Train Strikes

Shapps is telling the railway owners to bring in agency staff, not sure where they will get train drivers etc from agencies, Boris asking the general public to stay the course these changes are for the good of all, except if your a rail worker getting made redundant or a passenger getting an a massive annual hike in fares.

 

Apparently the industry got £16,000,000,000 of our taxpayers money through the pandemic, great eh..?

 

I know 20 years worth re the railway .

This getting in agency workers is an absolute myth.

Train drivers 14 months desk, simulator, on the road. No such thing as an agency driver!
Then a number of months”route” learning.

Platform staff, to be trained and assessed 3 months. There were about a dozen freelancers covering Eastern England , then they will need station specific training along with different train units.
Ticket office staff …the odd agency workers about, but not many. The good ticket staff are already employed!
Signallers…… Don’t even think about it, won’t and can’t happen.

The country is being fed a litany of smoke and mirrors with this we will bring agency staff in

The Gov representative on Newsnight was talking absolute bollocks when he was talking about the mean average wage of Rail workers being £44k. Absolute and utter rubbish .
Highly selective using Senior Managers and Train drivers remuneration as the determining figure!

I knew from top to bottom all the pay scales and grades certainly to Manager level.

Technology. “ Gov…We want to bring drones in to check overhead infrastructure infrastructure “ They have been using helicopters to do the job for 15 years to my knowledge!

Don’t believe the spin.

Where I can agree, is ticketing. That can be covered with new technology but they still need men and women in certain offices to cater for the elderly/ blind etc and those without smartphones etc.

 

What I do agree with is that it can't work with agency staff, I'll give you that.....

 

It would have got it anyway Tony as it was “ nationalised”. The Franchise companies ( 27?)were throwing the keys back because the Gov had to support the industry, otherwise it would have collapsed nationwide.

They were willing to let many sectors go and fend for themselves but as rail is a critical nationwide sector they HAD to support it. They have a duty and obligation to do so as part of the “ National Contingency Plan” ( I think it’s called)

 

Don't think drivers are covered by the RMT dispute. As for redundancies or price hikes so be it. If the trains cost a certain amount to run then that should be covered by customers.

 

No, that's ASLEF, they'll be along shortly i'm sure.....

 

The railway workers were considered a key industry so instead of furlough the government paid there wages for the owners, A large portion of the £16 billion subsidy also went in profit to the owners to carry on running the system, As in most things this government lies easily with no guilt over how many it tells

 

Nothing works without signallers. Drivers are split ASLEF / RMT but can be regional.

 

It's a bit of a weird one. Off all the public sector/unionised groups in the UK that deserve a pay increase I don't think anybody would put railway staff at the top of the list. They're not badly paid to start with and the railways they oversee are already a horror show.

To a degree they can fight for whatever cause they want but some of the pushing back against, efficiencies, improvements and flexibility seems archaic whereas some of the measures spoken about to improve the customer experience are very worthwhile.

The problem as always isn't in isolation though. If those at the higher end of the unionised scale get what they demand then why not posties next, why not teachers, why not nurses, etc, etc, etc and it's all a domino effect where everyone just wants more more more.

The priorities for railways should be lowering ticket prices, increasing efficiency and shortening localised journey times (especially in the North) pay and whether a ticket conductor works on a Saturday seems way down the list.

 

I was commenting more on Boris plea as if the railway system is value for money yet those who use it especially UP NORTH say its a disgrace, I very rarely use the train but when I have you see passengers stood up all the way to their destination.

 

Any excuse for the unions to claim their 15 minutes

 

The way Mick Lynch completely bats off dog whistle questions is brilliant, more like him in politics please

 

Think this quote sums things up.........

Labour Party show their true colours, after 2 years of voting down Brexit, then 2 years of demanding extreme Covid Lockdowns, they join the strikers on the picket line trying to bring down the Country... Who would you vote for?...

 

Labour will go against their own principles as long as it’s against the Tories.

They’ve become an anti-Tory party as opposed to having an identity of their own. Just look at the contrast between their past few leaders.

 

Wouldn't be surprised if Sir Kneel is isolating with covid for todays clash with Boris at PM'Q's.....

 

No he came in and smashed the Crime Minister and Putin wannabe once again. The person who purports to want a high wage economy whilst neglecting to put wages up when he can. The Crime Minister who said in pmqs that he has brought in northern powerhouse rail when we know that both Leeds and Bradford and about 75% of the actual north arent getting a sniff of it. His deceit is now just a compulsion and theres only a minority of loons now actually supporting the guy.

Its great to see.

 

First time I've seen this Mick Lynch. Holds himself well against politicians and TV presenters talking absolute garbage. Makes very good points about the NHS and education system being privatised and it's nice to see someone have the balls to stand up to this. I wish we had a political party with the bollocks to stand up to what is happening in this country, I don't think I've seen such a corrupt, mismanaged not fit for purpose shitshow in my life.