theironroad
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SWR Longest Strike - December 2019
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Thumper1127
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I think there would be a valid case for deducting leave as leave is accrued for working. Electing not to work, as is the right, should surely mean that all pay and benefits associated with the working days lost could be reasonably withheld. Not suggesting it should be done of course, but I believe the case would readily stand up morally. As for threatening to personally sue for losses, this is ridiculous and whoever suggested it should be put out to pasture! I’d be interested to see the wording of the letter!
Goldfish62
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Threats by employers against striking staff are commonplace outside the rail industry.
TfL Dial-a-Ride call centre staff were due to strike for 24 hours recently over the imposition of a 0.75% pay rise. TfL wrote to them telling them that for any part of their shift outside the strike period they must turn up for work, but wouldn't get paid. If they didn't turn up for work they could be disciplined for unauthorised absence. In the circumstances Unite had no alternative but to call off the strike.
TfL Dial-a-Ride call centre staff were due to strike for 24 hours recently over the imposition of a 0.75% pay rise. TfL wrote to them telling them that for any part of their shift outside the strike period they must turn up for work, but wouldn't get paid. If they didn't turn up for work they could be disciplined for unauthorised absence. In the circumstances Unite had no alternative but to call off the strike.
What losses will SWR incur?
Goldfish62
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Revenue.
Snow1964
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Probably also cuts down on refund admin.
The SWR strike page FAQs says if can’t board due to overcrowding and delayed more than 15 minutes select “decline to give a reason”. Seems to me manually processing these (rather than adding unable to board due to overcrowding in drop down) has created work
I thought the government was funding all loses or was that just speculation?
the letter was shared on here recently, I’ll see if I can find it.
SWT_USER
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Thanks, presumably both my DR claims for Sunday will be processed without issue in that case? I have an annual ticket want wanted to travel Ashford to Brentford.
43096
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It is to be hoped that SWR are going to make some sort of gesture to passengers, particularly those with season tickets. They have had to put up with this for more than a month, on top of previous action and really ought to be compensated over and above the usual delay repay scheme. That is on top of the other items SWR have failed to deliver (refurbished trains 12 months late, 442s not in service, new timetable implementation delayed etc etc).
Something like a month’s 25% refund for a 50% service cut is not unreasonable.
nuts & bolts
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On the RMT money side of things, I heard that a “very large” amount of funds were procured & loaned from another trade association to assist the striking guards in lieu of wages.
Assistance funds have also been contributed by driver colleagues at some train-crew depots.
Thumper1127
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Thanks for that. I think parts of it they are obliged to do from a legal perspective. The bit about leave is pretty crystal clear, although I doubt is a legal position, rather spelling out in advance the company’s position. Whether there is any legal basis in strike legislation for advising that staff could be personally sued for losses I’ve no idea. If not, it is a silly move in my view.
I’d heard somewhere between £75-£100 a day for the 20 rostered days with money borrowed at low interest from Unite union.
Goldfish62
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Looks like pretty much standard that an employer would send although I'm surprised SWR haven't withdrawn travel facilities for the strike period. This is standard practice for TfL.
A Nasty letter, or just "a letter" as the rest of us might call it. Some rather thin skins on here apparently.
Not so much thin skins but the letter certainly got members backs up
HamworthyGoods
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With the calling of a month’s strike were members really expecting much else back from SWR?
Goldfish62
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Quite!
I thought it was quite reserved compared to what it might have been.
Appalling
theironroad
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...and what might it have been then?
nuts & bolts
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But as you say a reserved reply was from the HR Directorate of a large corporate company, what were you expecting?
Even when Mick Cash ‘el presidente’ RMT was in written dialogue to Andy Mellors (as seen on this forum) it was formal and not militant unlike his RMT Press Releases!
43096
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They could have played really hardball and issued new contracts with revised terms around DCO/DOO and said you either sign or we will issue notice of termination as you are effectively making yourself redundant.
Goldfish62
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Yes. And that's a public authority controlled by a Labour mayor.
HamworthyGoods
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Wasn’t this effectively what Southern did?
nuts & bolts
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This may happen when the new MD’s (not interim) position has been filled.
It was never gonna happen under Andy Mellors tenure, due to him guaranteeing the Guards Grade from day one of the strike
We shall have to see
I've been visiting my sister and niece in Aldershot over Christmas, train from Berwick to Kings Cross, Tube to Waterloo, then train from Waterloo to Aldershot. The last part is usually straight through. I'd read up about the strike and knew that a change at Woking would be needed. This caused no problems on my way down on Satirday 21st, but it was a different experience starting off on the way home yesterday (Monday 30th) on the 1134 train from Aldershot. On alighting at Woking to change trains, the passengers from the Aldershot service had to cross from Platform 1 to Platform 2 via the footbridge - not easy when you've got a large suitcase! - to get the fast train to Waterloo from there as per the timetable.
No such luck - the train was packed and the platform staff were telling us not to board, directing us to platform 3 where there was a stopping service to Waterloo at 1205, taking just under an hour and due in to Waterloo at 1301. (It also had no First Class accommodation - myself and a few others had First Class tickets, but we just accepted this as a necessary evil.) I'd got talking to a couple from Edinburgh on the train from Aldershot and we agreed to stick together for the trip to Kings Cross, as we were all booked on the 1400 LNER northbound service, and in turn we got talking to a chap sitting opposite us, a regular commuter, who advised us to alight at Vauxhall and get the Tube from there to Kings Cross rather than alight at Waterloo. A wise choice, as the train gradually filled up on the way in and quickly became standing room only! So we changed from train to Tube at Vauxhall. Thankfully it was a direct link and we all got to Kings Cross just before half 1, where our train (an Azuma) was waiting to speed us north. A trip which usually takes 75 minutes ended up taking two hours, from leaving Aldershot to eventually arriving at Kings Cross!
Having seen first hand the problems the strikes are causing, I'm glad I only had to endure this once and not every day - my sympathies are with the passengers and also with the staff. Everyone deserves better than this current farcical situation.
No such luck - the train was packed and the platform staff were telling us not to board, directing us to platform 3 where there was a stopping service to Waterloo at 1205, taking just under an hour and due in to Waterloo at 1301. (It also had no First Class accommodation - myself and a few others had First Class tickets, but we just accepted this as a necessary evil.) I'd got talking to a couple from Edinburgh on the train from Aldershot and we agreed to stick together for the trip to Kings Cross, as we were all booked on the 1400 LNER northbound service, and in turn we got talking to a chap sitting opposite us, a regular commuter, who advised us to alight at Vauxhall and get the Tube from there to Kings Cross rather than alight at Waterloo. A wise choice, as the train gradually filled up on the way in and quickly became standing room only! So we changed from train to Tube at Vauxhall. Thankfully it was a direct link and we all got to Kings Cross just before half 1, where our train (an Azuma) was waiting to speed us north. A trip which usually takes 75 minutes ended up taking two hours, from leaving Aldershot to eventually arriving at Kings Cross!
Having seen first hand the problems the strikes are causing, I'm glad I only had to endure this once and not every day - my sympathies are with the passengers and also with the staff. Everyone deserves better than this current farcical situation.
The well signed and in service lift at Woking Station is such a chore to use.
Time wasn't on our side - the train from Aldershot should have got in to Woking at 1151 but arrived two minutes late. The onward scheduled connection was at 1156 so if I'd waited for the lift, I'd have missed the connection. In the end it was academic, as very few from the Aldershot train could get on board the fast one to Waterloo anyway and were instead pointed towards the stopping one sitting at platform 3.
the strikes haven’t been causing too many issues. The reduction in service caused by engineering works at Guildford meaning there were 3 fewer fast services an hour.
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