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Rail industry preparing for national strikes

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Nicholas Lewis

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Times and FT tomorrow reporting that NR and operators are preparing contingency plans to deal with a national strike should RMT vote for industrial action over the proposed NR maintenance staffing cutbacks and pay & conditions at TOCs.

Rail executives are drafting emergency plans to cut Britain’s train network to a 12-hour service ahead of union members voting this week on what would be the biggest rail strike to hit the country in 30 years

12 hour working will be as a result of signallers taking industrial action. Also goes on to say that keeping freight moving will be the higher priority so if your on freight route you might get a train service unless the operators staff is taking action as well.

Ballot close next Tuesday so result should be known middle of week.

FT goes on say

Still, ministers believe that the ballot could fail to reach the requisite thresholds of 50 per cent turnout and 40 per cent approval from the entire electorate. Out of 49 RMT ballots in 2020, 15 failed to meet both thresholds, which were made a legal requirement for industrial action in 2016. “This is not a super-militant membership,” said one official.

Ministers also believe that the impact of a mass RMT strike could be limited by the fact that people are now more used to working from home.
DfT are in danger are being too optimistic here although its not clear whether the thresholds apply to each individual organisation or aggregate of all those voting.

Open access operators aren't being balloted.
 
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TSG

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I would agree with the over optimism. Although the 'no' voters tend to keep quiet, the impression I get is that the people who should have worked harder at school are a bit more militant now than they were before that 'communication'.
 

D1537

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I would agree with the over optimism. Although the 'no' voters tend to keep quiet, the impression I get is that the people who should have worked harder at school are a bit more militant now than they were before that 'communication'.
Yeah, given that mindset I can't think why people might possibly vote yes...
 

Drogba11CFC

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Would there be replacement bus services if it went ahead?

(Why do they always schedule these to interfere with my holidays?)
 

Bluejays

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I would agree with the over optimism. Although the 'no' voters tend to keep quiet, the impression I get is that the people who should have worked harder at school are a bit more militant now than they were before that 'communication'.
Certainly had that affect on me. That woman needs to be sacked
 
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Certainly had that affect on me. That woman needs to be sacked
I wouldn't want to see anyone sacked, instead of that how about retraining her as a signaller put her in a signalbox - force a roster change on her, get her up 7 mornings in a row (including Sat/Sun) for less money than she earned on her previous roster let her have a day off then give her 7 more afternoons to work (including Sat/Sun) before treating her to a weekend off , and don't give her a pay rise indefinitely and withhold a bonus she was entitled to from her.
 

The Planner

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Times and FT tomorrow reporting that NR and operators are preparing contingency plans to deal with a national strike should RMT vote for industrial action over the proposed NR maintenance staffing cutbacks and pay & conditions at TOCs.



12 hour working will be as a result of signallers taking industrial action. Also goes on to say that keeping freight moving will be the higher priority so if your on freight route you might get a train service unless the operators staff is taking action as well.

Ballot close next Tuesday so result should be known middle of week.

FT goes on say


DfT are in danger are being too optimistic here although its not clear whether the thresholds apply to each individual organisation or aggregate of all those voting.

Open access operators aren't being balloted.
NR have been developing these for months, if not longer.
I wouldn't want to see anyone sacked, instead of that how about retraining her as a signaller put her in a signalbox - force a roster change on her, get her up 7 mornings in a row (including Sat/Sun) for less money than she earned on her previous roster let her have a day off then give her 7 more afternoons to work (including Sat/Sun) before treating her to a weekend off , and don't give her a pay rise indefinitely and withhold a bonus she was entitled to from her.
She probably would.
 

Gems

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Calm down, calm down.

Let's put a bit of perspective into all this. There can be no such thing as a national rail strike. Every TOC and NR have to be balloted separately and you might get a whole raft of different results. Co-ordinating strikes is difficult, more difficult still if you have nine or ten companies with different levels of agreement. Also you have to be aware that if nine or ten different companies are in any form of negotiation, you will end up with nine of ten different agreements.
Secondly we are assuming every member wants to strike. I'm not getting those vibes. I'm getting a level of anger over a lack of pay agreements, but that isn't leading to a majority wishing to lose £££ every month at a time when bills are going up. I remember the 'Arriva Trains Northern' strike of 2002. Ended up settling for less of a deal than we were initially offered. That is the nature of the beast and RMT members need to be aware of that.

No, the RMT have been itching for this for years. The RMT have cried and cried for a nationalised rail network, yet they have totally failed to explain to their members what that means. It means we are effectively government employees, and as one of my railways colleagues who was a copper before he joined the railway pointed out, being a government employee such as a copper puts you at the bottom of the pile when it comes to pay agreements.

I personally won't strike. I could, I am in a position to ride it out, but there are people out there who need to get to work, and they are in a far worse situation than we are.
 

Falcon1200

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There can be no such thing as a national rail strike.

There certainly can be if Network Rail's signallers strike ! The last such was IIRC in 1994, and Railtrack (as it was then) struggled to staff boxes, and then only some, for any more than a single 12 hour shift per day. I doubt they could do much more now.
 

Gems

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There certainly can be if Network Rail's signallers strike ! The last such was IIRC in 1994, and Railtrack (as it was then) struggled to staff boxes, and then only some, for any more than a single 12 hour shift per day. I doubt they could do much more now.
Then we'll let the signallers do all the striking. :D

Yes I know what you mean, and you are right in that respect. But my point is that you'd be trying to negotiate with 9 or 10 different companies. The RMT will never be able to control this. This has all the hallmarks of utter chaos by a union hopelessly going out of it's depth.
 

Signal_Box

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There certainly can be if Network Rail's signallers strike ! The last such was IIRC in 1994, and Railtrack (as it was then) struggled to staff boxes, and then only some, for any more than a single 12 hour shift per day. I doubt they could do much more now.

Mark my words there will NOT be strike vote for signallers, action short of maybe but definitely a NO to strike.
 

Deafdoggie

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The government are desperate to save money, they're not going to give in on a strike. With the railway struggling to win commuters back after covid, a strike would only make more WFH and weaken the railways position still further. With freight clearly being the most important they'll be little public sympathy too that people are being paid enough they can afford to take unpaid time off by striking, whilst they're working full time and using food banks.
 

Signal_Box

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People in general can’t see beyond the end of their own nose, nor do they care about anyone other than themselves.

Rail workers don’t need or want sympathy from “the public” the government don’t care what the public think either way so why do rail workers need support from the public ?

Many rail workers also use food banks, their not all on £100,000 salaries like many management grades. A significant number are on less than £25k pa and use foodbanks etc especially in London.

Hope that doesn't come back to haunt you.

Striking for a pay rise by losing xxx pounds. Hmmm even uneducated signallers aren’t that stupid.
 

Spartacus

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Mark my words there will NOT be strike vote for signallers, action short of maybe but definitely a NO to strike.

Even that could have a significant impact with the number of panels having to be routinely covered with rest day work.
 

Signal_Box

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Exactly, that is why a strike is totally pointless for signallers. Work your booked turns, and enjoy your rest days over the summer with your loved ones.

“Greedy rail staff spend days off with family” doesn’t read that catchy does it ?
 

Tomnick

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Many rail workers also use food banks, their not all on £100,000 salaries like many management grades. A significant number are on less than £25k pa and use foodbanks etc especially in London.

Striking for a pay rise by losing xxx pounds. Hmmm even uneducated signallers aren’t that stupid.
A strong mandate for strike action is a position of strength in itself though. Denying your negotiators that mandate certainly won't help your cause, because the other side of the table will be quick to take advantage of that weakness.
 

Agent_Squash

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Are the unions actually wanting to destroy their jobs?

It wouldn’t surprise me if the government just legislated to prevent ‘critical railway workers’ from striking.

They propped up the railway during lockdown more than any other industry - they want a return on their investment.
 

Dai Corner

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Are the unions actually wanting to destroy their jobs?

It wouldn’t surprise me if the government just legislated to prevent ‘critical railway workers’ from striking.

They propped up the railway during lockdown more than any other industry - they want a return on their investment.
"Don't bite the hand that feeds you"
 

Signal_Box

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Are the unions actually wanting to destroy their jobs?

It wouldn’t surprise me if the government just legislated to prevent ‘critical railway workers’ from striking.

They propped up the railway during lockdown more than any other industry - they want a return on their investment.

People often forget the railway isn’t just 0904 Manchester Oxford Road to Hull or whatever. It’s the millions of tons of freight that is carried every day that I think the government really cared about, not keeping “key workers” moving they couldn’t care less about key workers

A strong mandate for strike action is a position of strength in itself though. Denying your negotiators that mandate certainly won't help your cause, because the other side of the table will be quick to take advantage of that weakness.

A strong work to rule mandate it much more powerful and scary to a understaffed industry. A strike can be planned and resourced over many many months if required. A work to rule is a much more uncomfortable concept especially for those who will have to stand next to full time staff.

Would you want to have to work next to full time staff if you where covering during a work to rule?

When non striking grade staff cover striking workers it’s seen as a jolly out of the office, a bit of fun away from their day jobs. It’s a wholly different concept when your being watched by full time staff just waiting for you to mess up.

What happens if TSSA vote to walk out as well ?
 
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Howardh

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Hmmm; I'm relying on the rail to get me from Liverpool Airport back to Bolton after 7pm on a Friday. News of possible strikes isn't good, I hope if that happens we get tons of notice so rooms can be booked etc as the bus/coach service at that time is non-existant.

However, I don't think this would affect Merseyrail? If not it would help matters; can anyone confirm?
 

SCDR_WMR

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Are the unions actually wanting to destroy their jobs?

It wouldn’t surprise me if the government just legislated to prevent ‘critical railway workers’ from striking.

They propped up the railway during lockdown more than any other industry - they want a return on their investment.
Funny how the railway wasn't allowed to use the furlough scheme which kept millions of the population employed. People seem to forget about that.....which is paid for by the gov!

The government would love to made striking completely illegal, hence the chance in right to strike which is designed to make it much harder than previously.

At our branch meeting it very much came across as around 90%+ yes vote at NR, TOCs are more split. Thankfully our exec team make it very clear where they stand, which encourages yes votes for our grade. Somehow less transparent than the RMT!

Also, we've been told any patriae must be paid for by ourselves through T&C changes etc, funny how many other government paid roles have increases including those on the railway such as NR level 1-4 and LU!

There's money available, just not for 'lower grades'
 

SCDR_WMR

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I think you're going to be proven wrong there. I'm prepared to eat my words, but I think, at this minute, you are very wrong.


I think you will be proven very wrong there. I'm prepared to eat my words, but right now, I'm convinced it will be a big majority YES from the signallers.
That's been my feeling too, certainly some very vocal NR people around my area
 

Siggy1980s

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Even that could have a significant impact with the number of panels having to be routinely covered with rest day work.
They can't cover my Signalling Centre at the best of times, let alone with work to rule and overtime ban! Can't wait. We're all just fed up. Everything NR says just gets the signallers backs up even more. You couldn't script it.
 

Signal_Box

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I think it may.

I think you will be proven very wrong there. I'm prepared to eat my words, but right now, I'm convinced it will be a big majority YES from the signallers.
Then they are fools.

They can't cover my Signalling Centre at the best of times, let alone with work to rule and overtime ban! Can't wait. We're all just fed up. Everything NR says just gets the signallers backs up even more. You couldn't script it.

You’ve said it all, why a work to rule would far more effective than a series of strikes. They can’t cover panels as it is, with support from the staff.
 

Siggy1980s

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Then they are fools.
If there is not a Yes mandate, there will be no Pay Rises for many many years, a no vote is a licence for us to be walked all over, and emotionally blackmailed by NR. Yes, we're not badly paid, but will that still be the case in 10 years. We've already had a freeze for 2 years, now into our 3rd. RPI is at 11%, even if they offered that (which is unlikely) it still doesn't make up for no RPI rise in 2020/21. We have still lost out.
 
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