Train strikes

[PinkandTwinkly]

I'm the third person that does crew planning to some extent (I'm more on the day very short notice)
We worked out absolutely arses off as did our train planners but every VSTP had to be submitted individually and then every train crewed individually. It's not just a case of pushing a button

They’re screwing over staff in more than just the monetary sense too. My partner works on the railway, and the general rule for their shifts in the past is that they will work approximately two full weekends plus an additional Saturday or Sunday out of a five week rota, and if they don’t have weekends of they will get two days off in a row in a week to allow for a proper rest.
He just got his new shift pattern options through. All of them have them working 4/5 weekends, and their days off in the week aren’t even together, so he’ll get say a Monday and a Thursday off instead.
no work life balance at all. He only earns £25k, does horrendously unsocial shift hours and he commutes to London for work too, so it’s honestly not becoming worth it anymore.
the old office job (government work) that he left four years ago now pays more, even though the railway was a pay increase for him at the time.
I think people have this belief that all railway workers earn big money, and are therefore greedy, but for most of them this isn’t the case at all.

This. I wish people understood this

All I get is "Drivers are on 70k a years
Yes. With my Toc they are but they are also not striking.

Or" The news says the average wage for a railway employee is 40k"

It may be but that is skewed very much by the higher salary of Drvs there are so many like your husband working long unsociable hours for pay that's not enough

 

[PinkandTwinkly]

My family member who works at the airport all night doing a 12 hour shift travels 61 miles each way to get to work and home, sometimes, mostly Sundays it takes him 3+ plus hours to get home. He works weekends too. He doesn’t whine about it he just gets on with it. He does 4 nights on 4 nights off. He knows the train journey can be erratic so he leaves early to compensate for that. He’s also paid to spend 4 nights in a hotel nearer to the airport when the strikes are on. So yes it’s fine that he will more than likely lose his job this time as he has had disciplinary action taken against him for being absent after being told that he knew what the journey would be like before he took the job on. What he didn’t know was that there would be rail strikes. So yes, I will be angry about these strikes.

He knew that was what he was signing up for when he started tho

What if they moved him somewhere that was 90 miles each way, extending his commute, or changed his pattern to one on one off or his time off to only 9hrs rest or to start before he could get a train in for?

Would he just accept it...

 

[CrackingOwlSanctuary]

ASLEF definitely havent accepted a deal. TSSA haven't accepted either, they have just put the vote out to members today with no advice on whether to accept or decline. Also odd there is always this line about 'people in the real world won't get anywhere near the pay rise the railway are asking for'. 5% backpaid to April 2022 and 4% from April 2023 contingent on conditions being met. My partner works in a non unionised workplace and has had a payrise a substantial bonus every year despite that industry being affected by the down turn. The railway havent had a pay rise in nearly four years now I think? There are plenty of unionised workplaces in other UK industries that have already been offered and accepted far higher pay rises with no strings. Luton Airport workers got a backdated pay rise of 28%! Liverpool dockers got 18%! No-one on the railway is asking for that.

They are asking for a pay rise that at least brings their wages in line with what they were in real terms in 2019, or at least close to that. Beeching II? I know for a fact that despite the headlines about passenger numbers they are actually near to pre pandemic levels, as is retail profit. Remember, the government tells you the railway is not fit for purpose and no-one uses it, then claims strike days cost the economy a fortune. How does that work if no-one is using the trains? The head of the restuarant and hoteliers association was on the radio last strike day saying he estimated the strikes had cost his industry billions. Again, how is that if no-one uses the trains?

I'm like a broken record here but it seems the government messaging has been so strong people are unable to see past it:

The railway unions aren't rejecting the government pay offers because they want more money, they are rejecting them because of the attached conditions.

The first round of pay negotiations by all accounts the RMT thought they were getting somewhere, and then at the last minute the government slipped in Driver Only Operation as a condition! Why would a union that is majority non drivers accept an offer that effectively did away with their jobs? The same for booking offices closing, the elderly and vulnerable will suffer when there is only an electronic ticket machine available to help them at the station. Why would booking office staff vote yes to a pay rise that essentially gets rid of their job?

 

[Lonette]

For the ASLEF strikes I get why your angry - train drivers earn a lot and are very privileged. Please don’t feel that way about RMT staff though - I know a lot of people who are in the RMT union and earn less than 25k in London

Thanks, the distinction is important and I agree entirely.

The extremely well-paid already drivers are the bad guys here.

 

[PinkandTwinkly]

I can't comment on TFL, but I'd say about 60% my Drivers over the last few years have come from internal promotions with the rest new to the railway , so it's 100% not true that it's a closed shop.
Half the posters on UK Rail Forums are bitter as they never made the grade so talk a fair amount of bollocks

The biggest route to Drv for us is ex Grds, and as the majority of Grds have come from outside the railway for the last 4-5 yrs, with some stepping up to trainee Drv in only a couple years again still makes it more accessible than you are making out

 

[Naffdoff]

I’m absolutely sick of these selfish twonks now! It’s a frickin joke when we all know what the earn

 

[CrackingOwlSanctuary]

By law jobs have to be advertised to the public and I have some friends who were 'off the street' and straight into driving. Not sure about TFL but driving is regarded as the most desireable frontline role to the majority of staff so naturally vacancies see a lot of applications.

Some companies have an agreement with unions that if an external and an internal candidate score the same for a role the internal candidate will be successful, this was due to there being a percieved preference by the companies to recruit external candidates and avoid having to train both a new driver and the replacement for whomever was successful.

The railway is also quite a niche job between the shift working and the on train roles which have seen a few external candidates complete their training in the 9-5 Monday - Friday bubble and immediately dislike the shift work and the actual job, so there is the argument that if you have two candidates for the same job scoring the same but one has years of employment records with you where they have demonstrated they are fine with shift work etc. Then it makes sense to employ them. I know of a few instances where people have completed all the training and then when it was time to do the job out on their own just quit.

It's not to say there aren't underhand things happening on the railway of course, supposedly there is a dedicated masonic lodge!

 

[Lonette]

It always seems like they're on strike.

I did not realise we're in a courtroom, though, hence just stating an opinion and no "evidence"...

 

[AllSeeingEye123]

Four more just announced for next month. More WFH for me.

 

[CrackingOwlSanctuary]

If I had to predict the next round I'd say they will be in the run up to Christmas, 22nd and 23rd of December since 24th is a Sunday.

 

[CrackingOwlSanctuary]

I hope you're right but I think the government have a dream of destaffing the railway and covid has given them the excuse to push this agenda. These are issues they have wanted to press in the past, like Driver Only Operation, and things they have been teeing up for a while - pushing ticket sales online or via automated ticket machines which means they can now focus on getting rid of booking offices and eliminating the on board staff need.

The latest pay offer to the RMT was definitely designed to be rejected so they could go on the attack as seen in the papers. Someone is also paying for bots it seems!

 

[laughing]

The ones suffering are the restaurants, theatres, tourist attractions and the poor souls who have to struggle getting into work. I've stopped making plans in London because you just don't know when a strick will be called.

Spot on.

Covid, financial breakdown and now the train idiots

 

[conrea37]

These strikes are tactical as heck and it’s gonna be carnage.

 

[Melian]

There are train strikes announced for next week.

I'm now unable to travel and have been told it'll cost me £10 "admin fee". But it's not a choice - there are no trains going to where I want to go.

 

[Folkevermore]

Rail staff are now losing more money in missed pay through days off, than they now ever hope to get back in pay rises.

I heard a member of rail staff on the bus on Tuesday, saying that he will be working through the next strike for the very reason listed above.

But the train operators are losing more money through strike days than they ever would’ve spent on payrises. Can’t believe they’re still refusing to negotiate whilst still making huge shareholder payouts

 

[ScrambledEggs]

Which days?

XC Strike Sat 13th April was announced by the RMT yesterday .
---

 

[CrackingOwlSanctuary]

 

[CrackingOwlSanctuary]

As someone remarked the last week 'why are they asking us to volunteer to work the christmas markets (for free!) When they say no-one uses the train anymore?'

 

[PinkandTwinkly]

Also I hear some TOCs have managed to get ASLEF to bring back rest day working which not only should reduce day to day cancellations but I suspect might hamper their chances of reballoting for further strike action when the mandate runs out.

It was only certain TOCs that didn't have RDW agreements in place. A lot still have them for Drivers.
We always have had RDW and guaranteed rostered RDW (obviously suspended in the Action Short of Strike weeks)

 

[Folkevermore]

I haven't travelled anywhere for three years and the rail strikes are a lot to do with that.

I was fine with not travelling during the various lockdowns as I don't do it much anyway but now things are supposedly bad to normal and it's still far harder than it should be to travel by rail because of the strikes, I do find msyelf getting very angry and resentful at those responsible. They earn a lot more than most people but any time they feel the slightest bit disgruntled, they have a fit and hold the country to ransom. I theory I fully support people striking to maintain a safe workplace and fair pay but I think many have just got too greedy and demanding now.

For the ASLEF strikes I get why your angry - train drivers earn a lot and are very privileged. Please don’t feel that way about RMT staff though - I know a lot of people who are in the RMT union and earn less than 25k in London