I was against them because set against the backdrop of a post-covid slump, and cost of living increases as a result of global situations beyond our control I felt that both prolonged disputes and way above normal pay rises could be even more damaging in the long run.
Well, I’m glad you state that this is just your opinion. Because that’s very much all it is.
A lot of the ASLEF members, myself included, are extremely committed to the dispute. It’s worth remembering that many of the major railway money people (rolling stock companies, TOC shareholders, pension funds, hedge funds, senior managers such as CEO’s) continued to extract exorbitant sums from the railways throughout and after Covid, and that hasn’t changed.
Unfortunately, the railway employees, who kept the trains running, appear to be the ones attacked and subject to derogatory and demeaning rhetoric from Tory politicians and sections of the media.
The Tories are hell-bent on destroying union protocols and many of the remunerative and safety conditions that have taken decades to establish.
We can see clearly what this offer (aka attack) amounts to.
I think it extraordinary that ASLEF members should accept a derisory offer, whilst so many have hoovered hundreds of millions of pounds from our efforts to keep trains moving
I'm sure that would be the case at all depots. But it would be a formal rejection from the members, which is what is being asked for.
You cannot appoint yourself spokesperson for drivers
You have no idea the outcome of individual TOC negotiations or how the members at each depot would vote
It would all depend on the local negotiations