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Capturing a state of spirit
ALEX GORDON introduces painter Inga Bystram - the picket line phenomenon
(L to R) RMT pickets at Euston station; Inga Bystram


WATERCOLOUR artist Inga Bystram has become well known to RMT members on picket lines at Seven Sisters depot in Tottenham this year, as well as at Euston, Kings Cross, and further afield. Her colour-coordinated outfits fit right in alongside striking RMT members’ colourful hi-vis, flags and banners.

Bystram sketches and paints striking rail workers (RMT, Aslef and TSSA) as well as CWU postal workers, UCU university lecturers and even striking barristers outside the Old Bailey.

She lives on Tottenham’s Broadwater Farm Estate and describes herself as a “relative newcomer,” having moved there in 2005 when she married her late husband, Terry Burton, long-serving secretary of Haringey Trades Union Council (1986-2008).

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