AA vote to strike...

[silverMX]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8607621.stm

Another mob looking to see us off by striking. Bet I don't get any money back for the days I have no cover because they're warming their hands next to a burning barrel. And if I break down I'm guessing I won't be able to claim the money back that I wouldn't have had to spend if they were at work.

I think I'll move to the RAC. Hopefully everyone else does too so they have no jobs to moan about.

O/T

Anyway, apart from making lots of money from breakdown cover, what do these organisations do?! They've certainly not made any headway to reducing the Governments 'rape the motorist' schemes...

[mrmr96]

Yes, I read this story earlier and it's not very good news, particularly for a company which used to advertise itself as "The Fourth Emergency Service".

I'm sure I'm not the only man who has bought AA cover so he knows that his wife won't be stranded if the car breaks down and I can't get there in time. I know I can rely on the AA to go and help at any time of day or night. So it's a bit dissapointing to hear this news.

It's not like the BA strike where you can change providers easily. (Unless AA management broker a deal to provide alternative cover via RAC or local agents during the strike.)

[Heinz the German]

I've got AA cover, so i'm in the same boat as you guys.

However......

I also have several friends that work for the AA, and I can understand where they're coming from as they've been treated like complete s**t for quite a while now (all started when the AA was bought by Permira in 2004 - which saddled the AA with a debt of 1.3 Billion quid)

[p1doc]

interesting to know
martin

[autoholic]

The AA subcontract a lot of their breakdowns etc so the members shouldn't really notice any difference. Perhaps the local recovery agents they use will get more work those days.

[jas xjr]

autoholic said:

The AA subcontract a lot of their breakdowns etc so the members shouldn't really notice any difference. Perhaps the local recovery agents they use will get more work those days.

this is what i heard on the radio yesterday

[mattikake]

Petrol prices are throttling this country. The average wage due to the recession has lowered (except for public sector!) yet everything is going up in price, in part directly due to fuel prices. Wages to cost-of-living have been getting forever more and more mis-mstched.

Even the number of cars on the road has lowered:
http://uk.cars.yahoo.com/08042010/36/recession-low...

...though granted, this could well be more than a fuel price issue.

If the government really wants to save the economy into recovery they should reduce massively/wipe fuel duty.

[dh2009]

Hello, I work at the AA, and am responding to your comments about the planned AA strike. Firstly, we are still working hard to avert the strike but, if it does go ahead, we are happy to reassure you that we will not leave members stranded at the roadside. We have robust contingency plans in place to deal with the situation and it’s also worth noting that the majority of our patrols didn’t vote for strike action, so we expect a good number would work as normal on strike days. If the union does proceed with the strike and you need to call us out for service, please call us as normal: 0800 88 77 66 or 0121 275 3746.