RMT Strike Action Sat 26/8 and Sat 2/9

[davews]

SWR already have an amended service with closures and buses during that time. According to their normal practice those RR Buses won't run so most of the Windsor lines will be totally isolated.
As others have said the strikes are pointless. Never worked in a unionised industry and have always strongly opposed this sort of industrial action. It didn't work in the 1980s and it is certainly not working now.

 

[Snow1964]

Someone missed a comma, should read

But would you trust an organisation that doesn't even understand junior school level grammar to negotiate on your behalf, except of course they can't negotiate because other side ignores them.

 

[CAF397]

Seriously? The strikes have been going on for a year now with no real progress, what is the point?

Because to cease means the rail workers will accept blanket changes to T&Cs, redundancies and accept no pay rise for 4 years.

Would you accept working extra days when you don't get paid any more? If someone on a 36-hour/5 day week is now told they will be working 6 days a week for the same hours, this means they have to pay for an extra days transport costs, and see their family less.

Or their job role is changing and they either accept new T&Cs which would have a detrimental change to their pay or work/life balance.

Or their pay stays at 2018/2019 levels when the cost of everything has risen, yet other industries and sectors are accepting pay awards, or at least negotiating.

To give in, means never being able to negotiate anything again.

 

[66701GBRF]

But would you trust an organisation that doesn't even understand junior school level grammar to negotiate on your behalf, except of course they can't negotiate because other side ignores them.

I guess you have never heard of typos then?

 

[Russel]

Because to cease means the rail workers will accept blanket changes to T&Cs, redundancies and accept no pay rise for 4 years.

Would you accept working extra days when you don't get paid any more? If someone on a 36-hour/5 day week is now told they will be working 6 days a week for the same hours, this means they have to pay for an extra days transport costs, and see their family less.

Or their job role is changing and they either accept new T&Cs which would have a detrimental change to their pay or work/life balance.

Or their pay stays at 2018/2019 levels when the cost of everything has risen, yet other industries and sectors are accepting pay awards, or at least negotiating.

To give in, means never being able to negotiate anything again.

I get it to a point, but maybe it's time to change tactics?

I stand by my point, Saturday strikes have achieved nothing.

 

[The Middle]

There is a lot of engineering work taking place on the ECML on Sat 26 August so it will have little impact on that route.

That doesn't start until 2000 so will still impact the daytime. Although LNER have shown they can still run a decent service on strike days plus the addition of the OA operators not involved.

 

[CAF397]

I get it to a point, but maybe it's time to change tactics?

I stand by my point, Saturday strikes have achieved nothing.

I'm not in RMT I'm in ASLEF. I agree the ASLEF week long overtime bans seem to be more effective and don't hurt the pay slip. I don't know why RMT seem to prefer strikes over overtime bans.

But I also know we need to keep the pressure on the DfT/Government. The frustration of the travelling public needs to be targeted at their door, especially when the Rail Minister admitted it's costing more to keep funding the TOCs through the disputes than it would've done to settle the dispute. That tells everyone where the priorities are.

 

[Silverlinky]

I get it to a point, but maybe it's time to change tactics?

I stand by my point, Saturday strikes have achieved nothing.

The Saturday stuff isn't working, many operators still run a decent service using contingent staff, unless that is part of the game knowing that this action forces companies to get managers in at the weekend thereby disrupting their worklife balance too.

Nobody is saying roll over and accept the deal, what people are increasingly saying is that there has to be a more effective way of taking action, because after 30 days of this type of action it patently isn't achieving anything.

 

[MikeWM]

Between the endless strikes, the closures for the Cambridge area re-signalling and the closures to build Cambridge South, I'm pretty much at the stage where I made more trips to London in 2020 than 2023 (!).

I just find other things to spend my money on. Don't think that helps the railways much, mind, as I start to get into a mindset of 'won't bother with this discretionary travel' which may well long outlast the strikes. Particularly now we're facing London Travelcards being withdrawn too.

 

[Andyh82]

Surely more strike action just takes more money out of the rail industry which means pay rises and job security becomes less likely rather than more likely?

If we had a poll - will these 2 days of strikes cause the dispute to be resolved? - I’m guessing it’d be 0% Yes, 100% No

 

[bramling]

Between the endless strikes, the closures for the Cambridge area re-signalling and the closures to build Cambridge South, I'm pretty much at the stage where I made more trips to London in 2020 than 2023 (!).

Funnily enough I was thinking exactly the same just recently! It’s madness. May 18 hasn’t exactly helped my rail usage either, but at least then we had the 365 services, now they’re gone the timetable really doesn’t encourage me to use the service.

I just find other things to spend my money on. Don't think that helps the railways much, mind, as I start to get into a mindset of 'won't bother with this discretionary travel' which may well long outlast the strikes.

Again, same here. It’s actually got to the point where I’ve to some extent re-aligned my interests and hobbies.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Utter rubbish. The whole point is that the Government isn't investing in rail, has zero interest in growing passenger numbers and instead wants to cut costs as much as it possibly can. It's the DfT that's killing off the railways if anyone is.

The government is putting shedloads of money into NR and HS2, and the TOCs, but the operating railway is not delivering the revenue to match.
In any real business the cuts would have gone deep and permanent (and still might on rail).
10% pay rise but 10% cuts in services (and therefore jobs) loom.
Are the unions OK with that?

 

[Andyh82]

Someone remind me whether or not Grand Central would be running on these days? Got my trains booked for Sunderland-Southampton, travelling up Friday evening and back to London after the game.

Bear in mind that Grand Central are running with a high level of cancellations at the moment due to problems with their class 180 units, so I wouldn’t rely on them for anything time specific

With it being unlikely there would be any ticket acceptance with LNER on a strike day, you’d have to wait for the next GC service which could be a number of hours later.

 

[yorksrob]

The government is putting shedloads of money into NR and HS2, and the TOCs, but the operating railway is not delivering the revenue to match.
In any real business the cuts would have gone deep and permanent (and still might on rail).
10% pay rise but 10% cuts in services (and therefore jobs) loom.
Are the unions OK with that?

Ooh, but weren't we always told that HS2 was coming out of a "different" budget ?

British Rail was a more efficient way to invest in the railway (a lot more cost effective) but the half-wit Tory party chose an expensive money-go-round that baked in extortionate costs.

And now the half-wit Tory party is complaining about the expense of the costs it instituted (rolling stock leasing, outsourcing etc)

Perhaps we should dissolve the Tory party and put the funds towards public transport, it would be better spent.

 

[1D54]

I have a Leicester - St Pancras return ticket including a travel card with a Kettering split for £30 and fully intend having an enjoyable day out on the network.

 

[paul332]

Utter rubbish. The whole point is that the Government isn't investing in rail, has zero interest in growing passenger numbers and instead wants to cut costs as much as it possibly can. It's the DfT that's killing off the railways if anyone is.

The government has committed £96billion to rail. That's one hell of an investment. Crying shame if the morons running and kowtowing to the unions wreck the whole premise by killing off the custom, and quite a lot of the hospitality sector dependent on it.

And of course the gov wants to make the sector as efficient as possible. Guards still operating doors on SW trains? What utter crassness.

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

The government is putting shedloads of money into NR and HS2, and the TOCs, but the operating railway is not delivering the revenue to match.
In any real business the cuts would have gone deep and permanent (and still might on rail).
10% pay rise but 10% cuts in services (and therefore jobs) loom.
Are the unions OK with that?

Overtime and RDW will be the main loss not jobs so bill to DfT goes down and they will off lease even more stock. I dont like the messed up services but from what i can see now is passengers are used to it and just turn up for the trains running. What the TOCs need to do is run max formation on these days and too many don't with stock just left languishing in the sidings.

 

[yorksrob]

The government has committed £96billion to rail. That's one hell of an investment. Crying shame if the morons running and kowtowing to the unions wreck the whole premise by killing off the custom, and quite a lot of the hospitality sector dependent on it.

And of course the gov wants to make the sector as efficient as possible. Guards still operating doors on SW trains? What utter crassness.

Most passengers want a second person on the train (in the passenger saloon). Where guards are required, that is more likely to happen.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

I guess you have never heard of typos then?

I just thought that was yet another example of those now famous RMT press releases that caused so much joviality on this website in past times...

 

[CFRAIL]

I assume the ASLEF OT/RD bans are effective because of the specific shortage of drivers across the industry, whereas you'd assume that a RD/OT ban by RMT members would be less effective. Although that would be my preference.

 

[Master29]

Mail and Express readers with few post counts alert.

 

[PupCuff]

The Saturday stuff isn't working, many operators still run a decent service using contingent staff, unless that is part of the game knowing that this action forces companies to get managers in at the weekend thereby disrupting their worklife balance too.

Even that logic doesn't stand though - after a year of industrial action there's broadly speaking a suffient number of trained management so as to maintain the limited strike day timetable even when a few aren't available on any given strike day owing to other commitments.

If the intention of strikes was to hit the management resource as "part of the game" you'd strike on weekdays - the management staff working the trains can't do their day job at the same time which has an impact on delivery of those tasks. Instead striking on Saturdays simply opens up (quasi-compulsory, admittedly) paid overtime a Saturday or so each month which isn't really that much of an inconvenience in the grand scheme of things.

A week of continuous strike action Monday to Friday and you start to introduce the situation that decisions have to be made about how to cover business critical non-train working tasks whilst those post holders are out working trains for an entire week.

 

[kristiang85]

It has got to the point by now where I just assume they are on strike when I want to use the train, and I am pleasantly surprised when they aren't.

The problem is it means I plan far less rail trips than i should be doing, which when multiplied over many people, makes their demands less viable in the long run. It is simply weaning people off the habit of using the railways.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Most passengers want a second person on the train (in the passenger saloon). Where guards are required, that is more likely to happen.

Have matters got so bad the trains are running with only one passenger now and they seem to be demanding that another passenger is also there to keep them company...

 

[yorksrob]

Have matters got so bad the trains are running with only one passenger now and they seem to be demanding that another passenger is also there to keep them company...

Fortunately not, although the way things are going, it won't be long

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Mail and Express readers with few post counts alert.

Come on brothers...let them see solidarity of the Socialist Worker readership on this website. I've got 31,159 in my post count.

 

[BeccaOnATrain]

Whilst I support their cause.. I can't help but be very pissed off right now. I have yet again been caught out by strike action from plans I had made months prior. This time potentially losing £££ in ticket/hotel costs if I can't find alternative arrangement down. The prospect of a 6 hour coach to London fills me with dread. Even then that doesn't get me to my destination as I'm due at Watford.

This whole situation is frustrating. I hate how this country is operated.

 

[Peterthegreat]

Even that logic doesn't stand though - after a year of industrial action there's broadly speaking a suffient number of trained management so as to maintain the limited strike day timetable even when a few aren't available on any given strike day owing to other commitments.

If the intention of strikes was to hit the management resource as "part of the game" you'd strike on weekdays - the management staff working the trains can't do their day job at the same time which has an impact on delivery of those tasks. Instead striking on Saturdays simply opens up (quasi-compulsory, admittedly) paid overtime a Saturday or so each month which isn't really that much of an inconvenience in the grand scheme of things.

A week of continuous strike action Monday to Friday and you start to introduce the situation that decisions have to be made about how to cover business critical non-train working tasks whilst those post holders are out working trains for an entire week.

Yes but in many areas there is no strike timetable. Northern hardly run anything.

 

[156421]

Whilst I support their cause.. I can't help but be very pissed off right now. I have yet again been caught out by strike action from plans I had made months prior. This time potentially losing £££ in ticket/hotel costs if I can't find alternative arrangement down. The prospect of a 6 hour coach to London fills me with dread. Even then that doesn't get me to my destination as I'm due at Watford.

This whole situation is frustrating. I hate how this country is operated.

I would get that coach booked asap as they will fill up rapidly with people affected by train strikes.

Yes but in many areas there is no strike timetable. Northern hardly run anything.

Indeed. Looking forward to having to get from Barrow to Manchester by bus[es] on September 2nd!!

 

[HamworthyGoods]

This whole situation is frustrating. I hate how this country is operated.

It’s not unique to Great Britain however, for example in France the SNCF strikes have been running for over a year too in relation to changes to Terms and Conditions / Pensions.