RMT union vote for a national rail strike

[irc]

kestral said:

No idea I just know that RMT train divers get £70,000 for a 35 hr 4 day week. And 100% pension 2/3 paid for by the company and are never made redundant ever.

Average UK train driver salary is £54k.

£70k would need overtime but is probably achievable due to the current model where the operating companies seem to rely to overtime to cover services

[Digga]

To their credit, BBC news just ran a piece about the strike at the end of their half hourly bulletin. Played an interview with a Blackpool landlady; bookings down 30% on both her properties. She said this is indicative of what others would be experiencing. This is the brutal truth about unions flexing their muscle in monopoly industries. Hundreds, thousands of businesses, thousands, tens of, possibly hundreds of thousands of ordinary people’s travel, holiday and leisure plans wrecked. This after two years of lockdowns. It is morally repugnant.

[Tlandcruiser]

Digga said:

To their credit, BBC news just ran a piece about the strike at the end of their half hourly bulletin. Played an interview with a Blackpool landlady; bookings down 30% on both her properties. She said this is indicative of what others would be experiencing. This is the brutal truth about unions flexing their muscle in monopoly industries. Hundreds, thousands of businesses, thousands, tens of, possibly hundreds of thousands of ordinary people’s travel, holiday and leisure plans wrecked. This after two years of lockdowns. It is morally repugnant.

Soley down to strikes and nothing to do with the cost of living?

[Vasco]

Digga said:

To their credit, BBC news just ran a piece about the strike at the end of their half hourly bulletin. Played an interview with a Blackpool landlady; bookings down 30% on both her properties. She said this is indicative of what others would be experiencing. This is the brutal truth about unions flexing their muscle in monopoly industries. Hundreds, thousands of businesses, thousands, tens of, possibly hundreds of thousands of ordinary people’s travel, holiday and leisure plans wrecked. This after two years of lockdowns. It is morally repugnant.

Welcome to the RMT.....

[valiant]

Vasco said:

Digga said:

To their credit, BBC news just ran a piece about the strike at the end of their half hourly bulletin. Played an interview with a Blackpool landlady; bookings down 30% on both her properties. She said this is indicative of what others would be experiencing. This is the brutal truth about unions flexing their muscle in monopoly industries. Hundreds, thousands of businesses, thousands, tens of, possibly hundreds of thousands of ordinary people’s travel, holiday and leisure plans wrecked. This after two years of lockdowns. It is morally repugnant.

Welcome to the RMT.....

Yet some here would call for the Blackpool line to closed down completely should the line not prove profitable. Then Mrs Miggins would see a permanent loss of takings all year round. Goes to show there’s more ‘value’ to the wider community in running loss making rail lines than merely the bottom line of a rail accountants spreadsheet.

Almost as if they’re trying to provide a public service…

[Vasco]

valiant said:

Vasco said:

Digga said:

To their credit, BBC news just ran a piece about the strike at the end of their half hourly bulletin. Played an interview with a Blackpool landlady; bookings down 30% on both her properties. She said this is indicative of what others would be experiencing. This is the brutal truth about unions flexing their muscle in monopoly industries. Hundreds, thousands of businesses, thousands, tens of, possibly hundreds of thousands of ordinary people’s travel, holiday and leisure plans wrecked. This after two years of lockdowns. It is morally repugnant.

Welcome to the RMT.....

Yet some here would call for the Blackpool line to closed down completely should the line not prove profitable. Then Mrs Miggins would see a permanent loss of takings all year round. Goes to show there’s more ‘value’ to the wider community in running loss making rail lines than merely the bottom line of a rail accountants spreadsheet.

Almost as if they’re trying to provide a public service…

We need a formal review of what we want railways to achieve - routes, service levels, profitability, subsidy etc

We also want sensible, flexible and pragmatic policies from the government and all unions.

In the meantime we'll continue to go round in circles.

[irc]

valiant said:

Vasco said:

Digga said:

To their credit, BBC news just ran a piece about the strike at the end of their half hourly bulletin. Played an interview with a Blackpool landlady; bookings down 30% on both her properties. She said this is indicative of what others would be experiencing. This is the brutal truth about unions flexing their muscle in monopoly industries. Hundreds, thousands of businesses, thousands, tens of, possibly hundreds of thousands of ordinary people’s travel, holiday and leisure plans wrecked. This after two years of lockdowns. It is morally repugnant.

Welcome to the RMT.....

Yet some here would call for the Blackpool line to closed down completely should the line not prove profitable. Then Mrs Miggins would see a permanent loss of takings all year round. Goes to show there’s more ‘value’ to the wider community in running loss making rail lines than merely the bottom line of a rail accountants spreadsheet.

Almost as if they’re trying to provide a public service…

An alternative view might be that if the Blackpool line closed the service would be replaced by buses which might be cheaper and almost certainly less likely to disrupt travel plans at short notice by striking.

Haven't been for a while but memory tells me the motorway gets you close to Blackpool. Ideal for an express bus service from Glasgow/Manchester/Liverpool etc.

[I Know Nothing]

Digga said:

To their credit, BBC news just ran a piece about the strike at the end of their half hourly bulletin. Played an interview with a Blackpool landlady; bookings down 30% on both her properties. She said this is indicative of what others would be experiencing. This is the brutal truth about unions flexing their muscle in monopoly industries. Hundreds, thousands of businesses, thousands, tens of, possibly hundreds of thousands of ordinary people’s travel, holiday and leisure plans wrecked. This after two years of lockdowns. It is morally repugnant.

How is it a monopoly industry?

You can travel by car, bus, plane, there are alternatives!

I also find it really hard to believe 30% of people take the train when going on holiday.

[I Know Nothing]

Digga said:

This after two years of lockdowns. It is morally repugnant.

Shouldn't railway workers and other have got paid extra for working during lockdown while others were sat at home getting paid?

Let me edit this: If we are not going to have strikes we need to have a forumalar where everyone in the company gets the same terms, so for example if a railway ticket worker does something wrong and gets sacked they get a huge compensation pay out just like the CEO would.

Or there is an real independent body that settles these desputes and the resualts are biding, just like the MPs get, if they get a pay rise recomended they must take it<

Edited by I Know Nothing on Saturday 25th June 12:04

[I Know Nothing]

irc said:

An alternative view might be that if the Blackpool line closed the service would be replaced by buses which might be cheaper and almost certainly less likely to disrupt travel plans at short notice by striking.

Haven't been for a while but memory tells me the motorway gets you close to Blackpool. Ideal for an express bus service from Glasgow/Manchester/Liverpool etc.

So why can't buses run to Blackpoool now?

[Gareth1974]

irc said:

An alternative view might be that if the Blackpool line closed the service would be replaced by buses which might be cheaper and almost certainly less likely to disrupt travel plans at short notice by striking.

Haven't been for a while but memory tells me the motorway gets you close to Blackpool. Ideal for an express bus service from Glasgow/Manchester/Liverpool etc.

National Express already operate coaches to Blackpool

[JagLover]

I Know Nothing said:

How is it a monopoly industry?

You can travel by car, bus, plane, there are alternatives!

I also find it really hard to believe 30% of people take the train when going on holiday.

They don't I think.

In Blackpool I see a claim that 2 million visits a year are made by Train, which seems to be a small fraction of total visits.

https://www.itv.com/news/2022-06-20/tourism-sector...

Cafes right by the train station and also serving rail workers might well see a large hit.

[Johnnytheboy]

I Know Nothing said:

Digga said:

To their credit, BBC news just ran a piece about the strike at the end of their half hourly bulletin. Played an interview with a Blackpool landlady; bookings down 30% on both her properties. She said this is indicative of what others would be experiencing. This is the brutal truth about unions flexing their muscle in monopoly industries. Hundreds, thousands of businesses, thousands, tens of, possibly hundreds of thousands of ordinary people’s travel, holiday and leisure plans wrecked. This after two years of lockdowns. It is morally repugnant.

How is it a monopoly industry?

You can travel by car, bus, plane, there are alternatives!

I also find it really hard to believe 30% of people take the train when going on holiday.

The BBC seem to have forgotten private transport exists in their coverage of this strike.

[Ouroboros]

Johnnytheboy said:

The BBC seem to have forgotten private transport exists in their coverage of this strike.

Yes it is odd, they run a story saying little impact then next day the impact is massive. Make your mind up pal.

Let's he honest strikes like this impact the lowest paid and vulnerable in society but the unions don't really care about those do they? They whole thing is I'm all right Jack f the rest.

[legzr1]

Tommo87 said:

Is that bit in bold really true?

.

It’s about as accurate as anything else he’s posted on this thread.

Use what he posts to form an opinion if you must…

[irc]

I Know Nothing said:

So why can't buses run to Blackpoool now?

Daily direct service from Glasgow. Easy to increase frequency iif demand increased post rail line closure.

https://uk.megabus.com/route-guides/glasgow-to-bla...

[legzr1]

Ouroboros said:

Let's he honest strikes like this impact the lowest paid and vulnerable in society but the unions don't really care about those do they? They whole thing is I'm all right Jack f the rest.

Terrible isn’t it?

If only a minister for transport would stop getting involved in employee and employer negotiations and let them sort it out…

Let NR drop the demand for compulsory redundancies (as they have for the last 12 years) - it would take literally hours to end the dispute.

Government will not let NR do that. Why is that?

[I Know Nothing]

Ouroboros said:

Johnnytheboy said:

The BBC seem to have forgotten private transport exists in their coverage of this strike.

Yes it is odd, they run a story saying little impact then next day the impact is massive. Make your mind up pal.

Let's he honest strikes like this impact the lowest paid and vulnerable in society but the unions don't really care about those do they? They whole thing is I'm all right Jack f the rest.

Seen the price of rail travel, you have to be quite well off to travel by rail!

Of course you can say the bosses and the government don't care about this group because they can just as easily settle the dispute by giving the railway workers what they want.

As long as these strikes are announced in advance most people and organisations should be able to make arrangements to mitigate any disruption by finding alternatives?

[Jockman]

I Know Nothing said:

Ouroboros said:

Johnnytheboy said:

The BBC seem to have forgotten private transport exists in their coverage of this strike.

Yes it is odd, they run a story saying little impact then next day the impact is massive. Make your mind up pal.

Let's he honest strikes like this impact the lowest paid and vulnerable in society but the unions don't really care about those do they? They whole thing is I'm all right Jack f the rest.

Seen the price of rail travel, you have to be quite well off to travel by rail!

Of course you can say the bosses and the government don't care about this group because they can just as easily settle the dispute by giving the railway workers what they want.

As long as these strikes are announced in advance most people and organisations should be able to make arrangements to mitigate any disruption by finding alternatives?

The strikes are timed for maximum impact. Look at upcoming airline strikes. Why wouldn’t they?

Unions represent less than 25% of the workforce these days. They are irrelevant to most peoples lives.

Having said that, 3% is a woeful offer to make so I respect their right to make their voices heard.

[legzr1]

I Know Nothing said:

Of course you can say the bosses and the government don't care about this group because they can just as easily settle the dispute by giving the railway workers what they want.

This government kept their ‘experts’ out of recent disputes involving ASLEF and TSSA.

Disputes settled within days.

RMT in dispute and every backbencher you’ve never heard of is briefed and thrown to the slaughter that is an honest Union leader unafraid to call a liar a liar.
And still the compulsory redundancy demand will not be dropped.

I don’t know why.