Miserable tube drivers for Olympics

[valiant1]

egor110 said:

Just out of interest what sort of shift patterns do tube drivers work? 5 day week, 9 day fortnight?
Also how is hard to concentrate when your shut off in your drivers cabin all day with no human intercation?

Earliest start 04.45, latest finish 01.30 plus night shift (approx 10.00-07.00)

Generally a week of earlys, then a week of lates, then a week of 'middles' but there can be vaiations and mixtures of the above (for instance 2 lates,then 2 restdays then 3 earlies)

5 day week in general and a max of 10 days in a row without a restday.

You do have to have the ability to concentrate over long periods of time with little visual stimulation (it can look all the same after a while)and you must be comfortable with your own company (you'd be surprised how hard this is for some people) as you will only really see your collegues when you book on or on meal breaks.

Also remember you are not allowed to be distracted in the cab so no MP3s,phones,newspapers - just you and your imagination for company.

Oh, nearly forgot as now this is in NP&E it will be rasied at some point - No voluntary overtime unlike most other TOCs'. Only earn it if you go over your hours due to disruption.

Edited by valiant1 on Friday 9th March 13:21

[Chrisw666]

valiant1 said:

egor110 said:

Just out of interest what sort of shift patterns do tube drivers work? 5 day week, 9 day fortnight?
Also how is hard to concentrate when your shut off in your drivers cabin all day with no human intercation?

Earliest start 04.45, latest finish 01.30 plus night shift (approx 10.00-07.00)

Generally a week of earlys, then a week of lates, then a week of 'middles' but there can be vaiations and mixtures of the above (for instance 2 lates,then 2 restdays then 3 earlies)

5 day week in general and a max of 10 days in a row without a restday.

You do have to have the ability to concentrate over long periods of time with little visual stimulation (it can look all the same after a while)and you must be comfortable with your own company (you'd be surprised how hard this is for some people) as you will only really see your collegues when you book on or on meal breaks.

Also remember you are not allowed to be distracted in the cab so no MP3s,phones,newspapers - just you and your imagination for company.

Sounds horrendous. I don't how the poor lambs cope knowing they have a salary from one week to the next, having fixed hours, not having to meet deadlines that could cost themselves and others their jobs, not having to ensure that other folk who they have no control over do what they promised on time so it all doesn't collapse.

Sod an £850 bonus because it will be busy for a few weeks absolve them of paying taxes, apply to the vatican for accelerated sainthood and give every single one of them £1,000,000 a year for being such dedicated button pushers.

[thinfourth2]

Chrisw666 said:

Sounds horrendous. I don't how the poor lambs cope knowing they have a salary from one week to the next, having fixed hours, not having to meet deadlines that could cost themselves and others their jobs, not having to ensure that other folk who they have no control over do what they promised on time so it all doesn't collapse.

Sod an £850 bonus because it will be busy for a few weeks absolve them of paying taxes, apply to the vatican for accelerated sainthood and give every single one of them £1,000,000 a year for being such dedicated button pushers.

Well you go do it then

I wouldn't

Stuck under ground with a bunch of folk who hate you and having to live in that sthole that is London

[Chrisw666]

thinfourth2 said:

Well you go do it then

I wouldn't

Stuck under ground with a bunch of folk who hate you and having to live in that sthole that is London

Nobody forces them to do it, they could choose to do something more fulfilling, maybe they could create jobs for other people, become involved in stimulating the economy and help others to help themselves.

Or they could stick to form, hold decent people to ransom and whine about how stty their well paid jobs are. It isn't like anyone conned them into signing up by promising they would see the world is it?

[egor110]

'Sounds horrendous. I don't how the poor lambs cope knowing they have a salary from one week to the next, having fixed hours, not having to meet deadlines that could cost themselves and others their jobs,'
So if you don't like the fact that you don't have a salary one week to another and having fixed hours then do something about it, instead of constantly moaning.

[turbobloke]

Chrisw666 said:

thinfourth2 said:

Well you go do it then

I wouldn't

Stuck under ground with a bunch of folk who hate you and having to live in that sthole that is London

Nobody forces them to do it, they could choose to do something more fulfilling, maybe they could create jobs for other people, become involved in stimulating the economy and help others to help themselves.

Or they could stick to form, hold decent people to ransom and whine about how stty their well paid jobs are. It isn't like anyone conned them into signing up by promising they would see the world is it?

Unless there are social reasons I'll take a cab now every time, these helpful selfless people deserve nothing less, and with increasing automation they'll soon be redundant - so let's not begrudge them a few quid before it happens. Hopefully afterwards there will be enough senior staff trained in safety to accompany the automated trains so any strike will be pointless, at which point the dinosaur union barons and wolfie smiths hanging off their coattails can go screw themselves.

[valiant1]

Chrisw666 said:

Nobody forces them to do it, they could choose to do something more fulfilling, maybe they could create jobs for other people, become involved in stimulating the economy and help others to help themselves.

Or they could stick to form, hold decent people to ransom and whine about how stty their well paid jobs are. It isn't like anyone conned them into signing up by promising they would see the world is it?

Err, no one is complaining how stty the job is. Someone asked about shift patterns and the like and I told them. Not everyone has to have a job that 'stimulates' the economy - someone has to drive the trains,police the streets,mend the drains and sweep the streets and they will find it just as fulfilling as all these 'heros' who are saving the economy single handedly.

[Chrisw666]

egor110 said:

So if you don't like the fact that you don't have a salary one week to another and having fixed hours then do something about it, instead of constantly moaning.

Err, I'm not the one threatening to go on strike if someone doesn't give me extra wages for doing my job.

I work hard and do well I get paid well, I lounge around or fail at my job and both me and my employees lose out.

What I don't do is sit with my hand out threatening to ruin other people's working and leisure time if I don't get my own way. That kind of entitlement attitude is what holds this country back.

[turbobloke]

Chrisw666 said:

egor110 said:

So if you don't like the fact that you don't have a salary one week to another and having fixed hours then do something about it, instead of constantly moaning.

Err, I'm not the one threatening to go on strike if someone doesn't give me extra wages for doing my job.

I work hard and do well I get paid well, I lounge around or fail at my job and both me and my employees lose out.

What I don't do is sit with my hand out threatening to ruin other people's working and leisure time if I don't get my own way. That kind of entitlement attitude is what holds this country back.

Indeed.

Effective means of transport are essential to the country's economy, particularly in a capital city, which is why the selfless actions of striking well-paid tube drivers are so widely appreciated.

[egor110]

Thing is then you'll be moaning that cab drivers earn more than you and the fares are too high and they also are holding the public to ransom.
If you really want to make a stand ride a bike and pay nobody anything for transporting you across London.

[turbobloke]

egor110 said:

Thing is then you'll be moaning that cab drivers earn more than you...

On PH? Really?!

egor110 said:

If you really want to make a stand ride a bike and pay nobody anything for transporting you across London.

Now you're just being unreasonable

[egor110]

Chrisw666 said:

Err, I'm not the one threatening to go on strike if someone doesn't give me extra wages for doing my job.

I work hard and do well I get paid well, I lounge around or fail at my job and both me and my employees lose out.

What I don't do is sit with my hand out threatening to ruin other people's working and leisure time if I don't get my own way. That kind of entitlement attitude is what holds this country back.

Neither are they, as we've established they are been given extra because the company want to rip up there contracted conditions for the period of the olympics and in return are giving them the bonus because there going to be working longer hours to cope with the increased olympic traffic.

[Chrisw666]

egor110 said:

Thing is then you'll be moaning that cab drivers earn more than you and the fares are too high and they also are holding the public to ransom.

Cab drivers only get paid for the time they work and are busy, Tube drivers get paid to drive empty trains around.

Only one of the two starts a month knowing what they will earn, only one of the two has to deal with the general public face to face. I know which job I'd pick if there was only two options and it wouldn't be the one in the car.

[turbobloke]

egor110 said:

Chrisw666 said:

Err, I'm not the one threatening to go on strike if someone doesn't give me extra wages for doing my job.

I work hard and do well I get paid well, I lounge around or fail at my job and both me and my employees lose out.

What I don't do is sit with my hand out threatening to ruin other people's working and leisure time if I don't get my own way. That kind of entitlement attitude is what holds this country back.

Neither are they, as we've established they are been given extra because the company want to rip up there contracted conditions for the period of the olympics and in return are giving them the bonus because there going to be working longer hours to cope with the increased olympic traffic.

Is that not a matter of overtime rather than bonus, or is this maybe overtime plus a no-strike bribe bonus?

[egor110]

The point your missing is they wouldn't have to strike, they could all just work there contracted hours and say no thanks i don't want the overtime.
They wouldn't of gone on strike but then you'd all be on here moaning you couldn't get to the olympics or moaning the tube drivers won't do overtime.
Maybe the drivers would actually like to watch the olympics?

[valiant1]

Chrisw666 said:

Cab drivers only get paid for the time they work and are busy, Tube drivers get paid to drive empty trains around.

Only one of the two starts a month knowing what they will earn, only one of the two has to deal with the general public face to face. I know which job I'd pick if there was only two options and it wouldn't be the one in the car.

Which is why one is SELFemployed and the the other is an employee. You do know the difference,don't you?

[egor110]

How often do you see a empty tube train in London?

[Chrisw666]

egor110 said:

The point your missing is they wouldn't have to strike, they could all just work there contracted hours and say no thanks i don't want the overtime.
They wouldn't of gone on strike but then you'd all be on here moaning you couldn't get to the olympics or moaning the tube drivers won't do overtime.
Maybe the drivers would actually like to watch the olympics?

From reading that I can assume nothing other than the bonus is a bribe to stop them striking, and the change in terms and conditions is to stop them striking by proxy and refusing overtime.

It would take a very off person to refuse to work overtime when the cost of living is rising much faster than wages.

[crankedup]

Some Gump said:

W333 said:

The bankers might have got us into this mess but some parts of the public sector are determined to make sure we stay in it

FFS!! The bankers did not "get us into it". ttty politicians with no fiscal nouse / putting votes ahead of sence got us where we are.

By all accounts the blessed that are the bankers are held at about 33% to blame for the American and European financial crisis.

[wolves_wanderer]

Hang on. The tube will be much busier than normal so why should the staff not get a little slice of the pie? Especially if they are being asked to work different hours and being banned from taking holiday?