Transpennine Express Industrial Action

[OMGitsDAVE]

Don't know if this has been posted, but their Facebook has been updated with:

"We are disappointed that our driver colleagues represented by ASLEF have voted in favour of industrial action. They have informed us that they intend to strike from 00:01 to 23:59 on Wed 24 August and 00:01 to 23:59 on Fri 26 August.

We remain hopeful that a solution can be found and we would urge the representing unions to join us in further discussions.

We will endeavour to update you with information as soon as we have it via our website at www.tpexpress.co.uk/industrialaction"

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/FirstTranspennineExpress

 

[ANorthernGuard]

now I know this will probably p**s people off but I support the TPE staff as their pay offer (compared to other TOC's) was pathetic 2.6% I believe, what irked alot of the TPE staff was the excuse of they were in the final stages of the Franchise, then it gets extended and they still use the same excuse, strange when other "first" TOC's have been averaging 5%

 

[185]

And they put it on .....Facebook?

User 185 'likes' this

 

[Legzr1]

91% in favour if I remember correctly.



I can see this going down well with the press 'in the current financial climate'...

Hopefully,this well get the negotiating teams together and a fair outcome for both sides will result.

 

[9K43]

If ASLEF come out then the jobs stopped.
Apart from a few managers who will be roped in to try to run some trains.
My money is that it wont happen as management will cave in, and as usual ASLEF will get what they want.

 

[gordonthemoron]

do ASLEF/RMT ever opt for short strikes? say 2 or 4 hours?

 

[CaptainHaddock]

do ASLEF/RMT ever opt for short strikes? say 2 or 4 hours?

What would be the point of that?

The bottom line is that the drivers will always have the upper hand because if you don;t have drivers you can't run trains!

 

[gordonthemoron]

because they do it in germany and it causes chaos

 

[pemma]

What would be the point of that?

There would be a lot of point in that. A two hour strike at 17:00 would not leave anyone stranded anywhere until the next day but would lose the operator a lot of money.

 

[CaptainHaddock]

There would be a lot of point in that. A two hour strike at 17:00 would not leave anyone stranded anywhere until the next day but would lose the operator a lot of money.

Maybe, but it's pretty common for drivers on industrial action to spend the day in the pub and they wouldn't be in a fit state to resume work at 19.00 after a couple of hours in the local!

 

[alexdodds]

Just how can they complain about their pay. Do they have any sympathy for those who are on the minimum wage with very little hours or unemployed and on the dole.

They should consider themselves lucky they have a job. Unlike 2.49 million people including myself.

 

[ANorthernGuard]

Just how can they complain about their pay. Do they have any sympathy for those who are on the minimum wage with very little hours or unemployed and on the dole.

They should consider themselves lucky they have a job. Unlike 2.49 million people including myself.

with the utmost respect, welcome to the real world! why should people who have also worked hard trained hard and got a decent job suffer when the business they are in is doing well, when the opposite happens and the railways were doing terrible (70's/80's) the pay was terrible and the conditions worse didn't hear anyone sticking up for them then! I worked hard to get to where I am now, I have done minimum paid jobs, I have worked all the hours I possibly can to earn a crust, why on earth should drivers who have done the same accept a pay deal that is a fraction of there colleagues with no valid reason from the company!

 

[alexdodds]

2.2% now what would that increase it to?.

 

[radamfi]

Just how can they complain about their pay. Do they have any sympathy for those who are on the minimum wage with very little hours or unemployed and on the dole.

They should consider themselves lucky they have a job. Unlike 2.49 million people including myself.

They are no different to anyone else in a privileged position, like MPs, bankers etc. They know they are onto a good thing and want to keep it that way. They know how to play the system to get what they want. If we are all honest with ourselves, we would do the same in similar circumstances. Deep down, we are all selfish. Don't expect sympathy from MPs, bankers or train drivers.

 

[Butts]

with the utmost respect, welcome to the real world! why should people who have also worked hard trained hard and got a decent job suffer when the business they are in is doing well, when the opposite happens and the railways were doing terrible (70's/80's) the pay was terrible and the conditions worse didn't hear anyone sticking up for them then! I worked hard to get to where I am now, I have done minimum paid jobs, I have worked all the hours I possibly can to earn a crust, why on earth should drivers who have done the same accept a pay deal that is a fraction of there colleagues with no valid reason from the company!

I suppose you could argue if the government withdrew the £5 Billion subsidy from the industry they would all be losing money.

 

[bnm]

strange when other "first" TOC's have been averaging 5%

ASLEF figures for drivers. 3% or RPI Jan 2012 (whichever is higher) at FGW, FCC and ScotRail. 4% at Hull Trains. Don't see that as averaging 5%.

 

[pemma]

with the utmost respect, welcome to the real world! why should people who have also worked hard trained hard and got a decent job suffer when the business they are in is doing well, when the opposite happens and the railways were doing terrible (70's/80's) the pay was terrible and the conditions worse didn't hear anyone sticking up for them then!

But then it's the people on minimum wage and using benefit money to get the train to a job interview/training, who are amongst those funding the rail employees' pay rises. Shouldn't in the current economic climate it be a higher priority to offer more fare promotions to people travelling on the quieter services?

It's the drivers on £38,000* that are striking about the 2% offer - they're saying £760 before tax is not enough extra. If it was conductors on £16,000* working for a highly profitable company striking about a £320 rise before tax then it would be easier to understand.

* £38,000 is reported as a TPE driver's salary on another site. £16,000 is a figure I made up.

 

[ANorthernGuard]

ASLEF figures for drivers. 3% or RPI Jan 2012 (whichever is higher) at FGW, FCC and ScotRail. 4% at Hull Trains. Don't see that as averaging 5%.

info I got from TPE drivers that the avg was around the 5% mark across the board for first, its not just ASLEF who are balloting tho you have the platform staff as well, speaking to a few of them things have been simmering for a while, the only people who are not affected are the guards as they are in the 2nd year of a 2 year deal. I feel sorry for people who are unemmloyed, I have been there and worn the T-shirt but I didn't go blaming people who were still in work or have got a good rise. The railway staff always be the 1st ones to get the blame.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

They are no different to anyone else in a privileged position, like MPs, bankers etc. They know they are onto a good thing and want to keep it that way. They know how to play the system to get what they want. If we are all honest with ourselves, we would do the same in similar circumstances. Deep down, we are all selfish. Don't expect sympathy from MPs, bankers or train drivers.

Priviliged, may I suggest you apply for a role and if you are suitable then you will get a job...simples

and I'm not a Driver my wage is almost half that of a driver so shouldn't I throw my toys out of the pram as we both have serious safety responsibilities?

of course not.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
on a side note, the majority of TOC's usually have the same percentage rise across the board (northern is a good example) this is the down side to doing separate deals for each part of the Train Crew/Platform Staff positions

 

[bnm]

* £38,000 is reported as a TPE driver's salary on another site.

Pretty close. 2010 figures for most TOCs in the attachment:

 

[radamfi]

Priviliged, may I suggest you apply for a role and if you are suitable then you will get a job...simples

Arguably anyone who has got an elevated position in society is privileged. Yes, a banker might have worked hard to get where he has got. But there is always an element of luck involved too. Not everyone who applies to be a banker gets the job, even if he is intelligent and smart enough. It could be argued that if you are born in the developed world you are already greatly privileged.

 

[talltim]

I suppose you could argue if the government withdrew the £5 Billion subsidy from the industry they would all be losing money.

yeah, bit like the road subsidies

 

[CaptainHaddock]

Just how can they complain about their pay. Do they have any sympathy for those who are on the minimum wage with very little hours or unemployed and on the dole.

They should consider themselves lucky they have a job. Unlike 2.49 million people including myself.

Is there any more stupid phrase than "They should consider themselves lucky they have a job" (not just on this thread but increasingly in use elsewhere)?

People do not get jobs based on luck, most of the time it's down to sheer hard work, getting on with other people and learning specialist skills that ordinary members of the public do not have.

Yes, drivers are well paid, but they have the lives of hundreds of passengers in their hands, will probably be traumatised by a fatality several times in their careers and just one mistake could not only cost them their job but their life.

I couldn't do it and have every respect for those who do.

 

[nedchester]

ASLEF don't live in the real world! Whilst many including me are on 0% for the next two years + possible increased pension contributions then TPE drivers should think themselves lucky to be offered 2%. Drivers have done very well in recent years so it's time for the greedy gets to wake up and smell the coffee!

 

[radamfi]

People do not get jobs based on luck, most of the time it's down to sheer hard work, getting on with other people and learning specialist skills that ordinary members of the public do not have.

Luck is part of it. There is luck in being selected for interview. There is luck in being born with the skills required to pass the train driver tests.

I would consider myself lucky. I've got an OK job paying about the same a train driver for doing not much work. Yes, I have two degrees and worked hard at school, but if I wasn't lucky enough to be born with the brains I have and if I wasn't lucky enough to be born in this country to parents who valued education, I probably wouldn't have succeeded.

 

[YorkshireRider]

I dont know why first group play these games, they will back down, Fri 26th is a clever date to pick by ASLEF.

 

[pemma]

Fri 26th is a clever date to pick by ASLEF.

Especially as Manchester Airport is a major station on their network.

 

[Greenback]

I have a feeling that the arguments here are going to be the same ones we have had on all of the other industrial action threads!

Just because someone is employed at the moment does not make them lucky or greedy. Nor does it make them immune to the increases in the costs of everything. I earn a lot less than the average wage, but I am not envious or jealous of those who earn more than me. Nor do I begrudge people the right to earn a decent living, whatever they work.

My pay rise this year was £250 - far less than 2%. I know some people who have not had a pay rise. I know others who have had more than myself. I don;t whine about how unfair this all this, I am too busy worrying how to pay my own bills.

I find the attitude of 'I haven't got that, so no one else should have it, and if they do they are very, very lucky' extremely tedious. Like it or not, under the political and economic system we have, it's never going to be fair to everyone all the time. If you don't like it, campaign to change the system rather than moan about it!

 

[ANorthernGuard]

Especially as Manchester Airport is a major station on their network.

for the public tho, Northern do run plenty of services to the Airport from Crewe and manchester Transpennine services will undoubtably suffer but Northern will do there best to keep things running

 

[alexdodds]

ASLEF don't live in the real world! Whilst many including me are on 0% for the next two years + possible increased pension contributions then TPE drivers should think themselves lucky to be offered 2%. Drivers have done very well in recent years so it's time for the greedy gets to wake up and smell the coffee!

Infact anyone in todays climate should consider themselves lucky if they have been offered a rise.

If I was driver on £35K I would of accepted 2.2% rise. However if there were strings attached to the deal I would think it through first of course.

 

[pemma]

for the public tho, Northern do run plenty of services to the Airport from Crewe and manchester Transpennine services will undoubtably suffer but Northern will do there best to keep things running

I'm sure they will but Leeds or Huddersfield to Manchester Airport via Manchester Victoria won't be fun for the passengers.