UK Rail Strikes

phelans shorts

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Gaz. Is a Mewling Quim.
Very true, but I don't think they're pretending to be something that they're not.
Who is?

This crap is thrown at every union leader, they make good money because they have a lot of responsibility. It’s like people won’t take them seriously unless they’re eating from a food bank.

It’s classic Tory deflection that just gets echoed.
 

Spark

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Very true, but I don't think they're pretending to be something that they're not.
Haha is he pretending to be poor or on a low wage? Wouldn't make a very good union leader if he couldn't even bargain his own wage.

For what it's worth, £124k for a CEO/leadership role is probably market rate - if not a bit below. He lives in a house worth £730k in London, which basically gets you a 2 bed flat these days.

So all in all, he's pretty much a normal bloke who's spent his life campaigning for better pay and conditions for an entire workforce. Difficult to knock him to be honest, unless you just love asset stripping and the general race to the bottom that we've been treated to under successive Tory led administrations. Trebles all round!
 

F-Red

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Who is?

This crap is thrown at every union leader, they make good money because they have a lot of responsibility. It’s like people won’t take them seriously unless they’re eating from a food bank.

It’s classic Tory deflection that just gets echoed.
It’s a bit of a basic argument to suggest that any criticism levied at these folks default people into a Tory. Unions should not be immune from criticism.

However you’re getting my point a bit confused in the discussion. I have no problems of a guy on a six figure salary, or the responsibility involved with it. What I have a problem is him intimating that he’s relatable to the working class on that level of salary. He’s no different to a politician.
 

phelans shorts

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Gaz. Is a Mewling Quim.
It’s a bit of a basic argument to suggest that any criticism levied at these folks default people into a Tory. Unions should not be immune from criticism.
Who said any criticism is? I’ve no issue with folk pointing out he was pro brexit, or any other valid complaints. However him earning 6 figures isn’t a valid complaint, it’s the kind of mud people throw when they don’t have a valid issue, and instead just want to confuse the issue with irrelevant information
 

F-Red

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Who said any criticism is? I’ve no issue with folk pointing out he was pro brexit, or any other valid complaints. However him earning 6 figures isn’t a valid complaint, it’s the kind of mud people throw when they don’t have a valid issue, and instead just want to confuse the issue with irrelevant information
We'll clearly agree to disagree on this but when this whole thing is about pay, and a few other issues thrown in to cloud the subject, then the information is pretty relevant I'd say.
 

TwoSheds

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It’s a bit of a basic argument to suggest that any criticism levied at these folks default people into a Tory. Unions should not be immune from criticism.

However you’re getting my point a bit confused in the discussion. I have no problems of a guy on a six figure salary, or the responsibility involved with it. What I have a problem is him intimating that he’s relatable to the working class on that level of salary. He’s no different to a politician.
I don't get it. I don't know what you get paid but if tomorrow someone decided to give you a £100k pay rise would you immediately be unable to relate to or advocate for the working class? Does your salary really define who you are? That's tragic if so.
 

phelans shorts

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Gaz. Is a Mewling Quim.
We'll clearly agree to disagree on this but when this whole thing is about pay, and a few other issues thrown in to cloud the subject, then the information is pretty relevant I'd say.
It’s about how people aren’t getting paid in line with inflation (which they aren’t) and when they did agree, they only said they would with X amount of redundancies, which the union rightly told them to do one. In the meanwhile the shareholders and bosses all take home the bulk of the massive profits.

He’s protecting jobs of people in a more vulnerable position. That tells me a lot more about the issue than him happening to make six figures.
 

Drifter

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Haven't watched Question Time in ages, but have to give it a watch tonight. No doubt the BBC will handpick the right-wing audience and panel.
 
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Acole9

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The hippy dippy lot who support the rail strikes will soon be pissing and moaning when airport staff are going on strike and their holiday is cancelled.
 

neverdie

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The hippy dippy lot who support the rail strikes will soon be pissing and moaning when airport staff are going on strike and their holiday is cancelled.
some things are more important than going on holiday or going to a concert. the overall health of working conditions throughout the entire country is one of those things.
 

Swedish_Plumber

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The hippy dippy lot who support the rail strikes will soon be pissing and moaning when airport staff are going on strike and their holiday is cancelled.
As opposed to the clever individuals who are happy to let the cost of living sky rocket whilst the average person hasn’t got two pennies to rub together?

Something needs to change because those politicians that are meant to be out there improving our lives have down feck all in the 10 years I’ve been an adult. If that means folk cant get out to their villa in Santorini then feck them.
 

mitChley

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The hippy dippy lot who support the rail strikes will soon be pissing and moaning when airport staff are going on strike and their holiday is cancelled.
Yeah! feck em! I too accept our billionaire overlords, they need that 2nd yacht greater than I need my heating on in the winter.
 

neverdie

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When was the last strike of this magnitude?
30 years. same industry. this one is potentially much bigger because it will have knock on effects on other industries. there's no way other unions don't ballot their members now given the record inflation and cost of living crisis as well as decreasing investment in public services. talk of ballots already.
 

calodo2003

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30 years. same industry. this one is potentially much bigger because it will have knock on effects on other industries. there's no way other unions don't ballot their members now given the record inflation and cost of living crisis as well as decreasing investment in public services. talk of ballots already.
What does ‘balloting their members’ mean? Don’t think I’ve ever heard that phrase before.
 

Fingeredmouse

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The hippy dippy lot who support the rail strikes will soon be pissing and moaning when airport staff are going on strike and their holiday is cancelled.
Hippy dippy? Leaving aside the expression being unused by anyone since 1973, what exactly is hippy like about supporting strike action? Is the manning of picket lines are hippy-ish thing to do?
 

Vidic_In_Moscow

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The hippy dippy lot who support the rail strikes will soon be pissing and moaning when airport staff are going on strike and their holiday is cancelled.
All jokes aside the support or lack thereof from the public can be extremely fickle, that’s why a good union shouldn’t really take any notice either way and just do what’s right for its members. The gushing over Mick Lynch for basically acting like a normal human being when talking to halfwit tv presenters and politicians is reaching ridiculous levels!
 

TwoSheds

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The hippy dippy lot who support the rail strikes will soon be pissing and moaning when airport staff are going on strike and their holiday is cancelled.
I will be moaning at the airlines, airports and government as I know they're almost exclusively run by incompetent, greedy bastards. I won't be moaning at workers who want to negotiate a payrise though, it's their right in a free market.
 

11101

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you don't generally support unions at all do you? asking because you seem to hate RMT more than the rest.

lynch has been great imo. he's set an example for other union leaders to follow.
I support pragmatic unions that are prepared to compromise to get what's best for their members and the industry they operate in. The RMT are not that, neither was Scargill's NUM. They are more interested in politics and point scoring than anything else. Long term that model is doomed to fail as they drive their industry into the ground.

ASLEF is a far better transport union, as is BALPA. They actually understand the realities of the world.
 

Forevergiggs1

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All jokes aside the support or lack thereof from the public can be extremely fickle, that’s why a good union shouldn’t really take any notice either way and just do what’s right for its members. The gushing over Mick Lynch for basically acting like a normal human being when talking to halfwit tv presenters and politicians is reaching ridiculous levels!
Mike Lynch could run the train service into the ground but as long as he's, "giving it to the tories" that's enough to have 90% of the caf cream themselves. Job done.
 

arnie_ni

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Some of the interviews are cringeworthy on behalf of the host. Do they actually believe what the nonsense they are spouting?
 

neverdie

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Mike Lynch could run the train service into the ground but as long as he's, "giving it to the tories" that's enough to have 90% of the caf cream themselves. Job done.
yeah it's about giving it to the tories and not about articulating the crippling effect the cost of living and inflation crisis is having on the entire country coupled with years and years of austerity. half the public sector is considering industrial action. it's not just mick lynch. he's a symptom of a crisis that has been brewing for nearly fifteen years.

whenever someone does something objectively useful and worthwhile there's always a bunch of people ready to move against the grain. used to be called hipsters. a better description is contrarian proxy tory at this point. people need to get over themselves and consider what actually matters. if you don't think working conditions matter that's fine but don't try and frame this as people jumping on some celebrity bandwagon when it's the exact opposite of that.
 

holdsteady

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I'm supportive of unions generally, but I hate hypocrites and the RMT are still one of the worst for me personally. Openly supported and pushed for Brexit knowing that it impacts workers pay & conditions long term, and despite openly criticising BP and the oil sector in February for the profits they're making, has £1.2m of shares in both BP and Shell. Lynch is a bit of a meme at the moment with the interviews, clear and succinct in his points however it's pretty easy to bounce back against some of the Tory drones. However I do laugh when he talks about relating to the working class when he's on a six figure salary, a champagne socialist if ever I saw one!
You don't stop becoming a worker just because you're paid well for your work.
 

Baxter

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That audience is a prime example of everything which is wrong with this country.
A massive Tory constituency which appears to be stacked with the middle aged and retirees.
 

neverdie

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That audience is a prime example of everything which is wrong with this country.
thats just typical BBC audience and panel stacking. fiona bruce literally said "i'll do it for you" speaking to the government rep who had no answers. an audience of tories. there's literally no other way people will clap for an austerity government's record on covid unless they're tories at this point. bbc is an arm of the tory party and works for the billionaire class.