Rail industry preparing for national strikes

Nicholas Lewis · 24 May 2022

nedchester said:
In many ways I don't disagree with that but I have said all along I think the current Government have been up for a fight with the Rail Unions. In the past the privatised operators have, as a rule, shied away from major confrontation. Now because they are effectively publicly owned the battle is at the door or the Government.

This could be a watershed moment for how the rails are operated and funded.

To my mind this is exacerbated by the halfway house we have now and I suspect the record will show HMT didn't agree with taking over the franchises and now they have the problem on the bottom line of govt they want it sorted. That said it needs some cool heads here to find a way through this that isn't at the detriment of the industry and its workforce. Govt should offer 5% and another 5% to come from efficiencies across the entire industry. Its senior mgt salary bill has also rocketed over the years its not just drivers and other staff that have done well then there are all the hangers on in the industry now that make operating it just more costly than it needs to be.

RailUK Forums

ANorthernGuard · 24 May 2022

LOL The Irony said:
Caught in 4k. Might I remind you that some people, including myself rely on social interactions to stay sane. Something we can only have via public transport. So excuse us if we might be a little upset here.

You may be a little upset but does not change anything.

43066 · 24 May 2022

Nicholas Lewis said:
Govt should offer 5% and another 5% to come from efficiencies across the entire industry. Its senior mgt salary bill has also rocketed over the years its not just drivers and other staff that have done well then there are all the hangers on in the industry now that make operating it just more costly than it needs to be.

Well hopefully this overwhelmingly strong mandate will be the starting point for this kind of thing to be properly thrashed out.

the sniper · 24 May 2022

Robertj21a said:
A strike is only going to boost the Tory vote at the next election.

No doubt. The only thing all these people who haven't had a sensible pay rise for 10 years can do is proudly share the values of the Tory party. More of this, please! Damn those who have the nerve to expect any better, we British know our place!

Gems · 24 May 2022

Can we calm down and agree to disagree. It is clear to me that the majority who work on the railway are behind the strike, and those who just like to travel on a choo choo, aren't.

Hardly surprising is it. But for those who think we all earn too much, can I ask, 'Why are you not clambering over the fences to get onto the railway?'

Guard86 · 24 May 2022

Brother and Sisters I applaud. This is more than it being about money.

ar10642 · 24 May 2022

43066 said:
It would be as if all your Christmases had come at once!

Does that mean I can be on permanent rest days?

I guess if that's what you want to call it.

There have been lengthy discussions in other threads about what can be done to bring back passengers and control spiralling costs. Pretty sure shutting the whole thing down for strikes all summer long in a leisure dominated market ain't it.

ExRes · 24 May 2022

Peregrine 4903 said:
Not sure when £25k a year has ever been £2k a month.

Would you settle for £2083.33 then?

D200 · 24 May 2022

the sniper said:
No doubt. The only thing all these people who haven't had a sensible pay rise for 10 years can do is proudly share the values of the Tory party. More of this, please! Damn those who have the nerve to expect any better, we British know our place!

Who is honestly going to vote for that lot again. I mean they have been proven to be a bunch of so and so’s on the drink while us muppets sang happy birthday after going for a lag. Howay man how could anyone vote for them. Monkey pox now be lock downs for that but hey we will be all on strike not putting ourselves at risk like during the coughing pandemic

Philip · 24 May 2022

LOL The Irony said:
Caught in 4k. Might I remind you that some people, including myself rely on social interactions to stay sane. Something we can only have via public transport. So excuse us if we might be a little upset here.

This in itself is a bit ironic when considering the calls by members of this forum to cut ticket offices and thus reducing social interaction.

Peregrine 4903 · 24 May 2022

ExRes said:
Would you settle for £2083.33 then?

I was talking about after tax and other deductions. I don't have an opinion on the matter.

headshot119 · 24 May 2022

Signal_Box said:
Mark my words there will NOT be strike vote for signallers, action short of maybe but definitely a NO to strike.

Erm, would you like to make a late entry in the TRB / occurrence book to make an amendment?

DanNCL · 24 May 2022

ar10642 said:
They will close railways full stop, especially some of the basket case northern ones. A lot of them really aren't as essential as some like to think.

They're absolutely essential but if people aren't able to use them because they're too unreliable then you have to wonder what the point of having them actually is, and I say that as someone who would support actively building new railway lines to some places where they wouldn't neccesarily make a profit if it would bring a significant social benefit.

dk1 said:
Of course they won’t.

The only reason they're not already doing so is because of how convoluted the legal procedure is. Boris still has a majority, he could change it quite easily if he wanted to. I think people shouldn't be overly confident on this one.

Fokx said:
One of my local bus companies is hiring bus drivers for £13 an hour for perspective

One of mine is hiring bus drivers for £10.50 an hour.

Gems said:
Can we calm down and agree to disagree. It is clear to me that the majority who work on the railway are behind the strike, and those who just like to travel on a choo choo, aren't.

Hardly surprising is it. But for those who think we all earn too much, can I ask, 'Why are you not clambering over the fences to get onto the railway?'

It's clear that the majority of those who work on the railway AND are also RMT members support the strike. The question has to be asked if the majority would still support the strike if they hadn't been lied to by their union over ticket office closures. If they'll lie over something like that, you have to wonder what else the RMT have lied about to their members behind closed doors.

ANorthernGuard said:
Quite a few have tried...and failed. I love the railway, always have but There has always been a level of Nastiness from certain members on this forum. One of the reasons I only pop on from time to time.

I know I've been quite vocal in voicing my disagreement with the strike, and going as far as saying action needs to be taken to protect the travelling public from this, but I would hate to think I may have come across as nasty and apologise if I have.

muddythefish · 24 May 2022

nedchester said:
In many ways I don't disagree with that but I have said all along I think the current Government have been up for a fight with the Rail Unions. In the past the privatised operators have, as a rule, shied away from major confrontation. Now because they are effectively publicly owned the battle is at the door or the Government.

This could be a watershed moment for how the rails are operated and funded.

I think this is the true. The government wants this fight, because it will achieve 2 things

a) enable them to bring in more legislation that clamp down further on trade unions. This has been a theme for for the past 40 years or more

b) enable them to cut rail funding at a time when the public finances are "stretched" (although of course in reality the government can ask the BoE to print more money any time it needs it). The Treasury deep down has never liked the rail industry

cambsy · 24 May 2022

The Tories will never give into leftie unions, its happened before and will happen again, and a strike wont force government into giving more money to the railways. It will hurt the railways, as money lost from fare box, because of strike,will need to be re cooped, so even less money for the railways, rather than more, the government wont be held to ransom, the RMT will just end up sending the railways, down a slippery slope, which will do no one any good.

ANorthernGuard · 24 May 2022

DanNCL said:
They're absolutely essential but if people aren't able to use them because they're too unreliable then you have to wonder what the point of having them actually is, and I say that as someone who would support actively building new railway lines to some places where they wouldn't neccesarily make a profit if it would bring a significant social benefit.

The only reason they're not already doing so is because of how convoluted the legal procedure is. Boris still has a majority, he could change it quite easily if he wanted to. I think people shouldn't be overly confident on this one.

One of mine is hiring bus drivers for £10.50 an hour.

It's clear that the majority of those who work on the railway AND are also RMT members support the strike. The question has to be asked if the majority would still support the strike if they hadn't been lied to by their union over ticket office closures. If they'll lie over something like that, you have to wonder what else the RMT have lied about to their members behind closed doors.

I know I've been quite vocal in voicing my disagreement with the strike, and going as far as saying action needs to be taken to protect the travelling public from this, but I would hate to think I may have come across as nasty and apologise if I have.

You haven't Dan

the sniper · 24 May 2022

43096 said:
At the same time, things like ticket offices would have a major cull to take cost out of the industry.

What was once seen as inevitable by the forum regardless will now be considered purely the fault of this dispute, inevitably.

Bletchleyite · 24 May 2022

What did the RMT say about ticket office closures?

To be fair, regardless of what the RMT does or doesn't say, these are a given over the coming years. Some already have, but I'd expect there to be few left other than maybe the Major Stations (if even those) within 10-20 years. And there's no strike leverage over them because there are plenty of other ways to pay.

LOL The Irony · 24 May 2022

Philip said:
This in itself is a bit ironic when considering the calls by members of this forum to cut ticket offices and thus reducing social interaction.

I do not fall into this category and would rather they stay open. Don't lump everyone into the same crowd because we share the same soapbox.

yorkie · 24 May 2022

Philip said:
This in itself is a bit ironic when considering the calls by members of this forum to cut ticket offices and thus reducing social interaction.

I could do without the social interaction of an awkward ticket office refusing to sell me what I want; sadly some ticket office staff have done their very best to put people off using ticket offices over the years, and that is the harsh reality. I wish it wasn't so. But the reality is I am now able to buy tickets and obtain my choice of reservation much more easily and efficiently than when I had to go to a ticket office, when it was a lottery as to whether you got someone who would give good service or not. There are some interactions at ticket offices I will never forget, and all for the wrong reasons, sadly.

I'm all for keeping stations staffed but the idea that ticket offices should exist for the reason of providing social interaction to people is absurd.

Doveymain158 · 24 May 2022

Solidarity to my fellow brothers and sisters

D200 · 24 May 2022

cambsy said:
The Tories will never give into leftie unions, its happened before and will happen again, and a strike wont force government into giving more money to the railways. It will hurt the railways, as money lost from fare box, because of strike,will need to be re cooped, so even less money for the railways, rather than more, the government wont be held to ransom, the RMT will just end up sending the railways, down a slippery slope, which will do no one any good.

Well what do rail workers do. Roll over for a tummy tickle instead……

Doveymain158 said:
Solidarity to my fellow brothers and sisters

Too bloody right

johncrossley · 24 May 2022

Does the UK actually have strict anti-union laws compared to other countries, as stated on this thread? Famously militant countries, France and Italy, have minimum service requirements on strike days, which the UK doesn't.

Fokx · 24 May 2022

DanNCL said:
It's clear that the majority of those who work on the railway AND are also RMT members support the strike. The question has to be asked if the majority would still support the strike if they hadn't been lied to by their union over ticket office closures. If they'll lie over something like that, you have to wonder what else the RMT have lied about to their members behind closed doors.

Ticket office closure lists won’t have had a dramatic impact. Most people including those in said ticket offices knew it was an out of date lists but still impacts them all the same

The NR director saying that people should of worked harder at school for better pay certainly did however

ComUtoR · 24 May 2022

TUC said:
And I hope it ends in a similar way.

Thousands of lives are ruined, towns decimated, and a loss of industry. Followed by years of misery ?

That's something you hope will happen ?

ANorthernGuard · 24 May 2022

D200 said:
Well what do rail workers do. Roll over for a tummy tickle instead……

Too bloody right

We will stick together and fight. That is all we can do.

Vespa · 24 May 2022

Just come into this, I don't see how a strike is going to help, railway recovery is fragile as it is, passenger numbers is still less than pre pandemic, this will only increase WFH and unlikely to return, more will drive their cars or go by National Express if forced to, this will damage the railways at the worst time.

43066 · 24 May 2022

yorkie said:
I'm all for keeping stations staffed but the idea that ticket offices should exist for the reason of providing social interaction to people is absurd.

Trouble is if they’re closed and staff aren’t replaced we likely won’t end up with something like the staffing on the ARL network (which I agree can be more effective than traditional ticket offices), it’ll be more like SE metro and GTR where many stations are completely unstaffed much of the time.

Bletchleyite · 24 May 2022

yorkie said:
I could do without the social interaction of an awkward ticket office refusing to sell me what I want.

Agreed. Unfortunately I've had more bad experiences than good at booking offices (and this is nothing new), and as such I simply don't use them any more unless I have no option but to do so (e.g. that "wonderfully" Luddite grey and yellow operation on Merseyside which really just needs to get e-tickets and contactless sorted).

yorkie said:
I'm all for keeping stations staffed but the idea that ticket offices should exist for the reason of providing social interaction to people is absurd.

Staffing needs to be more targetted to solve problems. For instance ASB is best dealt with by way of increased BTP or secondarily by dedicated security staff.

D200 · 24 May 2022

ANorthernGuard said:
We will stick together and fight. That is all we can do.

Too bloody right it is!

Rail industry preparing for national strikes

Established Member

RailUK Forums

Established Member

Established Member

Established Member

Member

Member

Member

Established Member

Member

On Moderation

Established Member

Established Member

Established Member

On Moderation

On Moderation

Established Member

Established Member

Veteran Member

On Moderation

Forum Staff

Member

Member

Established Member

Member

Established Member

Established Member

Established Member

Established Member

Veteran Member

Member