Rail strikes discussion

[E16 Cyclist]

Well I’m not seeing this predicted chaos and apocalypse that was predicted. Yes, roads are a little busier. But I thought we’d have nationwide gridlock. Nope. All a bit of a damp squib really. Just shows that the railways aren’t as important as they may think. We had more chaos during the fuel shortages late last year….

Even London isn’t the usual carnage that it is when then tubes are striking. What a way to hasten your own demise.

Funny you should say that, i went cycling from east london and around central london this morning and there was a fair bit of gridlock particularly around east london (where most people don’t do jobs they can do from home) and the ring road (the only part of central london not in the congestion zone)

So I’d encourage you to go out and see things for yourself rather than regurgitating someone else’s incorrect opinion

 

[boabt]

2% + 1% 6 months later might be a reasonable offer in a normal year.

In the context of soaring inflation and with a ton of productivity clauses added in, it's really poor.

And when they can point to train drivers getting 5% north of the border, it ain't going to wash.
These strikes are gonna last.

 

[duncanp]

According to TfL, there is a "Good Service" on the Elizabeth Line between Abbey Wood and Paddington.

Seems a bit of an anomaly, given that both National Rail and London Underground services are affected by strike action.

 

[yorksrob]

that doesnt answer my question.

Apologies.

If there were a major safety lapse, I believe it should be for the relevant safety authorities to issue their recommendations and provide due process to the individuals concerned. I see no reason whatsoever why the wider bonus scheme should be involved.

The bonus scheme should be there to reflect and encourage the commercial success of the railway.

As for a railway that is consistently late/unreliable, that will affect volumes anyway, thus affecting the bonus indirectly.

 

[Starmill]

According to TfL, there is a "Good Service" on the Elizabeth Line between Abbey Wood and Paddington.

Seems a bit of an anomaly, given that both National Rail and London Underground services are affected by strike action.

It's running it's full service with restricted hours isn't it? To technically good service isn't wrong but you need to be aware of the early close.

 

[MidlandsChap]

I can totally understand why the lower paid might want to strike. But some of the people employed on the big money are taking the pee.

Perhaps a tapered deal such as 7% rise for anybody on under £25k. 5% rise £25k-£40k, 2% rise for £40k-60k might be appropriate for example. People earning over £60k should rein in their spending if they cannot afford to live.

In my opinion.

 

[GadgetMan]

As we're all expected to make sacrifices to make the railways more financially sustainable, how about getting rid of the overly generous Delay Repay scheme. That should save a fair amount + the admin costs involved.

 

[Starmill]

I can totally understand why the lower paid might want to stike. But some of the people employed on the big money are taking the pee.

Perhaps a tapered deal such as 7% rise for anybody on under £25k. 5% rise £25k-£40k, 2% rise for £40k-60k might be appropriate for example. People earning over £60k should rein in their spending if they cannot afford to live.

In my opinion.

A pay increase floor of a fixed cash amount, subject to negotiation, has actually been suggested by a few people upthread. E.g. Something in the range of £1,750 - £2,000 per year minimum increase.

 

[gazr]

And when they can point to train drivers getting 5% north of the border, it ain't going to wash.
These strikes are gonna last.

This is Nicola Sturgeon once again sticking it to the English (Conservative government); where's Scotland getting the money from to pay this rise? Come on, even a blind man knows this was politically timed.

 

[HL7]

Oh you where lucky. We had to go in for a few hours in the messroom with those booked on nearest the few trains running at departure time having to work them.

I was fortunate, we had nothing running from the depot but we still had 3 or 4 in for service protection case they were required on parts of the very limited routes that are running.

I don’t think that’s anything to boast about really.

It came across wrong, I may have to take my turn on Thursday as i‘m rest day fri/sat.

 

[Starmill]

As we're all expected to make sacrifices to make the railways more financially sustainable, how about getting rid of the overly generous Delay Repay scheme. That should save a fair amount + the admin costs involved.

The current compensation regime wastes significant amounts of money because the government have taken it as a soft option in the face of a worsening reputation rather than doing the actual hard work of improving punctuality and reliability. Nearly everyone who is using the railway as a ticket holder would rather have a good service (that they've paid expecting to receive) than a few pounds back. It's part of why claim rates are still quite low despite their growth in recent years. Certainly the recent trend of paying out what's often just a few pence for 15 minute delays is ludicrous.

 

[35B]

You are probably in a minority of one.

King's Cross is closed, passengers are being told to wheel their cases to Euston and the maintenance staff have their feet up.

The chances of Euston heading the same way the same day are probably one in a thousand.

If that happens, be it skills or intransigence it needs sorting.

I notice you cut an important part of my post.

 

[Watershed]

As we're all expected to make sacrifices to make the railways more financially sustainable, how about getting rid of the overly generous Delay Repay scheme. That should save a fair amount + the admin costs involved.

There are certainly ways that it could be handled more efficiently (e.g. the suggestion of having a central clearing house, as with ORCATS/LENNON for revenue) but having lower thresholds than the statutory minimum (60 minutes) does not cost an awful amount, given the percentages in question.

The bigger issue is that people would rightly complain the railway is still performing poorly in many areas, and you are reducing people compensation therefore without any associated benefit.

It's also only something that can be done once - if you do it this year, what will you raid for next year's payrise?

 

[Need2]

They're self employed. They need legal aid funding to be increased by a substantial amount more. But this is going off topic.

And I was being a tad sarcastic

I can totally understand why the lower paid might want to strike. But some of the people employed on the big money are taking the pee.

Perhaps a tapered deal such as 7% rise for anybody on under £25k. 5% rise £25k-£40k, 2% rise for £40k-60k might be appropriate for example. People earning over £60k should rein in their spending if they cannot afford to live.

In my opinion.

Well I’m glad that is, only your opinion.
If you earn more, you spend more or otherwise there is no point bettering yourself.

 

[Jturner98]

What surprises me is that some trains are running, anyone know why this is? I thought all the drivers were in the same union and therefore once called out they all go out.

 

[35B]

On GB News now, a private barrister has said those publicly funded barristers who have voted for industrial action have been offered a 15% rise but are wanting a 25% pay rise.
So if there is enough money in the Treasury for a 15% pay rise, you see where the RMT are coming from when the purse strings have been closed by Sunak and co for the railway workers.

I suspect that the "private barrister" is actually a Tory councillor and practices in commercial law, and who has spouted considerable amounts of misinformation on a number of issues of late, strangely always supporting the government line.

The other issue for those "publicly funded barristers" is that their fees are structured in a way that frequently leaves them paying to work, and gives incomes that are below minimum wage.

 

[SynthD]

This is Nicola Sturgeon once again sticking it to the English (Conservative government); where's Scotland getting the money from to pay this rise? Come on, even a blind man knows this was politically timed.

Could it just be that she responded positively and quickly?

 

[Bald Rick]

What surprises me is that some trains are running, anyone know why this is? I thought all the drivers were in the same union and therefore once called out they all go out.

Drivers aren’t on strike.

 

[HL7]

This is Nicola Sturgeon once again sticking it to the English (Conservative government); where's Scotland getting the money from to pay this rise? Come on, even a blind man knows this was politically timed.

I think you may be right. I bet she’s held back loads to give to the nurses, teachers and barristers to really stick it to Boris and Shapps.

 

[baz962]

What surprises me is that some trains are running, anyone know why this is? I thought all the drivers were in the same union and therefore once called out they all go out.

It's not drivers that are striking.

 

[ar10642]

And I was being a tad sarcastic


Well I’m glad that is, only your opinion.
If you earn more, you spend more or otherwise there is no point bettering yourself.

Also 60k if you're the sole earner and paying £1.5 - £2k in rent a month (not an uncommon amount for a 3 bed house in the South East) doesn't go as far as you think it does.

 

[DarloRich]

What surprises me is that some trains are running, anyone know why this is? I thought all the drivers were in the same union and therefore once called out they all go out.

Most drivers are represented by ASLEF who are not striking. It is only the RMT striking. They are one of 4 railway unions. (ASLEF/RMT/TSSA/Unite)

 

[DelayRepay]

As we're all expected to make sacrifices to make the railways more financially sustainable, how about getting rid of the overly generous Delay Repay scheme. That should save a fair amount + the admin costs involved.

There are certainly ways that it could be handled more efficiently (e.g. the suggestion of having a central clearing house, as with ORCATS/LENNON for revenue) but having lower thresholds than the statutory minimum (60 minutes) does not cost an awful amount, given the percentages in question.

The bigger issue is that people would rightly complain the railway is still performing poorly in many areas, and you are reducing people compensation therefore without any associated benefit.

It's also only something that can be done once - if you do it this year, what will you raid for next year's payrise?

Despite my user-name(!) I wouldn't object to Delay Repay being changed.

I'd probably scrap the 15 minute threshold. I'd also revert to issuing vouchers towards a future journey rather than a cash payment. It has the double-benefit of reducing costs, and tempting people to give the railway another chance after a bad experience.

 

[BrokenSam]

And I was being a tad sarcastic

Haha. Getting harder to tell.

 

[windingroad]

This is Nicola Sturgeon once again sticking it to the English (Conservative government); where's Scotland getting the money from to pay this rise? Come on, even a blind man knows this was politically timed.

Yes those bloody nationalists up north, paying people a fair wage. How dare they!

 

[LAX54]

Funny you should say that, i went cycling from east london and around central london this morning and there was a fair bit of gridlock particularly around east london (where most people don’t do jobs they can do from home) and the ring road (the only part of central london not in the congestion zone)

So I’d encourage you to go out and see things for yourself rather than regurgitating someone else’s incorrect opinion

But of course during the hours 0700 to 1900 they are running a fair service overall, (as they did in 94! ) from Colchester to London 1 x Inter City per hour, and 1 x GE stopper per hour, however the local branches are not running,.

 

[Mintona]

So what does a DOO driver do when told to book on but there are no signallers to change those fancy lights? Get sent home?

This driver (not DOO but not sure why that bit is relevant) set an alarm for 04.10, drove to work to book on spare at 05.30 and waited in the mess room for eight hours to see if anything needed doing before returning home.

 

[dk1]

What surprises me is that some trains are running, anyone know why this is? I thought all the drivers were in the same union and therefore once called out they all go out.

National Rail drivers are predominantly in ASLEF. This seems something that the general public & the media seem to get extremely confused over.

 

[windingroad]

In the days leading up to this strike, people here were falling over themselves to condemn the strike for disrupting vast swathes of working people. Now I'm seeing people claim that it hasn't disrupted people, which proves the railway is irrelevant and therefore the strike has failed. Which is it?

 

[dk1]

This driver (not DOO but not sure why that bit is relevant) set an alarm for 04.10, drove to work to book on spare at 05.30 and waited in the mess room for eight hours to see if anything needed doing before returning home.

Eight hours