It is indeed hypocrisy - but equally so it is unthinkable hypocrisy for the unions (especially RMT) to criticise fare rises, when their demands for ever higher wages are one of the (number of) factors behind this. TOC staffing costs alone make up approximately 25% of the cost of running passenger services (
according to NRE, i.e. RDG). joncombe has pointed out that salaries in total make up 50% of costs and this doesn't sound unthinkable to me.
I am usually loathe to agree with The Telegraph, but I have to say that
their article here (sorry, soft paywall) makes a compelling point in that rail staff pay has indeed increased astronomically both in real terms and in absolute terms, since privatisation.
Now of course we'll get the "so what, are you jealous of train staff having an effective union" brigade, but my point is this - the reason I, and other passengers, care about it is because we are in part bankrolling these massive increases through massively increased fares (as well as increased subsidies from taxation). In many cases, rail passengers have few alternatives - e.g. travelling into and out of London on high speed mainline services, there is simply no equivalent alternative. Therefore saying that it's none of the passenger's business is wrong - they have little choice but to use the services, so it is only fair they have some input into what the money they pay is used for. It's almost like a form of taxation.
If conditions and pay had merely stayed the same in real terms then the explosion in passenger numbers over the last 20-odd years may well have allowed fares to stay the same in real terms (i.e. increasing by something like CPIH). So there absolutely
is a causal link between staff pay and fare rises, and so, whilst Grayling et al pitting staff against passengers is unpleasant and political manipulation, he is absolutely onto a true point. It would be unfair to dismiss the point out of hand merely because it was made for political purposes.