ASLEF strikes 5th-8th April weekend

[Thirteen]

Striking for a month would never happen because it's too much money to lose although the idea the Government would close down the entire railway network is ridiculous as well.

 

[Russel]

Striking for a month would never happen because it's too much money to lose although the idea the Government would close down the entire railway network is ridiculous as well.

Striking for a month would probably cause a lot of real long term damage which would put a stumbling block Infront of any pay talks...

The railway still isn't operating a full pre-covid service and it didn't shut down during covid, do we really think after a month long closure, things will just pick up where we left off before the month long strike?

 

[greyman42]

Sweeping platforms for £60k plus a year ??? We're do I sign? A lot less stressful than driving a train.

Do I keep my final salary pension, free travel, 35 hour week, Sundays outside ?

I would keep them facts to yourself or the general public might start to think you are already overpaid.

Some people are fascinated by trains but I am fascinated by things like how they decide which days to call staff out of strike.

It would appear to be any day but Sunday.

 

[TUC]

The reality for many of us is that we now work from home several days a week. The days we are in the office driving or catching the train are equal options. Strike for a month and we'll either work from hoke for more days or drive. The reasons the strikes have had little public profile is that they really do impact life much less than even five years ago.

 

[Krokodil]

- Withdraw all overtime so that strike day pay losses can't be made up with overtime pay.

And see the timetable collapse. On Sundays, never mind collapse, it'll disappear entirely in many parts of the country.

 

[Sly Old Fox]

They don’t care about it because we’re not costing them enough everytime we strike.

ASLEF haven’t done it because they lack the bottle. We’re still doing one day now and again, look at the doctors strike. They’re not afraid to call strikes for longer than 24 hours. You can’t keep doing the same old action and achieving nothing.

They’ll always be a railway. Too many people and too many organisations with financial interests for it too fail.

We’re not costing them anything to strike. They save more money in wages than it costs. Every strike day is a gift to them.

And how’s that going for the junior doctors? I see they voted again to strike for another six months just yesterday.

 

[Tw99]

It's pretty clear the government isn't the slightest bit interested in moving their position to help resolve the dispute before an election, given all the other stuff they've promised and haven't delivered yet.

If Labour get in as expected, it's just another headache for them to deal with, so win-win for the government on that front

In the meantime, I guess ASLEF have to do some minimal action just to remind everyone that there's still a dispute.

 

[43066]

Great post. We agree, then, that it is the responsibility of evrywone who works for the railway to improve it.

I’d respectfully ask again, how specifically does an abstract statement such as this relate to the current dispute?

Presumably you can see that that railway workers might simultaneously want the railway to thrive, but equally consider they’ve been forced into taking action to ensure that their own home and family life isn’t utterly wrecked?

I never said that old chap. And never would.

I do believe that, because I’ve spoken to you enough to know you’re a thoroughly decent individual, but I do think you have developed a bit of a blind spot here; having a liveable home life really is what this dispute is about for ASLEF members.

It may well be a pathetic excuse from RDG/DfT, but it is equally so from ASLEF. They know what they need to do, and they can choose, or not to do it. Personally if this were my union, I'd be a bit peeved that my union was blocking a possible move forward in negotiations. Just to reiterate, RDG/DfT are not interested if ASLEF members want to strike, they want to know if the membership officially accepts or rejects the offer. That is the position as it stands.

No, it isn’t a pathetic excuse from ASLEF, they’re acting in accordance with their constitution. If they did as you suggest the government would simply find another excuse not to settle. Everyone involved is fully aware of that.

This has all been explained to you time and time again, so I’m not sure why you keep labouring the point? In any case the only people ASLEF need to convince of anything is their own members. If you’re an ASLEF member you’re free to vote against action next time you’re balloted. If you aren’t, your opinion isn’t relevant. It really is that simple!

What’s needed is a significant period of strike action, a week long or month strike.

With a government this ideological it likely wouldn’t make any difference; that’s why ASLEF haven’t gone down that road. Let’s face it they’re happy to let the NHS dispute continue, killing people in the process. They’re taking a scorched earth approach and they simply don’t care about how much damage is caused.

I would keep them facts to yourself or the general public might start to think you are already overpaid.

Do you care what the public thinks of your pay? If not, why do you think ASLEF members should be any different? Anyone who thinks the job is so easy is welcome to apply and see how far they get…

Can I say as a member of the public that we couldn't care less. Many of us outside London have alternatives to rail travel, and even for those within London, working from home have transformed the position for many people, so we wouldn't really notice a week's strike in terms of impact on our lives.

What on earth qualifies you to speak on behalf of the general public? Plenty of people find the strikes disruptive, and they’ve cost the economy several billion pounds already. They might not make much difference to where you live but they’re pretty significant in the part of the country that drives the UK economy.

The reality for many of us is that we now work from home several days a week. The days we are in the office driving or catching the train are equal options. Strike for a month and we'll either work from hoke for more days or drive. The reasons the strikes have had little public profile is that they really do impact life much less than even five years ago.

So the strikes are simultaneously totally insignificant, and also important enough for you to complain about online, and for the government to (unsuccessfully) legislate to bring in minimum service levels.

 

[Krokodil]

They save more money in wages than it costs

Citation needed.

 

[greyman42]

Do you care what the public thinks of your pay? If not, why do you think ASLEF members should be any different?

I just thought it may not be wise to shout about your excellent T&Cs when looking for public support.

 

[43066]

I just thought it may not be wise to shout about your excellent T&Cs when looking for public support.

Yet, as shown in the article linked to up thread by @Bald Rick , a large section the public remain quite supportive, despite the “excellent Ts and Cs”. Perhaps because they realise the government are entirely to blame for this mess.

I see you also haven’t answered the question!

 

[greyman42]

Yet, as shown in the article linked to up thread by @Bald Rick , a large section the public remain quite supportive, despite the “excellent Ts and Cs”. Perhaps because they realise the government are entirely to blame for this mess.

I see you also haven’t answered the question!

The company i work for has excellent T&Cs and a good pension scheme. People are aware of this and would not be over sympathetic should we ever be daft enough to call a strike.

 

[VP185]

We’re not costing them anything to strike. They save more money in wages than it costs. Every strike day is a gift to them.

And how’s that going for the junior doctors? I see they voted again to strike for another six months just yesterday.

We may not be costing them anything to strike but we are costing the economy. That brings a lot of other sectors into the dispute who will heap more pressure on the government to resolve. You simply can’t continue to call a days strike once every few months. Thats simply not achieving anything. Time to go big.

 

[43066]

The company i work for has excellent T&Cs and a good pension scheme. People are aware of this and would not be over sympathetic should we ever be daft enough to call a strike.

Well if your excellent Ts and Cs aren’t being attacked for political reasons you’d have no need to. Mine are, however, so I will go on strike! Whether other people are sympathetic matters not one jot. Especially those unconnected with the industry, and who have no skin in the game themselves.

 

[skyhigh]

The company i work for has excellent T&Cs and a good pension scheme. People are aware of this and would not be over sympathetic should we ever be daft enough to call a strike.

When did you last get a pay rise?

 

[Magdalen Road]

The reality for many of us is that we now work from home several days a week. The days we are in the office driving or catching the train are equal options. Strike for a month and we'll either work from hoke for more days or drive. The reasons the strikes have had little public profile is that they really do impact life much less than even five years ago.

Presumably you’re aware that many of us can’t work from home and have to commute by train.
If there was a month‘s strike then I would probably have to do a short term let to ensure I could be at work. The strikes are impacting people's lives, just not yours as much.

 

[irish_rail]

Presumably you’re aware that many of us can’t work from home and have to commute by train.
If there was a month‘s strike then I would probably have to do a short term let to ensure I could be at work. The strikes are impacting people's lives, just not yours as much.

Indeed. In the real world, most people actually do still need to leave their own four walls every once in a while for a variety of reasons. Utterly laughable for anyone to suggest that work from home has made the strikes pointless.

 

[Sly Old Fox]

We may not be costing them anything to strike but we are costing the economy. That brings a lot of other sectors into the dispute who will heap more pressure on the government to resolve. You simply can’t continue to call a days strike once every few months. Thats simply not achieving anything. Time to go big.

They don’t care about that. I don’t know how many more times I have to type it. They don’t care. It wouldn’t make a jot of difference. All that will happen is drivers start to default on their mortgage payments.

It was an unwinnable dispute two years ago and it is still an unwinnable dispute now.

 

[dk1]

They don’t care about that. I don’t know how many more times I have to type it. They don’t care. It wouldn’t make a jot of difference. All that will happen is drivers start to default on their mortgage payments.

It was an unwinnable dispute two years ago and it is still an unwinnable dispute now.

I will default on nothing whatsoever. Two years in & bring it on for the next two as far as I’m concerned.

 

[infobleep]

A ballot on the offer does not "screw" its membership if the membership votes against it, which I'm sure they would. And having ballots to continue strike action without having one to vote on the offer itself seems to be a bit upside down to me. It seems that ASLEF voted to continue striking because no new offer has been made, even though the current offer hasn't been voted on as asked for by RDG before any further negotiations could take place.

Bottom line, everyone knows a ballot on the offer will return a resounding "Nope", but that official "Nope" is what has to be returned to RDG to open negotiations again.

Unison put a strike vote to members. Not enough voted to strike so they accepted the deal.

ASLEF put strike vote to members, they voted to continue strike, ASLEF didn't accept any deals.

I think that sums it clearly.

 

[Sly Old Fox]

I will default on nothing whatsoever. Two years in & bring it on for the next two as far as I’m concerned.

Maybe you’re alright but there will be plenty of drivers out there who are struggling. They might be ok with the odd strike day here and there but a solid month of action would be incredibly tough for almost anyone.

 

[infobleep]

I've tried to explain it, the DfT don't want to know if ASLEF want to strike. They want a vote on their 2023 offer.

Perhaps the DfT should stop wanting a vote on the 2023 offer and just accept the alternative vote on strick action as the opinion of staff and then move on with this.

 

[dk1]

Maybe you’re alright but there will be plenty of drivers out there who are struggling. They might be ok with the odd strike day here and there but a solid month of action would be incredibly tough for almost anyone.

But in the same way there are plenty that aren’t. We make it up through FDW & overtime. In my case I’m often better off.

Nothing is going to bother me personally and no one is going to attack my T&Cs

 

[Sly Old Fox]

But in the same way there are plenty that aren’t. We make it up through FDW & overtime. In my case I’m often better off.

Nothing is going to bother me personally and no one is going to attack my T&Cs

Again, that’s fine for the odd day, but you couldn’t make up an entire month of salary through working rest days.

I agree that the T&Cs are worth fighting for, but that would be really hard.

 

[dk1]

Again, that’s fine for the odd day, but you couldn’t make up an entire month of salary through working rest days.

I agree that the T&Cs are worth fighting for, but that would be really hard.

It would be for many I agree & I am not saying I condone a whole month as a good idea I however would look at it as a long unpaid break and make the most of it.

 

[DennisM]

It was an unwinnable dispute two years ago and it is still an unwinnable dispute now.

Unwinnable at present, yes. Which is exactly why there is only 1 day of action every 2-3 months. Drivers are safe in the knowledge that a new more competent government will be along shortly, and large amounts of action before then are a waste of time. Oh and the pay rise we eventually achieve will be backdated

 

[Sly Old Fox]

Unwinnable at present, yes. Which is exactly why there is only 1 day of action every 2-3 months. Drivers are safe in the knowledge that a new more competent government will be along shortly, and large amounts of action before then are a waste of time. Oh and the pay rise we eventually achieve will be backdated

This I agree with entirely. Aslef don’t need to go all out because there will almost certainly be a new government this year, and whilst train drivers might not be top priority, they’re going to want to sort the country out pretty quickly I imagine.

 

[VP185]

This I agree with entirely. Aslef don’t need to go all out because there will almost certainly be a new government this year, and whilst train drivers might not be top priority, they’re going to want to sort the country out pretty quickly I imagine.

I think there’s going to be a lot of disappointed drivers out there if they think Labour or any party will solve this dispute.
They are all cut from the same cloth. They might make the right noises now but when the time comes, they’ll be little substance.

Again, that’s fine for the odd day, but you couldn’t make up an entire month of salary through working rest days.

Easily make up an entire months salary within a few months with rest days.

 

[Krokodil]

I think there’s going to be a lot of disappointed drivers out there if they think Labour or any party will solve this dispute.
They are all cut from the same cloth. They might make the right noises now but when the time comes, they’ll be little substance.

They aren't going to be going out of their way to be antagonistic though. Not like the current lot who have done their best to scupper any kind of progress.

 

[winks]

As a Union man from outside the industry, the ASLEF strike now has very little impact on the travelling public. TOCs have got contingencies worked up with more staff trained.

ASLEF probably do need to ramp strike action up as an election is still planned for the second half of the year. 2 years in and the strategy has got nowhere sadly