Given current industry structure & level of government subsidies, a TOC has little option other than to follow directions of whoever the current elected government happens to be.Perhaps the old BR or a future GBR might’ve been/could potentially be different.
Their rubbish ticketing system is enough to put me off, never mind several strikes. Thankfully I have no reason to use them.
Well yes, but the poster I quoted believed that LNER acts in the interests of its passengers, rather than political whims.
Do you want a service or not, is what it boils down to.
on-call / call-out payments is where you are required to respond within a specific time frame - whether that is by returning a call , logging into a system or actually going to a place of work... If there is no compulsion to respond there is no 'on call' allowance payable
Which shareholders would these be considering LNER is operated by the state?
That would be the state itself. Which until recently was one that could only see the cost of everything and the value of nothing.
I admire your optimism in thinking that HM Treasury would change the habits of decades or even centuries just because a new Government is in town!
Indeed.......you really do have to wonder why a lot of people on here seem not to understand a relatively simple point. Extra costs require covering either by the taxpayer or the farepayer. An influx of drivers to abolish permanent overtime will in reality be costly to the taxpayer.....
What I don't get is why staff would be bullied into working overtime or rest days. As I am one, if I don't want to work overtime or a rest day, then I don't make myself available for that. I don't get pestered either.....and that applies for all staff at where I work. I know of no one who does get bullied into working when they don't want to
HM Treasury and therefore taxpayers will have to pay for the railway infrastructure and the trains leased by LNER regardless of whether anyone travels on the trains so it is in the best interests of HM Treasury and taxpayers to ensure that LNER provides a reliable service with affordable easy to understand and flexible fares that persuade rail passengers to pay to travel on the trains to provide fare income to at least partly offset the railway infrastructure and train leasing costs. I have not so far read of any action by the Government to try to get the strikes called off. I do not know if the Government just plans to let the strikes go ahead and not intervene. However I am not sure even if all 22 days of strikes go ahead that it will be as damaging as the LNER management removing off peak fares in putting people off travelling on LNER train services. I am certainly aware of people who would have considered travelling by train with LNER for off peak fares deciding to make their journeys by car instead due to the removal of the off peak fares. This is also putting them off travelling by train with any operator so it is leading to loss of business for the railway more widely than LNER though train operators will not know this as they do not know when people decide not to travel by train.
Are you an LNER driver?
As already been stated, it wasn’t about an ‘on call’ payment. It was about a call payment.
The Transport Secretary has called on ASLEF and LNER Management to get around the table and negotiate and stop the strikes before they start. Now the Transport Secretary has made this call if the strikes go ahead that would surely show the Government to be ineffective. I am not clear what the Government plans to do as they have not so far taken any action to get the two sides to negotiate. This dispute is not about pay and ASLEF is not asking the Government to do anything so I am not clear how the Government would say 'no' to ASLEF in this case.
They are also the days that the strikebreaking managers will be more reluctant to come in for, and there are some engineering works coming up which require diversions that the managers won't sign. Essentially the days are chosen to reduce LNER's ability to run a contingency service.
Or perhaps offer a day(s) in lieu. This would have zero effect on tax.
But then you'll need someone on rest days later in the year to cover the person on an extra annual leave day. It just pushes the problem back.
Scotrail offer this option for rest days and Sundays up to a maximum of four at anyone time..
Very true but then the queswtion has to be asked what could be offered beside financial payment and as already discussed it doesn't seem very lucrative when the marginal tax rate is 60%
I was only referring to @Bald Rick comment above to which it refers
Exactly. They wont. NHS will be way more important too.
Thankfully I also have no reason to use them at the weekends during the next few months. However, it’s the knock on effects of the strikes each weekend on other routes which will bother me. EMR are already regularly overcrowded at weekends to and from St Pancras with their short 5 carriage Meridians. I’ve been planning a couple of short breaks down on the south coast where I would travel back from St Pancras to Nottingham Saturday lunchtimes. I would rather change my plans and go somewhere else if I’m going to find queues and chaos at St. Pancras and even more overcrowding if lots of passengers from LNER decide to use EMR instead. EMR will not be able to cope week after week if these strikes do take place.
