nedchester
Established Member
- Joined
- 28 May 2008
- Messages
- 2,093
100% agree with this.The problem is that neither of these are true - or at least not the way they are being present. There are many ticket offices that are nowadays woefully underused where the staff presence would achieve more by being redeployed. There is no scenario which involves all or even most stations losing the ability to get a ticket with the assistance of a member of staff. However, over time there does need to be some quite major changes in the way that roles are used, with the traditional 'Booking Clerk' (which is how my career started, back before there was any other way at all to buy a ticket) not likely to be one of them in many cases.
Similarly, the second person on a train to assist customers is not only desirable but for longer distance services is always going to be there. But that subtlety doesn't make good copy, much better to scream that 'all guards will be removed'.
In both cases, the only credible way forward is to negotiate a deal that ensures that 'good' jobs are created in the new railway - i.e. decently paid and useful as well as being rewarding for the staff; as well as adequate protection for those staff in current roles so that they can have certainty about what will happen and what their options are. No compulsory redundancies is an example of this as redeployment and natural wastage can do much of the heavy lifting.
I hold no truck for the current Government but I also despair at the so-called 'red lines' being claimed in this dispute which remind me of print unions and miners fighting to the death over jobs that we can see now simply do not exist in the same way. The railway is operationally a complete disaster right now and like it or not, destruction of value and of ridership will not ultimately hurt the wealthy or 'elites' - they will hurt both employees and a lot of ordinary people trying to make a living who are just collateral damage in the dispute.
So getting to a deal is essential, all round, and soon!
The railway needs to move with the times. In some cases it’ll mean more jobs and in other less.
It all needs sorting very soon otherwise we will see widespread cuts which will see all those that work in the industry poorer. There are parallels with the miners here and it has been known for some years that the Tories have wanted a battle to sort out the rail unions.
A few months ago I was sure the RMT would win this one but now I’m not so sure especially as the public may see “more deserving” groups….nurses and ambulance workers