I do understand your point, but I disagree with it. The idea that a strike will permanently destroy a market leading to mass redundancies is just management fearmongering. “Accept these poverty wages or you won’t have a job at all”.
The fact is that GNE don’t have enough drivers as it is, and haven’t for years, because not enough people will do the job for poverty wages. The GNE network was in meltdown for most of 2022 due to staff shortages caused by poverty wages. That will have done more long-term damage to the bus market.
People also seem to focus on the strike rather than the years of disgruntlement that leads to the strike in the first place. Staff will only strike when all other avenues have gone. GNE have historically always paid terrible wages, playing depots off against each other. Drivers and mechanics have left in their droves, either to other operators or the HGV industry.
Resolving the factors that have caused the strike should be important for management because GNE’s staff churn should be their biggest concern. They’re not going to have any staff left soon enough, not when you can earn as much shelf-stacking in Tesco.
That’s absolutely not what I’ve said. At no point have I said they shouldn’t be taking any action at all. I’ve said that an indefinite strike isn’t the way to do it as it’ll cause more harm than good.
A potentially three month long strike - people will adapt to live without the bus during that time and a significant number of them won’t return to the bus if/when the dispute is resolved as they’ll have found their new transport, usually the private car, to be both more convenient and cheaper.
I’m as angry as anyone else is about the pay, it’s appalling. But an indefinite strike won’t change anything. As you’ve said yourself, Featham is like Trump, he does not care.
I’ve rarely seen such a cackhanded defence of terrible working conditions.
GNE are the lowest paid drivers in the north east and the derisory offer made doesn’t actually improve on that.
Drivers won’t be made redundant when they can’t even fulfil their routes now. And if GNE started to withdraw routes then Arriva and Stagecoach would take over.
I’m not defending the working conditions. I support what Unite and the unions are campaigning for, what I don’t support is an indefinite strike that in the long term will cause more harm than good.
I really wouldn’t underestimate Featham’s willingness to make redundancies even when there isn’t any slack. He does not care about the employees and no amount of strike action will change that. He does not care about the customers and no amount of strike action will change that. All he’s interested in is money.
And whilst Stagecoach and Arriva would step in if GNE pulled the plug there’d be no guarantee that the drivers would get new jobs with Stagecoach or Arriva.