RMT union vote for a national rail strike

[Welshbeef]

Gareth1974 said:

I work for a railway company. We’ve been told there’s no money available for a payrise. All the desks in my office - which still look like new - are being replaced with new ones that go up or down at the touch of a button. No one has asked for these. The I.T. department now need to lengthen cables to every desk and contractors have been brought in to assemble the desks and take away the perfectly good ones that are being replaced. This is an example of wasting money.

The consensus seems to be that railway staff shouldn’t be seeking a pay rise at the moment. We’re already entering the third straight year without a pay rise and inflation is at its highest level for decades. If not now, when?

https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/media/1889/rail-industry-finance-uk-statistical-release-2019-20.pdf

This captures everything we need to know.

Passenger numbers tiny.
Staff costs £3.6billion
This means the unions are requesting a near £400m pay rise.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/board-gravy-...
This shows that over a TEN year period they made £3.5billon so let’s average it out as £350million

Given the fact footfall is on its knees
The ask is £400m a year compounded into perpetuity
The fact over a ten year period Pre covid the train operators made £350m a year profit.

So given this ask is greater than the entire profit the companies made its farcical. Ticket prices can only be uplifted in a certain way once a year / so the uplift would need to be £400m in addition to the calculated increase.

[Gareth1974]

Johnnytheboy said:

Gareth1974 said:

The consensus seems to be that railway staff shouldn’t be seeking a pay rise at the moment. We’re already entering the third straight year without a pay rise and inflation is at its highest level for decades. If not now, when?

When it becomes hard to recruit to fill vacancies?

We seem to have at been at that point for quite a while in my place, with signallers especially.

In my job there’s a vacancy for close to a year, and the post that sits next to me has carried a vacancy for well over a year too, “no suitable applicants” when it was last advertised/interviewed for.

Edited by Gareth1974 on Wednesday 25th May 09:04

Edited by Gareth1974 on Wednesday 25th May 09:05

[ZedLeg]

Public transport shouldn't be run for a profit imo, any money over costs should be put back into the network. Now whether that's means staff pay or upgrades and improvements is another discussion. It'll probably shock no one to know that I'm pro union and support the strike, even though I only got a 6% pay rise this year .

[S17Thumper]

ZedLeg said:

I only got a 6% pay rise this year .

You poor thing

[ZedLeg]

S17Thumper said:

ZedLeg said:

I only got a 6% pay rise this year .

You poor thing

Right? I'm only a prosecco socialist now.

[voyds9]

Take the McDonalds approach when the staff are too expensive automate.

I've gone from 15 staff days per week to 10 staff days per week by automating some of our processes.

The money saved on wages paid for the automation and the bonus was less mistakes so customers happier.

[Johnnytheboy]

S17Thumper said:

ZedLeg said:

I only got a 6% pay rise this year .

You poor thing

I got 5.9% and I thought I'd done fairly well.

But then I don't work in a unionised monopoly.

[Gareth1974]

Welshbeef said:

Gareth1974 said:

I work for a railway company. We’ve been told there’s no money available for a payrise. All the desks in my office - which still look like new - are being replaced with new ones that go up or down at the touch of a button. No one has asked for these. The I.T. department now need to lengthen cables to every desk and contractors have been brought in to assemble the desks and take away the perfectly good ones that are being replaced. This is an example of wasting money.

The consensus seems to be that railway staff shouldn’t be seeking a pay rise at the moment. We’re already entering the third straight year without a pay rise and inflation is at its highest level for decades. If not now, when?

https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/media/1889/rail-industry-finance-uk-statistical-release-2019-20.pdf

This captures everything we need to know.

Passenger numbers tiny.
Staff costs 3.6billion
This means the unions are requesting a near 400m pay rise.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/board-gravy-...
This shows that over a TEN year period they made 3.5billon so let’s average it out as 350million

Given the fact footfall is on its knees
The ask is 400m a year compounded into perpetuity
The fact over a ten year period Pre covid the train operators made 350m a year profit.

So given this ask is greater than the entire profit the companies made its farcical. Ticket prices can only be uplifted in a certain way once a year / so the uplift would need to be 400m in addition to the calculated increase.

All that relates to train operating companies.

My company is essentially a “not for profit’ operation. It’s been saddled with gigantic debt to keep the costs of big capital projects off the public balance sheet - for instance reopening of previously closed branch lines, to offer a public service even through they are unlikely to be able to turn a profit.

So on this basis it will never be reasonable to give me or my colleagues a pay rise?

[Tankrizzo]

Biggy Stardust said:

Further genuine question- in what way does it compromise safety? I hear this phrase trotted out regularly but with no explanation.

Remember, with the RMT, it doesn't matter what the problem is - staff safety, passenger safety, extra working hours, night shifts, engineering arguments - the solution is always 'more money'.

I'm amazed people are still surprised by this, isn't it their bi-annual strike? There'll be one threatened at Christmas too. It's as predictable as the sun coming up in the morning.

[Miserablegit]

Not happy with pay & conditions then get another job.
I have no sympathy for the unions holding the public to ransom.

My commuter trains only have one member of staff on them - in the 15 years I’ve been using them nobody has died or been injured as a result of there being no guard.

I was on a south-west train last week for its entire journey- it had a guard who I never saw as she remained in the rear carriage
What’s the supposed safety argument ?

It’s all about money - I’m not getting a pay rise this year but as I’m self employed it’s my own fault.

[98elise]

NuckyThompson said:

RacerMike said:

Assuming this is going to be next Thursday/Friday? Which is particularly rubbish for me as I need to get to Heathrow for a flight to NY and had booked my train tickets the other day.

Takes the P a little bit that they’re striking over pay when the average wage according to Glassdoor is 54k for a 40hr a week contract….

What you want them to do? Take a pay cut and allow the rail companies to make even greater profits?

The strike is the result not the root cause

I'd like them to earn a wage based on the market forces rather than holding the general public to ransom. The general public end up paying for it through high fares.

A rail ticket covering 10's of miles shouldn't be more expensive that a plane ticket to Europe.

[KarlMac]

Welshbeef said:

https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/media/1889/rail-indu...

This captures everything we need to know.

Passenger numbers tiny.
Staff costs 3.6billion
This means the unions are requesting a near 400m pay rise.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/board-gravy-...
This shows that over a TEN year period they made 3.5billon so let’s average it out as 350million

Given the fact footfall is on its knees
The ask is 400m a year compounded into perpetuity
The fact over a ten year period Pre covid the train operators made 350m a year profit.

So given this ask is greater than the entire profit the companies made its farcical. Ticket prices can only be uplifted in a certain way once a year / so the uplift would need to be 400m in addition to the calculated increase.

An excellent post, which unfortunately forgets one major consideration….

Unions don’t care about anyone except themselves. They don’t give a single st about the public, quality of service, safety, longevity of the company they work for, they must want as much as they personally get before retiring early on a golden pension.

I’ve worked in both Rail and Steel and the old union mobs can get to fk. And when they get there they can keep going.

[Armchair_Expert]

Miserablegit said:

Not happy with pay & conditions then get another job.
I have no sympathy for the unions holding the public to ransom.

My commuter trains only have one member of staff on them - in the 15 years I’ve been using them nobody has died or been injured as a result of there being no guard.

I was on a south-west train last week for its entire journey- it had a guard who I never saw as she remained in the rear carriage
What’s the supposed safety argument ?

It’s all about money - I’m not getting a pay rise this year but as I’m self employed it’s my own fault.

SWT are absolutely and utterly woeful. I have been using them for 22 years and seen it all. Guards range from "absent" to complete jobsworths, the train wouldn't operate any differently without them. They do nothing about fare evasion, nor do the barrier staff - weekly I see people forcing their way through closing barriers behind someone else and not an eyelid batted.

[Earthdweller]

Gareth1974 said:

I work for a railway company. We’ve been told there’s no money available for a payrise. All the desks in my office - which still look like new - are being replaced with new ones that go up or down at the touch of a button. No one has asked for these. The I.T. department now need to lengthen cables to every desk and contractors have been brought in to assemble the desks and take away the perfectly good ones that are being replaced. This is an example of wasting money.

The consensus seems to be that railway staff shouldn’t be seeking a pay rise at the moment. We’re already entering the third straight year without a pay rise and inflation is at its highest level for decades. If not now, when?

Re the desks you’ll probably find that someone DID ask for them and that someone was most likely a Union rep on a health and safety or equality/disabilities working group

You see the “old” desks are nasty, discriminatory and inaccessible to all so the Union will have pushed the organisation into a corner over them

I’ve seen the same types of desks installed although no one working there needs them ( because inclusivity )

Likewise stair lifts in buildings for disabled access ( pretty much blocking the stairs for everyone) even though there are no disabled persons working there and the buildings are secure with very restricted access and non to the public et etc

Beware people with agendas and clipboards

[Ouroboros]

monkfish1 said:

No!

Closed shop the unions act like the Mafia in ensuring who actually gets full time roles.

[CarCrazyDad]

ZedLeg said:

Welshbeef said:

ZedLeg said:

Starting salaries for nurses isn’t much more than minimum wage iirc.

https://www.nurses.co.uk/blog/what-s-the-typical-starting-wage-for-a-nurse-in-the-uk-in-2022/

It’s 25k typically so 26% more than minimum wage

My mistake, I was maybe thinking of less qualified healthcare workers.

My DIL is an Agency Nurse and works approx 30 hours a week, and earns over £3000 per month, plus expenses.

I don't understand how the NHS can afford to pay all these agency staff and yet have such a natural staff shortage. Surely a middle ground would be to increase staff salary by 20-25% across the board meaning an entry level Nurse roll would pay over £30k rather than a handful of £25k workers and then a couple of agency staff at up to £150 per hour...

[Gareth1974]

Earthdweller said:

Gareth1974 said:

I work for a railway company. We’ve been told there’s no money available for a payrise. All the desks in my office - which still look like new - are being replaced with new ones that go up or down at the touch of a button. No one has asked for these. The I.T. department now need to lengthen cables to every desk and contractors have been brought in to assemble the desks and take away the perfectly good ones that are being replaced. This is an example of wasting money.

The consensus seems to be that railway staff shouldn’t be seeking a pay rise at the moment. We’re already entering the third straight year without a pay rise and inflation is at its highest level for decades. If not now, when?

Re the desks you’ll probably find that someone DID ask for them and that someone was most likely a Union rep on a health and safety or equality/disabilities working group

You see the “old” desks are nasty, discriminatory and inaccessible to all so the Union will have pushed the organisation into a corner over them

I’ve seen the same types of desks installed although no one working there needs them ( because inclusivity )

Likewise stair lifts in buildings for disabled access ( pretty much blocking the stairs for everyone) even though there are no disabled persons working there and the buildings are secure with very restricted access and non to the public et etc

Beware people with agendas and clipboards

I am the H&S rep! And I, nor anybody else have expressed any sort of dissatisfaction with the existing desks!

[untakenname]

I don't see why rail companies are allowed to strike, other utilities such as electricity and water aren't as far as I know.

I've got two weddings to attend next month and will be driving to both but a significant percentage will be attending via rail so that's two couples who's biggest day will be affected then multiply that for people attending funerals and such.

I notice that 'rmt strike dates' is trending on twitter so a lot of people are obviously in the same boat, it's counter productive as well as for many this will be the few times they interact with a union or even get a train.

Not sure if this reply to the RMT announcement tweet is being sarcastic

https://twitter.com/RMTunion/status/15291860894617...

[ZedLeg]

untakenname said:

I don't see why rail companies are allowed to strike, other utilities such as electricity and water aren't as far as I know.

Utility workers do strike

https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/...

AFAIK union supported strikes are legally protected, any union in any industry can call one if the membership votes for it and it meets some legal definitions regarding workplace disputes.

[Vasco]

untakenname said:

I don't see why rail companies are allowed to strike, other utilities such as electricity and water aren't as far as I know.

I've got two weddings to attend next month and will be driving to both but a significant percentage will be attending via rail so that's two couples who's biggest day will be affected then multiply that for people attending funerals and such.

I notice that 'rmt strike dates' is trending on twitter so a lot of people are obviously in the same boat, it's counter productive as well as for many this will be the few times they interact with a union or even get a train.

Not sure if this reply to the RMT announcement tweet is being sarcastic

https://twitter.com/RMTunion/status/15291860894617...

I believe that some European countries won't allow rail strikes to totally paralyse all services, by law some must still be run.