Aslef strike around Tory conference dates

[baz962]

Well if the previous 20 dates did precisely nothing I am sure that this will be the time the Government rolls over.

Yet again the only thing this is doing is punishing the public who rely on a service to live - We are the only people who are suffering here and no-one gives a damn.

I get it, you don't like the Government - but they are not going to change their minds so stop taking it out on passengers and hope that there is a friendlier face on the other side of the table in 12-months (though there will be no more money and you are at the bottom of a very long priority list)

You don't get it. They want to make massive changes to our terms and conditions which most normal people wouldn't accept. I get you want to see us suffer , but we won't accept it without a fight.

 

[12LDA28C]

I get it, you don't like the Government

Clearly, you don't 'get it'. The Government don't like the railways is rather more like it, which is why they're slowly running it into the ground and trying to demolish rail staff Ts & Cs.

 

[sonic2009]

Does anyone recall what service level WMT/LNWR offer when Aslef are on strike, due to fly out of Luton early hours 1st October and back on the Wednesday 4th October, was travelling Crewe - Euston/MKC

 

[MikeWM]

They want to make massive changes to our terms and conditions which most normal people wouldn't accept.

And I have a good deal of sympathy, I wouldn't want to accept what is on offer either, and the coupling of T&C changes to a much-delayed pay rise is very sneaky and underhand. It really shouldn't be done like this, and I understand why there is unhappiness/anger over it.

But the current strategy being used, to be totally blunt, plainly isn't working. The people working on the railway are losing money on strike days, and the passengers are the ones being inconvenienced, to the point that some of them may never come back to the railways. And the government clearly don't care less and are quite content for this to continue indefinitely.

 

[Thirteen]

Angela Rayner mentioned Labour would scrap anti strike laws if or when they get into power although I assume they'll be some laws as I can't imagine any sane Government letting unions strike with no notice or allowing solidarity strikes.

 

[SJN]

Does anyone recall what service level WMT/LNWR offer when Aslef are on strike, due to fly out of Luton early hours 1st October and back on the Wednesday 4th October, was travelling Crewe - Euston/MKC

They don’t normally run any trains at all.

 

[sonic2009]

They don’t normally run any trains at all.

Im guessing it will be the same with Avanti as well then.

 

[footprints]

Here's a quick summary of what this strike will achieve:

- Cost drivers two days' wages.

Er, that's it. This latest action is as futile and pointless as it was laughably predictable.

 

[Goldfish62]

Angela Rayner mentioned Labour would scrap anti strike laws if or when they get into power although I assume they'll be some laws as I can't imagine any sane Government letting unions strike with no notice or allowing solidarity strikes.

What's proposed to be dumped is the legislation introduced from 2016 onwards, eg moving the notice period from 7 to 14 days, the thresholds for those voting and the requirement to re-ballot every six months. Plus of course this year's unworkable legislation on minimum service levels.

Here's a quick summary of what this strike will achieve:

- Cost drivers two days' wages.

Er, that's it. This latest action is as futile and pointless as it was laughably predictable.

I'm sure everyone taking part except the most blinkered will realise the ongoing action is just effectively a protest now that won't actually achieve anything.

But what else are staff to do?

 

[SJN]

Im guessing it will be the same with Avanti as well then.

I would have thought so. They didn’t run any on the last one.

 

[skyhigh]

As soon as I saw the dates I knew what would happen.

Thread opened.
Usual suspects saying that strike action is pointless, only hurting staff and passengers, the government don't care etc
Usual suspects saying that staff need to strike, it's good that the unions are taking action etc
Then a moderator shuts the thread because it's getting heated and has all been discussed before.

 

[Watershed]

Does anyone recall what service level WMT/LNWR offer when Aslef are on strike, due to fly out of Luton early hours 1st October and back on the Wednesday 4th October, was travelling Crewe - Euston/MKC

None! Neither they nor Avanti run any trains on ASLEF strike days, so there's service at all for most WCML stations.

You can still travel from Crewe to London with TfW and GWR via Newport, but that's obviously a very slow route and unless you already have a ticket (in which case there's an obligation to re-route you) you'd have to buy a rather more expensive combination of tickets to take this route.

 

[RPM]

I wouldn't be surprised if Hosking comes to the rescue of the Tory conference with charter trains.

 

[sonic2009]

None! Neither they nor Avanti run any trains on ASLEF strike days, so there's service at all for most WCML stations.

You can still travel from Crewe to London with TfW and GWR via Newport, but that's obviously a very slow route and unless you already have a ticket (in which case there's an obligation to re-route you) you'd have to buy a rather more expensive combination of tickets to take this route.

I don't have a ticket at the moment - my plan was to buy a Super Off Peak Return for the 30th September - 4th October with LNWR, travelling to Euston on the outward and returning from Euston/MKC on the return.

 

[renegademaster]

What can we expect thameslink specifically East croydon , to be like?

 

[Drogba11CFC]

Depending on how Winchester do at Reading City tomorrow, us fans might have to press the matter that in the event of an away tie in the next round, the strike makes a coach non-negotiable.

(We're currently due to play at home to Tiverton on the 30th, but that would mean losing to a team two divisions below us.)

 

[ExRes]

As soon as I saw the dates I knew what would happen.

Thread opened.
Usual suspects saying that strike action is pointless, only hurting staff and passengers, the government don't care etc
Usual suspects saying that staff need to strike, it's good that the unions are taking action etc
Then a moderator shuts the thread because it's getting heated and has all been discussed before.

Actually just the "has all been discussed before" would be sufficient

 

[Sly Old Fox]

Mark Harper looks like he’s preparing a mass fire and rehire from his tweet about this.

 

[Ashfordian6]

Here's a quick summary of what this strike will achieve:

- Cost drivers two days' wages.

Er, that's it. This latest action is as futile and pointless as it was laughably predictable.

There is more than enough overtime available to make up for any days lost if the drivers need the money. Drivers will actually earn more this way for the same days worked .

Also they now have a Saturday not working and lots want this day off anyway. The icing on the cake is that management will now have to work on said Saturday to provide skeleton cover thus disrupting their usual weekend plans. Drip, drip, drip...

With the above circumstances taken into account, drivers can continue this action for years. The ball is in the Governments court and are simply prolonging this now. It is starting to feel like they intentionally want to cause disruption for passengers.

 

[island]

Further evidence, as if it were needed, that the strikes are not in furtherance of a trade dispute but in furtherance of giving the Conservative Party a black eye.

 

[12LDA28C]

Mark Harper looks like he’s preparing a mass fire and rehire from his tweet about this.

Complete with nonsense quotes like "Post pandemic, the number of people using the rail network is about 50 percent lower"... really?

 

[87electric]

As soon as I saw the dates I knew what would happen.

Thread opened.
Usual suspects saying that strike action is pointless, only hurting staff and passengers, the government don't care etc
Usual suspects saying that staff need to strike, it's good that the unions are taking action etc
Then a moderator shuts the thread because it's getting heated and has all been discussed before.

It sure is Groundhog Day.
My support still goes to the workers. T&Cs are everything.

 

[Ashfordian6]

Further evidence, as if it were needed, that the strikes are not in furtherance of a trade dispute but in furtherance of giving the Conservative Party a black eye.

What a blinkered comment. The Conservative Party are the people the drivers are in dispute with. This is exactly who they should be targetting as they are the de-facto employer.

 

[FenMan]

Look at it from the Government's perspective. The railway is soaking up an unsustainable (in its view) amount of state aid. One route to reducing this in real terms is to improve productivity. Essentially this can be achieved in four ways:

(1) More investment in technologies and infrastructure.
(2) Reducing costs by improving workforce flexibility i.e. changes to working conditions.
(3) Reducing costs in real terms either by below inflation pay awards or no pay awards at all.
(4) Cutbacks with associated redundancies.

The Government is pursuing, in the main, options 2 and 3.

Effectively the rail unions have chosen option 3, as they value the preservation of working conditions more highly than accepting pay awards with strings attached. However they are also nervous (no doubt with good reason) of going for prolonged strikes. Hence the odd 24 hour strike here and there that has little impact in the greater scheme of things. This course of action is highly unlikely to result in any improved offer from the Government, but the unions are in a bind - ceasing industrial action would make them look impotent, but they also don't have the stomach for a major escalation.

Hence the current impasse.

I doubt much, if anything, would change under a new government. The fundamental is the railway in its current form is widely viewed as costing too much and this has to be addressed.

 

[185143]

How likely are RMT to announce a strike on the 29th?

I'm planning to be heading back from Cornwall that day. Well I am now, it was the 30th originally.

 

[Kite159]

What can we expect thameslink specifically East croydon , to be like?

Normally Thameslink run nothing

 

[Grumpy Git]

From a purely selfish point of view, I'm booked on the 22:17 (last service) Blackpool North - Liverpool Lime St. (Northern) train on 3rd October. I guess there is a good chance it now won't run?

 

[ALEMASTER]

Look at it from the Government's perspective. The railway is soaking up an unsustainable (in its view) amount of state aid. One route to reducing this in real terms is to improve productivity. Essentially this can be achieved in four ways:

(1) More investment in technologies and infrastructure.
(2) Reducing costs by improving workforce flexibility i.e. changes to working conditions.
(3) Reducing costs in real terms either by below inflation pay awards or no pay awards at all.
(4) Cutbacks with associated redundancies.

The Government is pursuing, in the main, options 2 and 3.

Effectively the rail unions have chosen option 3, as they value the preservation of working conditions more highly than accepting pay awards with strings attached. However they are also nervous (no doubt with good reason) of going for prolonged strikes. Hence the odd 24 hour strike here and there that has little impact in the greater scheme of things. This course of action is highly unlikely to result in any improved offer from the Government, but the unions are in a bind - ceasing industrial action would make them look impotent, but they also don't have the stomach for a major escalation.

Hence the current impasse.

I doubt much, if anything, would change under a new government. The fundamental is the railway in its current form is widely viewed as costing too much and this has to be addressed.

Every time savings need to be made because of economical circumstances or whatever, front line staff seem to be targeted and the passenger experience gets worse.

Actually the biggest issues where reform could make savings in costs and increases in revenue would be:
- let experienced railway managers run the railway rather than ministers and civil servants who don't really understand the business
- structure of the industry, how much is it costing where different businesses interact where there is a contractual relationship that requires profit margins, solicitors etc? How much is the industry being ripped off by monopoly suppliers because only Network Rail approved suppliers can be used?
- excessive use of empty stock moves and staff taxis
- loss of revenue due to poor service, cancelled services, strike days etc with staff at low morale is more than it would have cost to give the staff a pay rise in line with inflation. They haven't had a pay rise in 4 years so in real terms a huge pay cut at a time when the cost of living has gone through the roof.
- has the service delivered in terms of timetables, ticketing, capacity etc adapted to changed demands post covid?

The government has been talking about reform for a few years now, we are supposed to have Great British Railways, new ticket structures and more by now, where are they?

 

[Sleepy]

It's Vintage trains. The only thing is that the tour starts in London and I live in Norwich, so as I don't drive, the train was the only option of getting there. I'll have to see what happens.

An hourly service to London normally operates on ASLEF strike days.

 

[DunsBus]

It sure is Groundhog Day.
My support still goes to the workers. T&Cs are everything.

Agreed. Time that the padlock was applied before we end up going round in circles (again).