Mick Rix (born 11 April 1963 in Barnsley, West Riding of Yorkshire) is a British trade unionist and politician. Union career Rix is the former General Secretary of ASLEF. He left school at 16 and started work the next day with no qualifications. During his tenure of ASLEF, most members saw their real earnings rise by an average of 6% per annum, and their working week cut to an average of 35 hours, and with many working a four-day week.. He fought for the safety of his members, and the inquiry into the Ladbroke Grove rail crash led by Lord Cullen. He got into trouble with Cullen, when he was quoted in the press stating that leading counsel for Railtrack were lying to cover up their negligence about the cause of the Ladbroke Grove crash. Rix refused to apologise, stating to do so would dishonour the memories of his deceased members. There is a plaque and a tree outside Euston station which Rix planted to celebrate the memories of those killed in railway disasters. Rix founded the group Take Back the Track, which was successful in turning Railtrack into a not-for-profit publicly owned company in 2001. Rix's defeat in the election for General Secretary of ASLEF by Shaun Brady, a relatively right wing candidate, came as a great surprise to the left wing of the trade union movement. It was widely claimed that those in New Labour and the railway companies had a hand in his defeat. The defeat led to a period of instability in ASLEF culminating in a brawl at a barbecue at the union's London headquarters, which resulted in a number of senior officers being removed from their positions, including Brady. Rix is currently a National Officer with the GMB Union responsible for relationships with DHL. He also leads the union on all transport and aviation matters, including Yodel, BA, Servisair, Menzies, BMI, the private hire taxi industry and ASDA Distribution. Political views Rix joined the Labour Party in February 1980. He created the left-wing FUWL group (Fed Up With Losing) in 1999 after a discussion with Kenny Cameron, Alan Sapper and Ken Gill. The group became more widely known in the public and media as the "awkward squad", after journalist Kevin Maguire coined the term in an article in The Guardian in 2001, in which he also reported that Rix had recently rejoined Labour after a