It is though the belligerence of the 'institutionalised' that has chiefly maintained/enhanced the T&Cs that attract the outsiders, who seemingly increasingly seem to think that these T&Cs were/are just gifted to the grade...
There’s a great deal of truth in that. In my experience the overwhelming majority of those who join as operational staff from other backgrounds see the benefits of union membership immediately. Personally I would feel hypocritical not belonging, much as ASLEF is far from perfect.
As you and I have discussed on other threads there is a recent trend of open access operators denigrating unions to applicants, and for prospective joiners to parrot that message on here. It’s fairly obvious who will benefit from that approach, and it won’t be the staff, as will become all too apparent.
Sadly for all concerned being belligerent didn't work out so well for the miners, dockers or printers.
No, it didn’t in the end, but largely for external reasons: the mines weren’t economically viable in light of cheap coal from abroad; dockers went with containerisation of sea freight and printers were ultimately displaced by computer technology.
Applying that to the railway, I don’t think anyone has seriously suggested shutting it down wholesale. Covid has clearly had a massive impact on revenues, but the railway isn’t inherently profit making at the best of times (its purpose is driving economic growth), and much will depend on recovery in passenger numbers over the next year or two.
That said the unions (and especially the RMT given their membership base) are not naive to the fact that costs are being scrutinised and certain grades are clearly under existential threat, especially the likes of ticket office staff. Much as further destaffing might please some, two things are certain: it won’t make the passenger experience any better, or any cheaper
Fine, & perhaps staff who defended generous wage rises throughout the austerity period on forums like these on the premise they were private, not public sector employees are now willing to repay any differences .
Nope. On the modern railway we privatise the profits, socialise the losses.