |title=Manchester Cathedral packed to overflowing as Enough is Enough rally demands pay, price controls and a working-class fightback |url=https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/manchester-cathedral-packed-overflowing-enough-enough-rally-demands-pay-price-controls-and |access-date=3 September 2022 |website=Morning Star |language=en |archive-date=3 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220903141057/https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/manchester-cathedral-packed-overflowing-enough-enough-rally-demands-pay-price-controls-and |url-status=live }} and in Liverpool.{{Cite web |last=supporters |first=Socialist Appeal |title=Enough is Enough: Left leaders rally workers and youth with class demands |url=https://www.socialist.net/enough-is-enough-left-leaders-rally-workers-and-youth-with-class-demands.htm |access-date=7 September 2022 |website=Socialist Appeal |date=6 September 2022 |language=en-gb |archive-date=6 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220906163422/https://www.socialist.net/enough-is-enough-left-leaders-rally-workers-and-youth-with-class-demands.htm |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |date=2 September 2022 |title=Enough is Enough's Liverpool rally sounds the call for resistance |first=Charlie |last=Kimber |url=https://socialistworker.co.uk/news/enough-is-enoughs-liverpool-rally-sounds-the-call-for-resistance/ |access-date=3 September 2022 |website=Socialist Worker |language=en-GB |archive-date=2 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220902210447/https://socialistworker.co.uk/news/enough-is-enoughs-liverpool-rally-sounds-the-call-for-resistance/ |url-status=live }}

Dempsey was born and raised in South London's New Cross area to Irish parents, an upbringing that led him to become secretary of the Connolly Association, an Irish emigrant workers organisation.{{Cite web |date=2 October 2019 |title=Brexit, the white working class and liberal left |url=https://www.workersliberty.org/story/2019-10-02/brexit-white-working-class-and-liberal-left |access-date=31 August 2022 |website=Workers Liberty |language=en}} He has cited James Connolly and Padraig Pearse amongst his inspirations.{{Cite web |last=Cochrane |first=Feargal |date=30 July 2022 |title=Why century-dead trade unionist James Connolly is the political voice of the summer |url=https://www.bigissue.com/news/politics/trade-unionist-james-connolly-mick-lynch-strikes/ |access-date=31 August 2022 |website=The Big Issue |language=en |archive-date=31 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220831134344/https://www.bigissue.com/news/politics/trade-unionist-james-connolly-mick-lynch-strikes/ |url-status=live }}

Dempsey identifies with socialism,{{Cite web |title=RMT union's Eddie Dempsey speaks at a rail workers rally in London |author=VV Shots |work=Newsflare |url=https://www.newsflare.com/video/501113/rmt-unions-eddie-dempsey-speaks-at-a-rail-workers-rally-in-london |access-date=31 August 2022 |language=en}} and in 2019 spoke at events arguing the socialist case for the UK leaving the European Union,{{Cite web |last1=Hoare |first1=George |last2=Ramsay |first2=Peter |last3=Jones |first3=Lee |date=4 April 2019 |title=Transforming Britain After Brexit: Eddie Dempsey and the Divided Left |url=https://www.thefullbrexit.com/post/2019/04/04/transforming-britain-after-brexit-eddie-dempsey-and-the-divided-left |access-date=31 August 2022 |website=The Full Brexit |language=en |archive-date=31 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220831160856/https://www.thefullbrexit.com/post/2019/04/04/transforming-britain-after-brexit-eddie-dempsey-and-the-divided-left |url-status=live }} subsequently defending himself from criticism from journalist and left-wing activist Owen Jones,{{Cite web |last=Dempsey |first=Eddie |date=17 September 2019 |title=A Reply To Owen Jones — Keep It Comradely. |url=https://labourheartlands.com/a-reply-to-owen-jones-keep-it-comradely/ |access-date=31 August 2022 |website=Labour Heartlands |language=en-GB}} after Jones and fellow journalist Ash Sarkar withdrew from a London event because of Dempsey's support for a no-deal Brexit.{{Cite news |date=1 September 2019 |title=RMT union member "no platformed" for supporting Brexit |work=Communist Party of Great Britain Marxist Leninist |url=https://www.cpbml.org.uk/news/rmt-union-member-no-platformed-supporting-brexit |access-date=1 September 2022}}{{Cite web|url=https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/rmts-eddie-dempsey-calls-unity-against-boris-johnson-after-no-platform-bid-owen-jones|title=RMT's Eddie Dempsey calls for unity against Boris Johnson after 'no-platform' bid by Owen Jones and Ash Sarkar|date=30 August 2019|website=Morning Star}} Dempsey has participated in several marches against fascism and racism.{{Cite web |last=SKWAWKBOX |date=5 September 2022 |title=The Establishment doesn't want you to see this 2014 video of RMT's Eddie Dempsey |url=https://skwawkbox.org/2022/09/05/the-establishment-doesnt-want-you-to-see-this-2014-video-of-rmts-eddie-dempsey/ |access-date=11 September 2022 |website=SKWAWKBOX |language=en-GB}}