RMT union vote for a national rail strike

RMT union vote for a national rail strike

Author
Discussion

loafer123

15,404 posts

214 months

Friday 19th May 2023
quotequote all
Legacywr said:
cirian75 said:
Vasco said:
RMT call another strike for 2nd June.

Can someone have a quiet word with them and kindly point out that they have no chance of getting what they want. They are just reminding other people how Scargill etc thought they were far more important than they really were.
Can someone have a quiet word with the Govt and kindly point out adding very last second conditions to in principle agreed deals negotiated between the RMT and Rail Companies scuppers those deals.

But then this Govt want to have this fight.
The Govt want to beat the Union, so do quite a lot of the public.
What does “beat” mean in this context?

wiggy001

6,542 posts

270 months

Friday 19th May 2023
quotequote all
cirian75 said:
Vasco said:
RMT call another strike for 2nd June.

Can someone have a quiet word with them and kindly point out that they have no chance of getting what they want. They are just reminding other people how Scargill etc thought they were far more important than they really were.
Can someone have a quiet word with the Govt and kindly point out adding very last second conditions to in principle agreed deals negotiated between the RMT and Rail Companies scuppers those deals.

But then this Govt want to have this fight.
What was the last second condition that was added?

Vasco

16,475 posts

104 months

Friday 19th May 2023
quotequote all
cirian75 said:
Vasco said:
RMT call another strike for 2nd June.

Can someone have a quiet word with them and kindly point out that they have no chance of getting what they want. They are just reminding other people how Scargill etc thought they were far more important than they really were.
Can someone have a quiet word with the Govt and kindly point out adding very last second conditions to in principle agreed deals negotiated between the RMT and Rail Companies scuppers those deals.

But then this Govt want to have this fight.
Fine, leave them to carry on taking on the governnent. The rail workers seem to have little public support and most people know how it will all end up.
If RMT members feel that more strikes will prove anything then they're more blinkered than I thought.

Legacywr

12,017 posts

187 months

Thursday 25th May 2023
quotequote all
Anybody watching the programs on BBC2 on the unions ATM?

ChocolateFrog

24,862 posts

172 months

Thursday 25th May 2023
quotequote all
Countdown said:
I don't.

My understanding is that vacancies are fairly limited because it's such a popular job.

Are Train companies struggling to recruit drivers of the necessary calibre?
Requires a fairly nuanced answer. Train companies are desperate to employ more female drivers but find they fail the assessments significantly more than men.

I'd suggest that if you're a woman and can pass the psychometric testing and atleast turn up for the interview and pass a medical then bingo you'll get a job offer.

The drop out rate for people who get as far as starting the course is quite low, I'd guess less than 10% and then maybe another 1 or 2% pass and then decide its not for them.

ChocolateFrog

24,862 posts

172 months

Thursday 25th May 2023
quotequote all
As for retention that depends on the TOC.

When you can hop between companies for a 20k payrise doing the same work there's a natural flow out of the lowest paid TOCs.

irc

7,171 posts

135 months

Friday 26th May 2023
quotequote all
ChocolateFrog said:
Requires a fairly nuanced answer. Train companies are desperate to employ more female drivers but find they fail the assessments significantly more than men.
.
Why are they desperate to employ more female drivers? Sounds a bit sexist to me. If they are having candidates do assessments surely they should be employing those who perform best when assessed?





Rick101

6,959 posts

149 months

Friday 26th May 2023
quotequote all
Quite the opposite if you know anything about Equality law.
Worth having a read up on the act and Positive Action particulally.

Legacywr

12,017 posts

187 months

gt_12345

1,873 posts

34 months

Thursday 30th November 2023
quotequote all
Rick101 said:
Quite the opposite if you know anything about Equality law.
Worth having a read up on the act and Positive Action particulally.
The law justifying discrimination because one group view it as "positive"?

No thanks.

Ashfordian

2,009 posts

88 months

Thursday 30th November 2023
quotequote all
A good result for the RMT but why did it take so long for the Government to make a sensible and pragmatic offer?

All the Government has done is push a scorched earth policy where the taxpayer has been picking up the bill for the damage inflicted.

Legacywr

12,017 posts

187 months

Thursday 30th November 2023
quotequote all
Did the RMT win?

Ashfordian

2,009 posts

88 months

Thursday 30th November 2023
quotequote all
Legacywr said:
Did the RMT win?
A good point. I suspect this Government climb down came about when they realised how unpopular the ticket office closures had become and how much support there is for station staff.

However, RMT members now have a 5% pay increase(or £1750) backdated to 2022 and a settled few months ahead, before the 2023 pay battle starts again.

With train drivers going on strike over the next few days, I suspect this strike and the knock-on economic damage caused by it could be averted by an equivalent offer being made.

NuckyThompson

1,570 posts

167 months

Thursday 30th November 2023
quotequote all
Ashfordian said:
A good result for the RMT but why did it take so long for the Government to make a sensible and pragmatic offer?

All the Government has done is push a scorched earth policy where the taxpayer has been picking up the bill for the damage inflicted.
See all interviews by MPs in the Covid enquiry so far, that will give u a clue on why

Rick101

6,959 posts

149 months

Friday 1st December 2023
quotequote all
Can you imagine if they just gave a reasonable offer right at the start. Would have saved so much time, money and utter misery for millions of people.
Instead the default is to play this silly game for way longer than is needed to get to a point where most of knew we'd get to eventually.

As this is for 2022, 2 years ago, soon negotiations for 23/24 will start and we'll probably still be discussing those in 2025/26.

Vasco

16,475 posts

104 months

Friday 1st December 2023
quotequote all
Rick101 said:
Can you imagine if they just gave a reasonable offer right at the start. Would have saved so much time, money and utter misery for millions of people.
Instead the default is to play this silly game for way longer than is needed to get to a point where most of knew we'd get to eventually.

As this is for 2022, 2 years ago, soon negotiations for 23/24 will start and we'll probably still be discussing those in 2025/26.
The problem with that is that a 'reasonable offer' probably wouldn't have been accepted by the RMT at the time.
If there need to be changes to T's + C's it's not surprising that any initial pay offers would have included that requirement in the negotiations.

Legacywr

12,017 posts

187 months

Friday 1st December 2023
quotequote all
Isn’t this deal near to what the government wanted, rather than the demands of the RMT?

S600BSB

4,277 posts

105 months

Friday 1st December 2023
quotequote all
Looks like a decent settlement. As a regular rail user I am also glad that the government has u-turned (again) on station closures.

Ashfordian

2,009 posts

88 months

Friday 1st December 2023
quotequote all
Legacywr said:
Isn’t this deal near to what the government wanted, rather than the demands of the RMT?
I can't recall all the offers but the ones I can remember are:

4%+4% with lots of Terms and Conditions changes
5%+4% with lots of Terms and Conditions changes (DOO added to almost intentionally scupper the deal)
5%+4% with fewer Terms and Condition changes

To the current accepted offer of 5% for 2022(or £1750) backdated and no T&C changes. The 2023 pay negotiations will start next year so you can expect further strikes when these quickly hit a stalemate.

Vasco

16,475 posts

104 months

Friday 1st December 2023
quotequote all
Ashfordian said:
I can't recall all the offers but the ones I can remember are:

4%+4% with lots of Terms and Conditions changes
5%+4% with lots of Terms and Conditions changes (DOO added to almost intentionally scupper the deal)
5%+4% with fewer Terms and Condition changes

To the current accepted offer of 5% for 2022(or £1750) backdated and no T&C changes. The 2023 pay negotiations will start next year so you can expect further strikes when these quickly hit a stalemate.
Probably - but at some point there are T&C changes needed if we are to have an efficient and cost effective train system. Hopefully, the 2 main unions will see that there can be benefits in working closer with management rather than fighting for every possible morsel.