Hi - newcomer here who is considering going in to railway work from somewhere else in transport.
A few months ago, I applied for and got an interview for what would be an office based job with a train operating company. (I would not see it as 'management' level, if that makes a difference, but would rather not go in to detail in public.)
One of the interview questions was about taking on operational duties for special events / emergencies etc and was I happy doing that. On the basis that saying 'no' to something at interview is not a good move, I said yes.
It got as far as an offer, and doing this sort of work seems to be contractual, and also to apply to what I can only describe (politely) as strike-breaking.
With the lockdown, re-locating and starting this job wasn't practical, so I had to withdraw, but a couple of questions in case another opportunity comes along -
Is there proper training for this sort of thing? Or is it 'here's a high-vis, now go and herd a crowd of irate passengers'? I've not worked on the railways, but can appreciate that the 'basic' jobs like ticket checking and train despatch are by no means unskilled jobs.
And how contractual is it?
The occasional day out of the office round special events would probably make a nice change, but I'm not at all comfortable with the idea of being expected to cross a picket line and undermine other workers, even if they would be different department / different union (from what I gather, office based roles are mostly TSSA, operational roles other than driving are mostly RMT.)
I have been in organisations where there has been industrial action by particular grades / unions, and the line both from management and other unions is that people who are not directly involved should continue to do their usual job but are not expected to cover for those taking action.
Any insights welcome. Thanks.
A few months ago, I applied for and got an interview for what would be an office based job with a train operating company. (I would not see it as 'management' level, if that makes a difference, but would rather not go in to detail in public.)
One of the interview questions was about taking on operational duties for special events / emergencies etc and was I happy doing that. On the basis that saying 'no' to something at interview is not a good move, I said yes.
It got as far as an offer, and doing this sort of work seems to be contractual, and also to apply to what I can only describe (politely) as strike-breaking.
With the lockdown, re-locating and starting this job wasn't practical, so I had to withdraw, but a couple of questions in case another opportunity comes along -
Is there proper training for this sort of thing? Or is it 'here's a high-vis, now go and herd a crowd of irate passengers'? I've not worked on the railways, but can appreciate that the 'basic' jobs like ticket checking and train despatch are by no means unskilled jobs.
And how contractual is it?
The occasional day out of the office round special events would probably make a nice change, but I'm not at all comfortable with the idea of being expected to cross a picket line and undermine other workers, even if they would be different department / different union (from what I gather, office based roles are mostly TSSA, operational roles other than driving are mostly RMT.)
I have been in organisations where there has been industrial action by particular grades / unions, and the line both from management and other unions is that people who are not directly involved should continue to do their usual job but are not expected to cover for those taking action.
Any insights welcome. Thanks.