James Wong-McSweeney explains in The London Paper why he went on strike...

Having read the columns by Rachel Large and Kay Taylor, neither of whom supported the Tube strike, I thought you’d all like to hear from someone who did. I’m a member of the RMT and have been since I joined London Underground two-and-a-half years ago. You might think that the RMT is always on strike but we’re not – in fact, this was my first strike since I joined. I did it willingly and of my own free will. Nobody made me do it, let alone Bob Crow, whom I’ve never met.

Despite what Rachel believes, I did it because not one, or two, but seven injustices have happened – and 1,000 more are going to happen in London Underground and 3,000 more in Transport for London. That’s 4,000 job cuts, meaning 4,000 people out of work, no matter what it’s dressed up as. And all of this to pay back a debt that would never have happened if Gordon Brown hadn’t forced through the privatisation of the maintenance of London Underground.

That’s why I went on strike. Not to p*** off the travelling public but to defend my fellow union members. Why? So that when the day comes that I need help – and it will come – they will be there to defend me. Strength through unity: that’s what being in a union is all about.

Now I’d like to talk about something different: you. Why are you always so ready and willing to go after someone with a little more than you? Apologies if that’s not you, but it is the majority. Maybe instead of asking why I have so much (I don’t), you should ask yourself why you have so little.

Maybe it’s because you’ve never truly stood up for yourself. I’m not talking about writing a “Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells” letter to your MP but actually having a fight with those who really cause you grief – the boss who has just cut your pay while increasing your workload and the so-called “Masters of the Universe” who have caused this recession.

They are the ones responsible for your misery, not the RMT.

Now excuse me while I go and get ready for the drunken disaster that is your average Friday night in central London.

James, 24, is an RMT member