I'm not sure that would make a difference at this point. With slot of office based staff able to WFH the political pressure to settle would be less and with Tories expecting to out of power where would the incentive to settle be?
I tend to agree. I suspect the window for influencing the current government has closed.
ASLEF's strategy of keeping the dispute in the public eye with the occasional strike and waiting for the next government seems to make sense.
I'm interested to see what the next administration makes of the need to modernise and take cost out. I'm interested in their approach to increasing productivity more broadly as well.
My guess is that they won't see eye to eye with ASLEF but whether they are willing to push it is a different matter - I'm quite sure it won't be a priority.
I wonder if there is middle ground there if there is less antipathy? A less invasive change to working practices?