Nicholas Lewis
On Moderation
The govt own OLR they shouldn't be making requests they should be telling them to get it sorted
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ASLEF - LNER drivers to strike every Sat & Sun for 3 months from 31 Aug - Now called off
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dk1
Veteran Member
Not a chance in hell thankfully.
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Forgiveness is not given that easily.
weeklycommuter
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Yes of course I completely agree and I find it odd that the Government has not so far done this
dk1
Veteran Member
Me too!!! I’d completely override any senior LNER officials decisions if possible in a heartbeat.
As a regular traveller with LNER I don’t understand why we are having these constant rail strikes. Can somebody please explain to me two things:
1. Why can strikes go on and off like this from just one vote? Surely if you go on strike you should start the strike and then it ends when it ends, not just start and finish a strike every weekend over a long period of time?
2. If the rail staff are so unhappy with their current terms and conditions, why don’t they just go out and get another job rather than making life difficult for fare-paying passengers?
1. Why can strikes go on and off like this from just one vote? Surely if you go on strike you should start the strike and then it ends when it ends, not just start and finish a strike every weekend over a long period of time?
2. If the rail staff are so unhappy with their current terms and conditions, why don’t they just go out and get another job rather than making life difficult for fare-paying passengers?
dk1
Veteran Member
With respect you are totally on the wrong page.
12LDA28C
Established Member
So let me get this straight - you're suggesting that all LNER drivers hand in their notice and go and 'get another job'. What do you think that would do to the train service?
It's been explained on this thread exactly what the issues are at LNER. Feel free to scroll up and take a look.
dk1
Veteran Member
I found it a very odd post too considering everything that’s gone before but some can’t be bothered or simply don’t want to read the full facts.
Correct, but that leads to a marginal tax rate of 60% in that salary band.
The comment was made about the railway as a whole… not specifically LNER.
The point remains, your question was antagonistic.
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This bonkers rhetoric was echoed and questioned by Daily Mail readers all over the UK when the nurses balloted… as if it was a reasonable suggestion that 300,000 nurses all just walked out of the NHS.
Do you not think that the strikes are because people don’t want to leave their jobs? And that these workers are doing everything they can to ensure that the careers they love remain a feasible and sustainable form of employment?
If people wanted to leave, they would. It’s the fact that these workers want to stay and make it better for all, but are met with hostility and obstinate management.
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If you have children then you also face a high marginal tax rate (up to an eye-watering 71%) between £50k and £60k. https://www.bbc.com/news/58870012
railfan99
Established Member
And none of this is due to militant unionism in the UK?
I bet there are many drivers who stay silent for fear of being ostracised, but who do not agree with the massive inconvenience to passengers (and increased road congestion) that rail strikes cause.
That depends how many kids you’ve got - it can be a higher rate than that. Albeit strictly speaking it isnt a marginal tax rate, but a loss of benefits. Net effect is the same though.
TreacleMiller
Member
Which is why the votes, which are independently counted, have had huge turnouts with the overwhelming majority voting to strike.
I two years of being balloted I've had no pressure from my reps or fellow drivers to vote to strike.
It's not the 1970s anymore. Again your drastic lack of knowledge of the UK is showing again.
Maybe so, I know of one driver at Northern that was fed up by the end. However, thankfully, mandates for industrial action are granted by a secret ballot meaning that if a driver wishes to vote against they can do so safely. It's also requires a turnout of 50% and at least 40% of all those entitled to vote (so not just those that do vote) must vote in favour. Mandates must also be refreshed every six months so if anyone has changed their mind they can vote on the issue regularly.
‘Militant’ is the preferred adjective of the Tory press. ‘Organised’ might be more appropriate?
If ASLEF were totally ‘militant’, we’d not have a huge variety of company-specific T&Cs negotiated since privatisation with each set suiting both buyer (TOC/FOC) and seller (drivers).
After all, a driver only has their labour to sell and unionisation keeps the buyer/seller relationship balanced and ensures it doesn’t become abusive or exploitative, something which may be an issue at LNER currently?
Goldfish62
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Just based on this thread there appears to be absolutely no appetite for that!
In a word, no. This isn't the 1970s.
Balloting is a strictly regulated matter. Voting is conducted in secret and counting is done by an independent body. There is no more likelihood of being pressured into voting than there is at a General Election.
dk1
Veteran Member
No it’s very open at my large depot. Everybody is entitled to their opinion. Things are very different these days. Also the ballots have been overwhelmingly in favour of taking a stand with well over 90% seen at most operators that have been taking action in the last two years and LNER has been no exception.
Jim the Jim
Member
Either of those things would be much worse for passengers.
lol.
Tell me you don’t know anything of how balloting works, without telling me you don’t know anything of how balloting works.
Whats been said in public and what's been said behind closed doors are likely very different. ASLEF have just made Louise Haigh look like a fool, I suspect that there will have been some very frank discussions.
Which gets brought up in every strike thread and just won't happen.
no it wont, a different time, but it sorted the controllers action and showed the other unions what might happen...
12LDA28C
Established Member
I'll take that bet. How much do you want to lose?
Makes you wonder why so many drivers go to the trouble of actually returning a ballot paper. Strikes cannot be called unless the members have actually voted for that. If a driver doesn't want to go on strike , then he or she puts a tick in the "no" box.
Everyone has a voice in this scenario
Goldfish62
Veteran Member
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Despite Mick Whelan's previously warm (now seemingly weasel) words about wanting to work with the government the timing of the announcement makes it clear that he didn't mean a word of it. A constructive working relationship would have been, for example, for Whelan to make an unofficial approach to Louise Haig about the issue and the intended action if things don't improve. That would have given a chance for Hendy or whoever to go off and try to knock heads together at LNER. Most of the media would have been none the wiser had a solution without strike action being announced been forthcoming.
Instead, we have had a union deliberately undermining the government to the delight of the right wing press and politicians, and any attempted meditation now by the government will be highly public, adding to accusations of Labour acting on their paymasters orders.
I've gone right off Mick Whelan.
Do we know that it was him that called the strike? I think it's notable that ASLEF central (or at least Mick Whelan) has been very quiet (at least far as I can tell)...
This is a long running dispute, which as I understand it, has been balloted for seperately.
How much ‘knocking heads together’ does one company need?
This is aimed at LNER, not the government, who were the main antagonists during the last dispute… so I fail to see how they’re in the slightest part comparable or related.
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