A 'perception that the railway exists in a world of its own' probably sums up how many of the general public view the railway/staff/unions nowadays. Often disconnected from the realities of the world at large may be another view.
If that’s the view, it’s generally an inaccurate one. Most rail-staff I know are more grateful than ever to be in what is generally acknowledged to be relatively secure, pretty well paid employment. Many of us have worked in other industries and are fully aware of how precarious things are for many people.
There is certainly a strong bias against unionised industries both in the media and amongst the public at large. Perhaps people should stop to consider why this is, and exactly who benefits from it (clue: it isn’t your average wage slave). Especially at a time when more people than ever are working in insecure, zero hours contract type work.
Unfortunately these discussions often seem to bring out an aspect of human nature where people would prefer to see other groups of workers made worse off, than focus on improving things for themselves.
At a time when the government can apparently afford to pay people £30k to do nothing, so it sticks in the craw a little for workers who have been going to work throughout the pandemic to be told there’s nothing left for them!
"Hello TCS, I'll not be out tomorrow. Book me off sick please" is by the most common way that drivers within ScotRail get out of book Sundays. Tried and tested method and nothing can be done by management. Plenty do it and in my 10 years in the place have only once known of a driver being disciplined for not turning out and thats because he forgot to call in.
Indeed. Once you have dates of sickness, it’s a simple task to work out the day of the week and then look at patterns.
I have to say I’d be absolutely staggered if Scotrail guards were able to do what
@380101 claims, and I would take that claim with a very large pinch of salt.
I’ve worked for two TOCs so far, both have guards and drivers represented by the same unions as Scotrail, both have active and relevant MFA policies. These policies would catch exactly this kind of sickness absence and there’s not a thing the union could do about it (apart from ensure the policy is followed correctly).