UK Rail Strikes

TheReligion

Abusive
Joined
Nov 22, 2006
Messages
51,446
Location
Manchester
Stagnated pay? I sympathize with the strikers.
I’m not sure what level its stagnant compared to the majority of others however people will naturally compare it to their own circumstances.

The RMT have a history of getting good results for their members though.
 

africanspur

Full Member
Joined
Sep 1, 2010
Messages
9,082
Supports
Tottenham Hotspur
Am being personally affected by the strikes this week in multiple ways and still very supportive of them. Good on them for standing up for their members' rights.
 

Buster15

Go on Didier
Joined
Aug 28, 2018
Messages
13,299
Location
Bristol
Supports
Bristol Rovers
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-61861040

Worst in 30 years according to the Beeb.

How does everyone feel about this? do the RMT have too much power and should legislation be brought in to prevent this happening or should the public be supportive of the strike action?
Two things come to mind.
1. The RMT has not been doing a good enough job of making their case to the public. As a result, the narrative is dominated by the government propaganda and biased reporting by the media.
2. The media are all reporting that this strike will badly affect the Glastonbury Festival.
Firstly, the music festival is in a farmer fields miles away from Glastonbury.
And the fact that there is NO railway station in Glastonbury anyway.
The nearest station is Castle Cary which is about 20 miles away and I doubt many are going to walk from that station to the festival.
 

Mr Pigeon

Illiterate Flying Rat
Scout
Joined
Mar 27, 2014
Messages
26,107
Location
bin
If you have a problem with this union then your union will be next. Tories up to their usual tricks trying to point the finger at others to sow dissent, focused on their ultimate goal of stripping worker's rights further. I support them.

It's also incredible that it's now the rail worker's faults that their working conditions are getting fecked even more, causing people to miss NHS appointments or a day's work which is the difference between eating that day or not. Not the fault of government policies, noooooo.
 

Snowjoe

༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ
Staff
Joined
Jan 14, 2013
Messages
30,308
Location
Lake Athabasca
Supports
Cheltenham Town
It was great I get to work from home this week and my ticket is refunded
 

DevTheRed

Full Member
Joined
Jun 19, 2013
Messages
1,070
I’m a railway worker and must say I’m all for it. Seems like there is such an obsession over pay in the media but the likes of dropped safety standards and forced redundancies never gets that much of a mention.
 

TheReligion

Abusive
Joined
Nov 22, 2006
Messages
51,446
Location
Manchester
If you have a problem with this union then your union will be next. Tories up to their usual tricks trying to point the finger at others to sow dissent, focused on their ultimate goal of stripping worker's rights further. I support them.

It's also incredible that it's now the rail worker's faults that their working conditions are getting fecked even more, causing people to miss NHS appointments or a day's work which is the difference between eating that day or not. Not the fault of government policies, noooooo.
 

esmufc07

Brad
Scout
Joined
Aug 7, 2007
Messages
49,858
Location
Lake Jonathan Creek
All power to them. Every right we have as workers was fought for; Tories would happily (and are trying) strip a lot of them back.
 

Dan_F

Full Member
Joined
Dec 17, 2012
Messages
10,317
Two things come to mind.
1. The RMT has not been doing a good enough job of making their case to the public. As a result, the narrative is dominated by the government propaganda and biased reporting by the media.
2. The media are all reporting that this strike will badly affect the Glastonbury Festival.
Firstly, the music festival is in a farmer fields miles away from Glastonbury.
And the fact that there is NO railway station in Glastonbury anyway.
The nearest station is Castle Cary which is about 20 miles away and I doubt many are going to walk from that station to the festival.
They do shuttle buses from Castle Cary. I got the train there from Cornwall three times about a decade ago. The line from London to Bristol and Bristol to Cornwall is always rammed that weekend.
 

Buster15

Go on Didier
Joined
Aug 28, 2018
Messages
13,299
Location
Bristol
Supports
Bristol Rovers
They do shuttle buses from Castle Cary. I got the train there from Cornwall three times about a decade ago. The line from London to Bristol and Bristol to Cornwall is always rammed that weekend.
Thank you. BBC are reporting that GWR will still be running a service from Paddington to Castle Cary during the Festival.
 

Buster15

Go on Didier
Joined
Aug 28, 2018
Messages
13,299
Location
Bristol
Supports
Bristol Rovers
Interesting that the government line is that this rail strike is primarily politically motivated.
I wonder what percentage of those who voted for industrial action actually voted Conservative...
 

RoadTrip

petitioned for a just cause
Joined
May 9, 2013
Messages
26,201
Location
Los Pollos Hermanos...
Being honest I’m in two minds about this.

On the one hand, Railway workers earn comparatively more (and not just railway drivers by the way) than other important public and private jobs. And, they’ve had much stronger pay rises over the years, even in low inflation low interest environments, compared to other public jobs and even many private jobs.

On the other I know it’s not just about pay. And I fully support the right to strike and fight for the rights they have.

The conservatives as usual are trying to deflect but Shapps should be encouraging everyone to get around the table, not try and pass the buck and blame one side. Classic and wouldn’t expect anything different from the waste cadet.
 

Rado_N

Yaaas Broncos!
Joined
Apr 6, 2009
Messages
110,908
Location
Manchester
The rail system in this country is a frigging joke, prices seem to constantly go up and up but services are unreliable and the infrastructure poorly maintained. I don’t know where the money goes (I could probably guess) but something fundamental needs to change.

On the subject of the strikes though I absolutely support them for trying to do something about the safety issues.
 

Acole9

Outstanding
Joined
Feb 17, 2013
Messages
12,503
I'm fecking fuming this has really hit me in the pocket. I'm not able to go to a couple of gigs this week as a result of this. One wasn't cheap and I'm unable to sell it thanks to the lazy bastards at Ticketmaster.

Tories have sat back and done feck all. Labour can feck off too, not voting for them now at the next election.
 

RoadTrip

petitioned for a just cause
Joined
May 9, 2013
Messages
26,201
Location
Los Pollos Hermanos...
I'm fecking fuming this has really hit me in the pocket. I'm not able to go to a couple of gigs this week as a result of this. One wasn't cheap and I'm unable to sell it thanks to the lazy bastards at Ticketmaster.

Tories have sat back and done feck all. Labour can feck off too, not voting for them now at the next election.
What were Labour meant to do, out of interest?
 

P-Ro

"Full Member"
Joined
Nov 21, 2014
Messages
11,186
Location
Salford
Supports
Chelsea and AFC Wimbledon
I feel that the working from home revolution has definitely affected the public perception of the strikes. Most of my mates are quite happy with the strikes as it means they get a few days more working from home than they are normally used to. Obviously not the case with many folks but it's definitely a factor.
 

11101

Full Member
Joined
Aug 26, 2014
Messages
21,206
The RMT have always been about screwing the public to further their political aims, using their members as an excuse. Reading further about these strikes its the same again. The safety narrative is not what they say it is. They give all the other unions a bad name and shorten the public's patience.
 

Bosws87

Full Member
Joined
Jun 18, 2015
Messages
3,709
With the ever increasing cost of the railways and the zero improvement, very sceptical that any pay raise agreed will be subsidised instantly by raising prices again, when they are beyond a joke in this country.
 

finneh

Full Member
Joined
Jun 28, 2010
Messages
7,318
With the ever increasing cost of the railways and the zero improvement, very sceptical that any pay raise agreed will be subsidised instantly by raising prices again, when they are beyond a joke in this country.
Of course. If unions have fought for and attained higher than market rate salaries for their members then the two groups of people that pay for it are the consumers who pay higher prices for the product/service and the people who would be happy to work at a lower salary but don't have a chance to because of the cartel nature of a closed shop.

If the job paid much lower than market rate salaries the staff would leave for better opportunities. I'd be interested to know whether they are struggling to recruit at current salary levels without any salary increases.
 

Kag

Full Member
Joined
Jun 15, 2013
Messages
18,875
Location
United Kingdom
The RMT have always been about screwing the public to further their political aims, using their members as an excuse. Reading further about these strikes its the same again. The safety narrative is not what they say it is. They give all the other unions a bad name and shorten the public's patience.
The safety narrative is exactly what they say it is. You can’t cut maintenance by 50% and expect standards to remain the same, particularly when the 3000 jobs about to go include the most experienced blokes out on track. Agency workers are out there every weekend arsing around and cutting corners. Bear that in mind the next time the wires are down and it takes about three days to get them back up because the agency lads haven’t got the tickets or experience to get up there and fix them.

Network Rail are comprising safety and standards in an effort to slash outgoings and keep money stashed away. Their biggest issue is that they don’t adequately train the staff they already have, which leads to so much money and time wasted.
 

villain

Hates Beyoncé
Joined
Apr 22, 2014
Messages
14,973
More people should strike in this country, full support.
 

711

Verified Bird Expert
Scout
Joined
Dec 10, 2007
Messages
24,209
Location
Don't sign old players and cast offs
Of course. If unions have fought for and attained higher than market rate salaries for their members then the two groups of people that pay for it are the consumers who pay higher prices for the product/service and the people who would be happy to work at a lower salary but don't have a chance to because of the cartel nature of a closed shop.
In some cases yes for your first point, but your second is nonsense. There is no closed shop or cartel amongst railway staff, even the drivers belong to several unions or none at all, and have no influence on recruitment. They are involved in training, and rightly so, but not in selection.
 

Kag

Full Member
Joined
Jun 15, 2013
Messages
18,875
Location
United Kingdom
Also, Grant Shapps hasn’t once sat down and engaged in conversation. The Tories actively want these strikes to happen. Classic divide and conquer and it looks like it’s working.
 

Bosws87

Full Member
Joined
Jun 18, 2015
Messages
3,709
Of course. If unions have fought for and attained higher than market rate salaries for their members then the two groups of people that pay for it are the consumers who pay higher prices for the product/service and the people who would be happy to work at a lower salary but don't have a chance to because of the cartel nature of a closed shop.

If the job paid much lower than market rate salaries the staff would leave for better opportunities. I'd be interested to know whether they are struggling to recruit at current salary levels without any salary increases.
Yet that's the problem, it might be a little closer now because of the price of petrol, but currently there is nothing appealing about rail public transport in the UK especially for the prices quoted.

I use the trains 5/6 days a week and have watched the prices rise and the service continually get worse.

Manchester/London £100 return if it's not busy you might get a seat if your lucky.
 

Fingeredmouse

Full Member
Joined
Aug 10, 2014
Messages
5,632
Location
Glasgow
Two things come to mind.
1. The RMT has not been doing a good enough job of making their case to the public. As a result, the narrative is dominated by the government propaganda and biased reporting by the media.
2. The media are all reporting that this strike will badly affect the Glastonbury Festival.
Firstly, the music festival is in a farmer fields miles away from Glastonbury.
And the fact that there is NO railway station in Glastonbury anyway.
The nearest station is Castle Cary which is about 20 miles away and I doubt many are going to walk from that station to the festival.
How might they address point 1 given the, as you rightly highlight, control of the media by the counter narrative?
 

11101

Full Member
Joined
Aug 26, 2014
Messages
21,206
The safety narrative is exactly what they say it is. You can’t cut maintenance by 50% and expect standards to remain the same, particularly when the 3000 jobs about to go include the most experienced blokes out on track. Agency workers are out there every weekend arsing around and cutting corners. Bear that in mind the next time the wires are down and it takes about three days to get them back up because the agency lads haven’t got the tickets or experience to get up there and fix them.

Network Rail are comprising safety and standards in an effort to slash outgoings and keep money stashed away. Their biggest issue is that they don’t adequately train the staff they already have, which leads to so much money and time wasted.
See thats where they are being disingenuous. There are no agency staff in safety critical jobs on the rail network, dispatch work is about as close as they get. They work in customer service mostly. If the RMT cared a jot about safety they wouldn't have been so fond of the 12 hour days in order to get extra days off.

I remember the days of Bob Crow holding London to ransom every other weekend. The RMT are the least safety concerned of all the unions. The government aren't negotiating with them because their demands are so far from reality, and they're being so militant in their actions. They will push the government into introducing minimum service levels if they keep it up.
 

Summit

"do the dead, spread your seed and get out"
Joined
Nov 10, 2011
Messages
51,054
See thats where they are being disingenuous. There are no agency staff in safety critical jobs on the rail network, dispatch work is about as close as they get. They work in customer service mostly. If the RMT cared a jot about safety they wouldn't have been so fond of the 12 hour days in order to get extra days off.
What do you mean there are no agency staff in safety critical roles? I know agency staff that work on the railway and carry out jobs such as controller of site safety on the line. That's safety critical. Also it was the members of the union that voted for 12 hour shifts when balloted. The union didn't just agree to 12 hours without asking its members.
 

finneh

Full Member
Joined
Jun 28, 2010
Messages
7,318
In some cases yes for your first point, but your second is nonsense. There is no closed shop or cartel amongst railway staff, even the drivers belong to several unions or none at all, and have no influence on recruitment. They are involved in training, and rightly so, but not in selection.
I think you're misunderstanding my point.

If on a union negotiated salary of £50k per year there are 50,000 people that want the job but only 10,000 jobs; then by definition there are 40,000 people who are prevented from having the job.

Let's say they reduced the salary to £30k per year and there were now 10,000 people who want the 10,000 jobs; by definition only the people who want the job are getting the job so no-one is being prevented.

You can also see how a job that pays £20k per year more than the skill level is open to massive abuse. Whoever does the recruiting is giving away a massive salary uplift over time.which is a huge prize for the winner and big disappointment for the losers. It's the same reason Operation Varsity Blues occured and the same reason Johnson recently tried to appoint his girlfriend to be his chief of staff.
 
Last edited:

Wumminator

The Qatar Pounder
Joined
May 8, 2008
Messages
22,933
Location
Obertans #1 fan.
I'm fecking fuming this has really hit me in the pocket. I'm not able to go to a couple of gigs this week as a result of this. One wasn't cheap and I'm unable to sell it thanks to the lazy bastards at Ticketmaster.

Tories have sat back and done feck all. Labour can feck off too, not voting for them now at the next election.
Get a taxi.
 

11101

Full Member
Joined
Aug 26, 2014
Messages
21,206
What do you mean there are no agency staff in safety critical roles? I know agency staff that work on the railway and carry out jobs such as controller of site safety on the line. That's safety critical. Also it was the members of the union that voted for 12 hour shifts when balloted. The union didn't just agree to 12 hours without asking its members.
Exactly, because they got an extra day off. Never mind the fatigue of the days they do work.

That job is not classed as safety critical. They're not doing anything that touches the track or the trains or how they are run.
 

Vidic_In_Moscow

rectum-faced pygmy
Joined
Sep 19, 2010
Messages
19,578
Location
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Supports
i stink
See thats where they are being disingenuous. There are no agency staff in safety critical jobs on the rail network, dispatch work is about as close as they get. They work in customer service mostly. If the RMT cared a jot about safety they wouldn't have been so fond of the 12 hour days in order to get extra days off.

I remember the days of Bob Crow holding London to ransom every other weekend. The RMT are the least safety concerned of all the unions. The government aren't negotiating with them because their demands are so far from reality, and they're being so militant in their actions. They will push the government into introducing minimum service levels if they keep it up.
There are tons of agency staff on LU that carry out safety critical work every night of the week.