Rail strikes discussion

[dk1]

ASLEF are being balloted as we speak, as many know, I just have the feeling that this won't help at all, so far the MSM (which since Covid ive tried my best to avoid at all costs) are wrongly throwing about drivers salaries in an attempt to demonise rail staff, if drivers actually do come in on the action it plays into the media's hands. Its a catch 22.

On a slightly different subject, I'm off to Castle Cary shortly which I fear will be exceptionally busy today with fewer trains tomorrow lol!

Some drivers are in already.

 

[Moonshot]

While i support what The RMT is doing but as a Passenger i just wished Northern at least put some kind of service on for us in Macclesfield to get to Man Picc.

A lot of people travel from Macclesfield to Manchester so would had though they would had ran some kind of service.

No service from Stockport as well.

but as i say RMT have my support for what its worth.

And the reason for lack of services through Stockport is that the signal boxes controlling movement through Stockport were closed .....it's that simple.

 

[blakey1152]

I understand that the trains and/or staff will be out of position for the start of service on non strike days, but what I don't get it is why Thameslink struggles more than anyone else to get some sort of service operating.
It feels very much like the Kent branch down the Woolwich line to Rainham is like some sort of unwanted child - always seems to be the first to have service cuts, even down to the hourly service provided until recently after other train companies increased their service to match demand when people returned to work.
Thameslink have said first trains will run from about 8am today, well unless you're on the Woolwich line that is where there isn't any morning peak trains at all - first train leaves Rainham at 0830 and arrives into London Bridge at 0959.

On the flipside, Well done to Southeastern who managed to run an extremely respectable service yesterday - which will be even more important on Thursday and Saturday due to the lack of tube lines in the area which could be used as an alternative.

 

[Agent_Squash]

And the reason for lack of services through Stockport is that the signal boxes controlling movement through Stockport were closed .....it's that simple.

If only that resignalling was completed all those years ago!

 

[skyhigh]

And the driver

Depends if they take the wrong route or not.

 

[yorksrob]

Bojo is spoiling for a fight to deflect from Partygate, the no-confidence vote and his general lack of political ability.

He will be of the opinion that being seen to slap down the unions is a perfect “Thatcher-esque” grandstanding moment to galvanise the only people who matter to him - the 200,000 Conservative party members who voted him in charge of his party.

We’ve already seen with Brexit and the poor “deal” to leave the EU, the handling of covid and the shameless partygate behaviour that all he cares about is power and hanging on to it.

A fight will suit him - he has nothing to lose and this may well get very, very messy.

He has plenty to lose. The government thinks it has a nice clean ideological fight with the railway, but passengers won't be willing to "stay the course" for long. The government will get more of the blame from passengers for as long as this goes on.

Ken Clarke admitted as much on the BBC live news feed yesterday.

 

[DarloRich]

TSSA have sent ballots to thier members over strike action. I believe the ballot is open until mid July.

 

[2021_Signaller]

ASLEF are being balloted as we speak, as many know, I just have the feeling that this won't help at all, so far the MSM (which since Covid ive tried my best to avoid at all costs) are wrongly throwing about drivers salaries in an attempt to demonise rail staff, if drivers actually do come in on the action it plays into the media's hands. Its a catch 22.

On a slightly different subject, I'm off to Castle Cary shortly which I fear will be exceptionally busy today with fewer trains tomorrow lol!

We need them. All we have is one union up against a huge propaganda operation by NR, the government, some of the media. This isn't a dispute about just us. It affects drivers just the same. Get TSSA out too. We need all the help we can get. Every union and person is welcome.

 

[irish_rail]

If the government is giving pensioners a >10% pay rise from Septembers RPI expected figures, why should we settle and work for less? We've all fulfilled our part of the bargain. We worked throughout the pandemic. We've had no payrise for yeyears

This. Pensioners in 2022 are some of the most well off in society. Its not like the 70s. Now they all own the homes they bought for a few grand , and many are very comfortable. They stayed safely at home during covid whilst key workers had to go out and put our lives on the line. The younger generation can only dream of home ownership etc, and yet there are many that begrudge working people a small payrise??? Its unbelievable frankly. If Boris can afford 10 percent for pensioners then 5 percent for working people with no strings should be a given.

 

[theking]

RPI is 11.7%.

Time for all the workers in this country to get a fair deal 2% is laughable to any sector.

 

[The Planner]

This. Pensioners in 2022 are some of the most well off in society. Its not like the 70s. Now they all own the homes they bought for a few grand , and many are very comfortable. They stayed safely at home during covid whilst key workers had to go out and put our lives on the line. The younger generation can only dream of home ownership etc, and yet there are many that begrudge working people a small payrise??? Its unbelievable frankly. If Boris can afford 10 percent for pensioners then 5 percent for working people with no strings should be a given.

Pensioners tend to be ready made Tory voters though.

 

[nuneatonmark]

Well done to the RMT for riding to the rescue of the Conservative Government. A great distraction from the chaos, lying and incompetence of this Government. In a cost of living crisis, let's all have someone else to blame, the unions! Just before 2 by-elections let's give Labour a big issue and allow the Conservatives to go 'See, this is what it would be like under Labour, especially with them nationalised again'. Well played RMT!

 

[Val3ntine]

Well done to the RMT for riding to the rescue of the Conservative Government. A great distraction from the chaos, lying and incompetence of this Government. In a cost of living crisis, let's all have someone else to blame, the unions! Just before 2 by-elections let's give Labour a big issue and allow the Conservatives to go 'See, this is what it would be like under Labour, especially with them nationalised again'. Well played RMT!

To be fair, this is what it already looks like under the Tories.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

It should be the Labour Party, as the elected body in Parliament who currently are the official opposition to the Government, to hold the Conservative Party to task over political matters, but over the last few days, the RMT seem to feel that they can be the prime mover in co-ordinating other trades unions in developing the strike action into a much wider national remit. Sir Keir Starmer will not be pleased at this attempt to sideline them.

 

[yorksrob]

The sadness is that we have a high level of inflation caused largely by our over-dependence on foreign imports.

The passenger railway is a great enabler of domestic expenditure, and we need it now more than ever to reorientate the economy away from imports. It allows people to spend money in the British economy on leisure, and does so without them having to fill up their cars with inflated petrol.

Government should be doing everything it can to get them running again (and get people using them).

 

[Moonshot]

It should be the Labour Party, as the elected body in Parliament who currently are the official opposition to the Government, to hold the Conservative Party to task over political matters, but over the last few days, the RMT seem to feel that they can be the prime mover in co-ordinating other trades unions in developing the strike action into a much wider national remit. Sir Keir Starmer will not be pleased at this attempt to sideline them.

RMT are not affiliated to the Labour party, they are perfectly entitled to do what is required to secure better T and C's for the membership.......and if that means going on strike and making loud noises in the direction of the current government then so be it. That's the reality.

 

[Gems]

Well done to the RMT for riding to the rescue of the Conservative Government. A great distraction from the chaos, lying and incompetence of this Government. In a cost of living crisis, let's all have someone else to blame, the unions! Just before 2 by-elections let's give Labour a big issue and allow the Conservatives to go 'See, this is what it would be like under Labour, especially with them nationalised again'. Well played RMT!

Utter rubbish.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

On a slightly different subject, I'm off to Castle Cary shortly which I fear will be exceptionally busy today with fewer trains tomorrow lol!

Wishing you the very best of luck with the Glastonbury crowd! That's sure to be an eventful shift!

 

[Domeyhead]

The sadness is that we have a high level of inflation caused largely by our over-dependence on foreign imports.

The passenger railway is a great enabler of domestic expenditure, and we need it now more than ever to reorientate the economy away from imports. It allows people to spend money in the British economy on leisure, and does so without them having to fill up their cars with inflated petrol.

Government should be doing everything it can to get them running again (and get people using them).

But mainly the current crisis is about shortages. In a global market it doesn't matter where the goods come from. You still pay the same price - look at the price of Brent Crude or North Sea Gas? Why is it now more than double what it was 18 months ago? There's no war in the North Sea. It is not just Britain paying. I have never known a time when a failure to learn the lessons of History was so apparent yet so important. If the RMT wants to play the role that Miners played during the Callaghan years and orchestrate national action from all sectors then it should start with Care workers, working for half the wages of RMT members and without any of the benefits of a pension scheme the envy of most in the Private sector. And then delivery drivers, HGV drivers, bus drivers, and then maybe shop workers. If the RMT wants to form a line with the most deserving and underpaid at the front it will find that it is well down the queue. Instead it seems to have muscled its way to the front with megaphone diplomacy. It didn't work before. All that will be gained is lost jobs and cancelled investment.

 

[kristiang85]

RPI is 11.7%.

Time for all the workers in this country to get a fair deal 2% is laughable to any sector.

This doesn't bode well for ticket price increases for 2023.

 

[Islineclear3_1]

On the flipside, Well done to Southeastern who managed to run an extremely respectable service yesterday - which will be even more important on Thursday and Saturday due to the lack of tube lines in the area which could be used as an alternative.

Ha! Lucky you!

Well done to Southeastern who didn't run any trains on the classic mainlines. No alternatives down here except for the car and increasing the carbon footprint

 

[yorksrob]

But mainly the current crisis is about shortages. In a global market it doesn't matter where the goods come from. You still pay the same price - look at the price of Brent Crude or North Sea Gas? Why is it now more than double what it was 18 months ago? There's no war in the North Sea. It is not just Britain paying. I have never known a time when a failure to learn the lessons of History was so apparent yet so important. If the RMT wants to play the role that Miners played during the Callaghan years and orchestrate national action from all sectors then it should start with Care workers, working for half the wages of RMT members and without any of the benefits of a pension scheme the envy of most in the Private sector. And then delivery drivers, HGV drivers, bus drivers, and then maybe shop workers. If the RMT wants to form a line with the most deserving and underpaid at the front it will find that it is well down the queue. Instead it seems to have muscled its way to the front with megaphone diplomacy. It didn't work before. All that will be gained is lost jobs and cancelled investment.

Indeed, but there is no shortage of leisure businesses, craft manufacturers, domestic food producers etc who are crying out for business, which is why we need to be encouraging spending there.

 

[2021_Signaller]

But mainly the current crisis is about shortages. In a global market it doesn't matter where the goods come from. You still pay the same price - look at the price of Brent Crude or North Sea Gas? Why is it now more than double what it was 18 months ago? There's no war in the North Sea. It is not just Britain paying. I have never known a time when a failure to learn the lessons of History was so apparent yet so important. If the RMT wants to play the role that Miners played during the Callaghan years and orchestrate national action from all sectors then it should start with Care workers, working for half the wages of RMT members and without any of the benefits of a pension scheme the envy of most in the Private sector. And then delivery drivers, HGV drivers, bus drivers, and then maybe shop workers. If the RMT wants to form a line with the most deserving and underpaid at the front it will find that it is well down the queue. Instead it seems to have muscled its way to the front with megaphone diplomacy. It didn't work before. All that will be gained is lost jobs and cancelled investment.

In answer to that, give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

All the carers and other professions needing more pay have my sympathy, but what are they doing about it? They should Unionise &demand things of the politicians. The RMT exists for its members, we fund it. We can lead by example but we cannot do it for anyone else. They have to do the hard yards. All we promise is that they won't do it alone.

 

[ExRes]

This. Pensioners in 2022 are some of the most well off in society. Its not like the 70s. Now they all own the homes they bought for a few grand , and many are very comfortable. They stayed safely at home during covid whilst key workers had to go out and put our lives on the line. The younger generation can only dream of home ownership etc, and yet there are many that begrudge working people a small payrise??? Its unbelievable frankly. If Boris can afford 10 percent for pensioners then 5 percent for working people with no strings should be a given.

Absolute twaddle, when I bought my home 'for a few grand' my salary, believe it or not, was equally as low, I was paying around 16% interest on my mortgage and coping with double figure inflation and double figure unemployment, if the Government give me a 10% increase on my state pension that will be less than £800 per year, whoopee, that'll be bingo time for me won't it? maybe I'll go off abroad on holiday, something I couldn't afford when paying my mortgage or buy a new car, something I couldn't afford when paying my mortgage, maybe they'll give rail staff an £800 per year increase to keep up with us cash rich pensioners then, does that sound good? As you've mentioned covid should I in turn mention that many of the supermarket staff etc that I came across were of pension age who were keeping shops open not staying 'safely at home'

 

[ar10642]

Absolute twaddle, when I bought my home 'for a few grand' my salary, believe it or not, was equally as low, I was paying around 16% interest on my mortgage and coping with double figure inflation and double figure unemployment, if the Government give me a 10% increase on my state pension that will be less than £800 per year, whoopee, that'll be bingo time for me won't it? maybe I'll go off abroad on holiday, something I couldn't afford when paying my mortgage or buy a new car, something I couldn't afford when paying my mortgage, maybe they'll give rail staff an £800 per year increase to keep up with us cash rich pensioners then, does that sound good? As you've mentioned covid should I in turn mention that many of the supermarket staff etc that I came across were of pension age who were keeping shops open not staying 'safely at home'

You can dress it up however you want, but the average house did not cost 10x the average salary back then, so you did have it easier, sorry.

 

[Gems]

Absolute twaddle, when I bought my home 'for a few grand' my salary, believe it or not, was equally as low, I was paying around 16% interest on my mortgage and coping with double figure inflation and double figure unemployment, if the Government give me a 10% increase on my state pension that will be less than £800 per year, whoopee, that'll be bingo time for me won't it? maybe I'll go off abroad on holiday, something I couldn't afford when paying my mortgage or buy a new car, something I couldn't afford when paying my mortgage, maybe they'll give rail staff an £800 per year increase to keep up with us cash rich pensioners then, does that sound good? As you've mentioned covid should I in turn mention that many of the supermarket staff etc that I came across were of pension age who were keeping shops open not staying 'safely at home'

Today's pensioners are the most affluent in history thanks largely to ballooning housing prices.
The grey rinse brigade keep this lot in power. You expect the working young to provide you with increased pension pots whilst happily criticising them for asking for a pay rise. The older generation have no shame.

 

[Domeyhead]

In answer to that, give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

All the carers and other professions needing more pay have my sympathy, but what are they doing about it? They should Unionise &demand things of the politicians. The RMT exists for its members, we fund it. We can lead by example but we cannot do it for anyone else. They have to do the hard yards. All we promise is that they won't do it alone.

Are you seriously suggesting that Care WOrkers would walk out of a Nursing Home and leave the old people to die? Or are you suggesting that they can carry on working and the RMT will act as Proxy for other sectors and strike on their behalf? I am not sure which scenario is more disturbing or bizarre.

 

[uglymonkey]

Lets all start fighting and criticizing each other, divide and rule anyone, rather than addressing where the true problem lays.

 

[Gems]

Lets all start fighting and criticizing each other, divide and rule anyone, rather than addressing where the true problem lays.

The problem begins with people who criticise others but don't walk in their shoes.
It continues with people low down the ladder kicking those a rung lower. And the biscuit is taken by those who were happy to sit at home being paid whilst others put their health at risk. All that hand clapping and pan banging is a bit hollow now isn't it.

 

[matacaster]

It should be the Labour Party, as the elected body in Parliament who currently are the official opposition to the Government, to hold the Conservative Party to task over political matters, but over the last few days, the RMT seem to feel that they can be the prime mover in co-ordinating other trades unions in developing the strike action into a much wider national remit. Sir Keir Starmer will not be pleased at this attempt to sideline them.

Sir keir who? Always hiding, hardly ever clearly stating his position and when he does his shadow cabinet promptly go their own diametrically opposite way. He has no authority and darent upset his left or right people.