Aslef strikes and OT ban called…

[Sheffcaster202]

As the title says, Aslef have called TOC by TOC strikes throughout first week of December…

Edit…following 2 messages from admin. Source was an email shared with me by colleagues from Aslef.
External link to news bulletin Train drivers announce new strikes in December https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-67436365

 

[EZJ]

And quite rightly so after Halfwit Harpers performance today. He has really p**sed off every train driver I know which is is quite a few. If it were up to me I would've announced every week in December with this staggered day by day approach.

 

[Facing Back]

Where it says "This also applies to any duties commencing on .... which run into (the following day)". Does "duties" equate to "shifts"?

 

[baz962]

Where it says "This also applies to any duties commencing on .... which run into (the following day)". Does "duties" equate to "shifts"?

Yes. So if the strike is on a Saturday it just means not to book on for a Saturday night as well as the day.

 

[trainophile]

So it's not National then? That's going to be messy.

 

[D Williams]

It's quite reassuring to know that the rail unions are firmly in the 1970s'. It could be a heritage type themed event.

 

[Silver Cobra]

While I won't discuss the rights and wrongs of the strike, I do find it interesting that ASLEF have chosen 3rd December for the GTR portion of the strike action. A large part of the Thameslink/Great Northern network is closed on that day due to engineering works, with no services between Potters Bar and St Neots/Royston all day, and many stations within this section not having rail replacement buses either. As such, the strike will have less of an effect on Thameslink/Great Northern compared to a day when the full network is operating.

**EDIT: Thinking about this more, it does actually have quite a big effect. LNER are running replacement buses from St Neots to Bedford for onward travel to London. With no Thameslink services, this will lead to the few EMR services calling at Bedford to be exceptionally busy.

 

[Facing Back]

Yes. So if the strike is on a Saturday it just means not to book on for a Saturday night as well as the day.

Thanks

 

[Kite159]

Maybe this time things will be different and the poorly paid drivers get a well deserved pay rise for working very hard during Covid...

...and all those poor office workers being forced to work from home rather than facing the daily commute and leisure users go "Oh another strike, how boring"

 

[Trainguy34]

Since it's unlikely to be worth its own thread, how much will the overtime ban affect SWR and Southeastern on the lines to and from Southampton and Canterbury respectively (from London)?

 

[pokemonsuper9]

With this split approach will this mean a lot of chaos from staff on the ground as well as passengers trying to get rerouted onto what is running (E.g. someone from Crewe - London on the Sunday having to get EMR to Derby/Nottingham then another EMR into London (normally not allowed without splitting))?

 

[irish_rail]

Maybe this time things will be different and the poorly paid drivers get a well deserved pay rise for working very hard during Covid...

...and all those poor office workers being forced to work from home rather than facing the daily commute and leisure users go "Oh another strike, how boring"

Pointless post. For the umpteenth time it's about terms and conditions, not headline salary.

 

[Kite159]

Pointless post. For the umpteenth time it's about terms and conditions, not headline salary.

Was only quoting what was written on the letters to reballot members which have been posted on Twitter which make no mention of Terms & Conditons, only pay.

Even the ASLEF press releases when they did the last round of strikes only mentioned pay.

 

[yorksrob]

I think that the staggered strikes are undoubtedly an improvement for passengers over a nationwide shutdown.

 

[northwichcat]

Maybe this time things will be different and the poorly paid drivers get a well deserved pay rise for working very hard during Covid...

...and all those poor office workers being forced to work from home rather than facing the daily commute and leisure users go "Oh another strike, how boring"

A lot of workplaces now organise Christmas Parties for the first week of December, due to employing 'non-locals' working remotely and the high cost of hotels in the 14 days prior to Christmas. This will mean a lot of people saying they now can't attend the annual Christmas party. Saying that the reason for the high hotel costs closer to Christmas is due to seasonal lesuire, so whenever there's strikes in December many occasional rail users will be affected, not just regular commuters.

 

[irish_rail]

Was only quoting what was written on the letters to reballot members which have been posted on Twitter which make no mention of Terms & Conditons, only pay.

Even the ASLEF press releases when they did the last round of strikes only mentioned pay.

Well you are hearing it from the mouth of an Aslef member. Attacks on our Ts and Cs are the only reason no deal has been done and the strikes continue to disrupt everyone. If Harper stops messing around with deals that involve selling the family silver, we are all ready to accept for a very modest increase in pay.

 

[Mag_seven]

They seem to have picked a good night to "bury bad news" what with the fallout from the Rwanda judgment and the Labour front bench resignations dominating the headlines.

 

[Snow1964]

I think that the staggered strikes are undoubtedly an improvement for passengers over a nationwide shutdown.

Not if your journey involves 2 operators striking different days

I don't know percentage that have change of trains to different operator, but it is common on many longer journeys

 

[yorksrob]

Not if your journey involves 2 operators striking different days

I don't know percentage that have change of trains to different operator, but it is common on many longer journeys

You're still more likely to get somewhere than with no trains running at all.

 

[EZJ]

Well you are hearing it from the mouth of an Aslef member. Attacks on our Ts and Cs are the only reason no deal has been done and the strikes continue to disrupt everyone. If Harper stops messing around with deals that involve selling the family silver, we are all ready to accept for a very modest increase in pay.

No point trying to educate certain folk on this subject, despite it being glaring obvious what we are fighting for they'll always believe the nonsense Harper throws out to them.

 

[185]

They seem to have picked a good night to "bury bad news" what with the fallout from the Rwanda judgment and the Labour front bench resignations dominating the headlines.

Nayyy. They picked the night after Mr Harper went to the Transport Select Committee and directly insulted them suggesting they are overpaid and their jobs are easy.

See Also: "Doing a Shapps" - an ill thought out political soundbite that makes things ten times worse.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

No point trying to educate certain folk on this subject, despite it being glaring obvious what we are fighting for they'll always believe the nonsense Harper throws out to them.

If that is the case from what you say above, Harper must be pleased that so many people do actually believe him rather than the union executive committee.

 

[Bald Rick]

Not if your journey involves 2 operators striking different days

I don't know percentage that have change of trains to different operator, but it is common on many longer journeys

very small.


Now a possibly provocative question. What is this action intended to achieve that the previous action didn’t?

Will be interesting if RMT settle…

 

[EZJ]

If that is the case from what you say above, Harper must be pleased that so many people do actually believe him rather than the union executive committee.

That's why I specifically said "certain folk" not the majority. I don't for one second think most rational people believe anything that comes out from this government anymore.

 

[Starmill]

You're still more likely to get somewhere than with no trains running at all.

I doubt it. With no Northern or TPE service whatsoever do you imagine it would be possible to board CrossCountry services at Wakefield Westgate towards Leeds or Macclesfield towards Manchester for example? I strongly doubt it. Will you be able to use TPE between Glasgow Central and Preston when there's no Avanti West Coast service? These operators will have no choice but to put out 'do not travel' warnings.

 

[brick60000]

I think that the staggered strikes are undoubtedly an improvement for passengers over a nationwide shutdown.

I think I disagree. It makes it a lot harder for people to know what’s going on.

You’ll probably get a similar(ish) impact because a large proportion might just see that drivers are on strike, and stay at home. A large proportion of the travelling public don’t have any interest in the detail.

To be honest, I’m very surprised it’s taken this long to go for this tactic. It’s a very effective way of causing a long period of disruption with less impact on individual member pockets.

Whether it will have any effect is a different matter, but you could argue that the RMT have got somewhere (even if only temporarily).

 

[Starmill]

While I won't discuss the rights and wrongs of the strike, I do find it interesting that ASLEF have chosen 3rd December for the GTR portion of the strike action. A large part of the Thameslink/Great Northern network is closed on that day due to engineering works, with no services between Potters Bar and St Neots/Royston all day, and many stations within this section not having rail replacement buses either. As such, the strike will have less of an effect on Thameslink/Great Northern compared to a day when the full network is operating.

**EDIT: Thinking about this more, it does actually have quite a big effect. LNER are running replacement buses from St Neots to Bedford for onward travel to London. With no Thameslink services, this will lead to the few EMR services calling at Bedford to be exceptionally busy.

It's almost as if they wanted operators to push Network Rail to cancel the blocks Not that such an argument would go anywhere! Instead it will be 'do not travel'.

 

[yorksrob]

I doubt it. With no Northern or TPE service whatsoever do you imagine it would be possible to board CrossCountry services at Wakefield Westgate towards Leeds or Macclesfield towards Manchester for example? I strongly doubt it. Will you be able to use TPE between Glasgow Central and Preston when there's no Avanti West Coast service? These operators will have no choice but to put out 'do not travel' warnings.

That's not really how things work though.

During the RMT strikes where you have limited services, those limited services have tended not to be overcrowded in my experience.

 

[Starmill]

That's not really how things work though.

During the RMT strikes where you have limited services, those limited services have tended not to be overcrowded in my experience.

Yes. Because all such operators have given everyone their money back and told them not to travel.

 

[yorksrob]

I think I disagree. It makes it a lot harder for people to know what’s going on.

You’ll probably get a similar(ish) impact because a large proportion might just see that drivers are on strike, and stay at home. A large proportion of the travelling public don’t have any interest in the detail.

To be honest, I’m very surprised it’s taken this long to go for this tactic. It’s a very effective way of causing a long period of disruption with less impact on individual member pockets.

Whether it will have any effect is a different matter, but you could argue that the RMT have got somewhere (even if only temporarily).

It will still cause a lot of disruption, however if a passenger really needs to get somewhere, there will be a lot more options.

Yes. Because all such operators have given everyone their money back and told them not to travel.

Unless all of the other TOC's choose not to run services on all the days some TOC's are striking, some people will find ways around using alternative routes. I've had nearly four years of travelling (or attempting to) when someone or other has been on strike and this happenned when Northern were taking their industrial action a couple of years back.

Such options would not be available during a nationwide ASLEF strike.