Network Rail Comms Director ‘work harder at school’ comment

[kevconnor]

Not seen that this has been posted but may have been seen by others. For someone who works professionally in a comms roll these comments appear ill-advised and not very well thought through, especially in the current industrial relations environment.

Network Rail: unions angered by ‘work harder at school’ comment

Network Rail communications director invites criticism after saying workers who want more pay should have worked harder at school.

www.personneltoday.com

Network Rail: unions angered by ‘work harder at school’ comment​

A Network Rail regional director of communications has told rail workers about to take part in a national strike ballot they ‘should have probably worked harder at school’.
Nicky Hughes has apologised for the remarks on an internal comms website. Network Rail said the comment was misconstrued but unions have reacted angrily.
She wrote that the high salaries of senior executives were a “lesson to those of us who should have probably worked harder at school”.
Union bosses had vowed to launch the “biggest strike in modern history” on the railways this summer in a row over job cuts and pay freezes.
Hughes’s intention was to defend high executive pay at Network Rail where Andrew Haines, chief executive, is one of the UK’s best-paid public servants with a salary of nearly £590,000.
She wrote on Yammer: “Yes, there are some people in our business who are on high salaries. We are a massive multibillion pound business, with complex finances, risks, governance, public and political scrutiny and we also have some of the UK’s biggest construction projects. Managing businesses like these are [sic] enormously complex and complicated… it’s certainly not a job I or many other people can do.
“That doesn’t mean senior managers and leaders are always right… far from it, but equally we should be fair and recognise that all businesses – public and private – compete for managers who have these skills and pay accordingly. It’s a lesson to those of us who should have probably worked harder at school.”
She added that “the alternative” to such pay inequality “is socialism where you don’t have pay differences like this”, noting: “Sadly again, there’s not much evidence of successful, fair and open socialist countries in the world who’ve managed to do this either.”
Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association general secretary Manuel Cortes said the post showed “how desperately out of touch the company’s fat cats really are”.
“It’s insulting to suggest that workers should’ve worked harder in school, rather than acknowledging the very real cost-of-living problems people suffer when their pay fails to keep up with inflation,” he said.
Rail, Maritime and Transport union general secretary Mick Lynch described it as “a desperate and futile attempt by Network Rail to dissuade our railway members from voting in this upcoming strike ballot”.
Hughes, director of communication for the Wales and Western region, later issued an apology, saying that she was “sincerely sorry”.
She said: “I’m very aware, as a single child of a single parent, who grew up on a tough council estate reliant on free clothing vouchers and free school meals, that life isn’t that easy or simple for a lot of people for many, many reasons.”
The RMT has said that Network Rail intended to cut at least 2,500 “safety-critical maintenance jobs” as part of a £2bn reduction in spending, while staff from the train operating companies have been subject to pay freezes, threats to their jobs and changes to their terms and conditions. The ballot opens next week and closes 24 May 2022.
Network Rail has said it would not consider “any changes that would make the railway less safe”.
Economists, meanwhile, are warning that economic conditions in the UK will worsen in the coming months as the country enters its worst “cost of living crisis” since the 1970s.
Passenger numbers on the rail system have recovered since the worst of the pandemic but are currently at around 70% of pre-Covid levels, leaving train bosses looking to recoup losses with cuts.

 

[Spartacus]

Yeah, whatever she meant (and reading the full statement it does appear to have been innocent), you've got to wonder about the competence of a communications director who issues something that can be understood that way, especially at times like these. Even by just referring to herself it's very easy to extrapolate that out to meaning anyone who isn't in an exec role, which of course it actually does, even if she didn't mean it to.

 

[seagull]

Reminiscent of Peter Leppard's thoughtless comment during the Arriva Trains Wales 2011 driver industrial action:

When asked why train drivers in Wales should be paid less than train drivers in other parts of Britain he replied, “It’s the difference between driving a jumbo jet and a milk float.”

Quite a few of Wales's trains were seen shortly afterwards with milk bottles in the cab window...

 

[The Planner]

Was there for all to see on the internal "Yammer" notice board. It got a few robust replies!

 

[theking]

Funny thing is those in head office don't even do half as much work as the troops on the ground that's why they go into management positions.

 

[TurboMan]

Funny thing is those in head office don't even do half as much work as the troops on the ground that's why they go into management positions.

That's just as ridiculous a comment as suggesting that those not in management positions should have worked harder at school.

 

[bramling]

Not seen that this has been posted but may have been seen by others. For someone who works professionally in a comms roll these comments appear ill-advised and not very well thought through, especially in the current industrial relations environment.

Network Rail: unions angered by ‘work harder at school’ comment

Network Rail communications director invites criticism after saying workers who want more pay should have worked harder at school.

www.personneltoday.com

And we wonder why railway ER is so fractious.

To be honest, she should really be being pulled in for bringing the company in to disrepute.

 

[EcsWhyZee]

I always think the negative reaction to these type of comments just proves them right.

Yes an executive job is hard - as proven by the crap communication and the response to it.

Yes the people angered so easily by it aren’t the country’s greatest thinkers - as proven by the response.

That said, it’s crap communication and the same basic idea (the job is harder than you think, and we compensate more at the top than the bottom because those skills and behaviours are rarer) could have been made in a much more endearing way.

 

[Leicester_Loya]

This comment alone has convinced people to tick YES in the ballot for a strike, so I'm all for it.

 

[507020]

And we wonder why railway ER is so fractious.

To be honest, she should really be being pulled in for bringing the company in to disrepute.

Clearly she herself didn’t work hard enough at school if she as “communications director” is incapable of forming a sentence giving a reason as to why she and other highly paid individuals should make what they do, when the ones doing 99% of the work are subject to their income being slashed in real terms, but not their workload. Not only is what she has come out with simply an insult to all working people, it does not account for the disparities that exist within the education system, especially been private schools afforded by those with parents in management positions like her’s and state schools in deprived areas, where students may be prevented from working harder by being forced to have people like her for teachers, who are unable to adequately convey the matter at hand. Salaries at all levels being treated in this way only adds to this disparity for future generations.

I personally have never encountered anyone in a management position who is remotely skilled enough to justify even a £100000 salary, but that may be because the truly skilled individuals are busy actually doing the job they are paid for and do not have the time of day to be speaking to the likes of me about their work and I sincerely hope this is the case, otherwise I genuinely fear for the future of society.

In the short term, there will now certainly be a national rail strike. The unions could dispense with the ballot as the outcome is now so painfully obvious thanks to this woman, but they don’t, since they continue to value the input of all their members.

 

[irish_rail]

P45 time for her methinks. Let's hope she worked hard enough at school to have the qualifications to get a decent new job.

 

[JohntyRogers]

Wow, you have got to laugh, just amazing. What an incredible comment. For an apparently educated women, by her own admission, and someone in comms, and someone who is meant to be trying to avert a strike... I think she has just pushed the strike vote through single handedly. Absolutely amazing. I do notice a few of those ebig wigs got significant pay rises through the lockdown period. Also amazing. Some animals are more equal than others.

 

[JohntyRogers]

I cannot see what the comment has to do with strike action, one way or another.

Lol she basically said, we are a allowed pay rises but you stupid morons are not. How can that not explicitly affect the strike vote. Its the most abnoxious comment for a director to make.

 

[zwk500]

Lol she basically said, we are a allowed pay rises but you stupid morons are not. How can that not explicitly affect the strike vote. Its the most abnoxious comment for a director to make.

No she didn't. She basically said she wasn't earning as much as she should/could because she didn't work hard enough at school. It's still an absolutely tone-deaf and obnoxious comment for a senior director to make

As a director of communications it's pretty close to unforgivable in how badly she conveyed her point and the company's position.

 

[greyman42]

Lol she basically said, we are a allowed pay rises but you stupid morons are not. How can that not explicitly affect the strike vote. Its the most abnoxious comment for a director to make.

I worded my post badly. What i meant was that the comment should not make any difference regarding whether people were going to vote yes or no as the comment does not change the facts of whichever side of the argument you take.

 

[JohntyRogers]

I worded my post badly. What i meant was that the comment should not make any difference regarding whether people were going to vote yes or no as the comment does not change the facts of whichever side of the argument you take.

Fair enough. My position was vote yes all the way as soona s found out andrew hines who sent out that letter, also received 200k plus payrise since 2019 and through lockdown. You can't send letters to staff asking them to suffer and be hero's and take one for the team through a fincial crisis, when you have just pocketed 200k plus. I find it just incredible behaviour, all of this.

 

[43066]

Not seen that this has been posted but may have been seen by others. For someone who works professionally in a comms roll these comments appear ill-advised and not very well thought through, especially in the current industrial relations environment.

Network Rail: unions angered by ‘work harder at school’ comment

Network Rail communications director invites criticism after saying workers who want more pay should have worked harder at school.

www.personneltoday.com

Perhaps taken a little out of context as she seems to include herself in the group who “should have worked harder at school”. Overall clearly a poorly thought out choice of wording for a so called “director of communications”. The apology is also somewhat condescending; what on earth is the relevance of the fact she grew up in a council house? Plenty of people from that sort of background do very well for themselves.

In fact, in my view, the inverted snobbery of the apology is worse than the original comment. She really isn’t very good at communicating, is she!?

 

[the sniper]

She added that “the alternative” to such pay inequality “is socialism where you don’t have pay differences like this”, noting: “Sadly again, there’s not much evidence of successful, fair and open socialist countries in the world who’ve managed to do this either.”

I'm more bemused by an NR 'director of communications' thinking the company's Yammer is a great place to have a casual chat about the historic and international effectiveness of socialism.

 

[bramling]

Perhaps taken a little out of context as she seems to include herself in the group who “should have worked harder at school”. Overall clearly a poorly thought out choice of wording for a so called “director of communications”. The apology is also somewhat condescending; what on earth is the relevance of the fact she grew up in a council house? Plenty of people from that sort of background do very well for themselves.

When in hole, stop digging springs to mind! Clearly good comms don't seem to be her forte...

 

[AlterEgo]

I more bemused by an NR 'director of communications' thinking the company's Yammer is a great place to have a casual chat about the historic and international effectiveness of socialism.

Yes that was spectacularly naive!

 

[johnnychips]

Fair enough. My position was vote yes all the way as soona s found out andrew hines who sent out that letter, also received 200k plus payrise since 2019 and through lockdown. You can't send letters to staff asking them to suffer and be hero's and take one for the team through a fincial crisis, when you have just pocketed 200k plus. I find it just incredible behaviour, all of this.

Spoke to an RMT member tonight. He hasn’t made his mind up which way to vote yet, but he considered the news about the bonus would sway him more than the daft remarks.

 

[kevconnor]

'm more bemused by an NR 'director of communications' thinking the company's Yammer is a great place to have a casual chat about the historic and international effectiveness of socialism.

I read this as a, not so subtle, dig at Union leadership and in particular the RMT.

 

[43096]

Fair enough. My position was vote yes all the way as soona s found out andrew hines who sent out that letter, also received 200k plus payrise since 2019 and through lockdown. You can't send letters to staff asking them to suffer and be hero's and take one for the team through a fincial crisis, when you have just pocketed 200k plus. I find it just incredible behaviour, all of this.

If you can produce some evidence of Andrew Haines' supposed 200k pay rise I'd like to see it. Because all the evidence I can find on the web is that he is paid less than his predecessor and hasn't had a rise since he took the role in 2018, and in fact took a voluntary 20% drop for four months at the end of 2020/start of 2021. of course you may have a far better source that shows this 200k, but somehow I doubt it.

 

[zwk500]

If you can produce some evidence of Andrew Haines' supposed 200k pay rise I'd like to see it. Because all the evidence I can find on the web is that he is paid less than his predecessor and hasn't had a rise since he took the role in 2018, and in fact took a voluntary 20% drop for four months at the end of 2020/start of 2021. of course you may have a far better source that shows this 200k, but somehow I doubt it.

he hasn't had a 200K pay rise because he's always been between 550k and 590k https://assets.publishing.service.g...054/senior-officials-150k-updated.csv/preview Notably, this is 2x as much as the professional head of the armed forces.

 

[68000]

It is a highly inflammatory remark, even if it was off the cuff

 

[Bluejays]

Find it interesting that she appears to believe the choice is either completely uncontrolled pay or socialism. The idea that there is a massive grey area in between the black and white extremes is obviously too complicated for her little brain to understand.

I'm often critical of some of the tone deaf and idiotic sentiment that comes out of unions. But important to realise that there are plenty of people like this woman fighting for huge pay settlements for themselves and the rest of the exec teams.

Wonder if the exec team at network rail did all study harder than the rest of us at school? Maybe some of them didn't study harder, but went to the right schools, then the right uni, then the right job after a recommendation from mummy and daddys friends

 

[507020]

he hasn't had a 200K pay rise because he's always been between 550k and 590k https://assets.publishing.service.g...054/senior-officials-150k-updated.csv/preview Notably, this is 2x as much as the professional head of the armed forces.

It of course isn’t the CEO Andrew Haines who’s made these comments it’s this stupid woman Nicky Hughes, but why if the head of the railway is paid double the head of the army, why can railway as a whole not receive double the government funding of the army? Even if these huge salaries were justified on the grounds of stress caused by difficulty of doing the job, £590k is nearly 4x what Boris makes and there is no way Network Rail is 4x as bad as possession of “nuclear codes” and surprise visits to Ukraine in the middle of a war, that is without people like Nicky Hughes to contend with…

Find it interesting that she appears to believe the choice is either completely uncontrolled pay or socialism. The idea that there is a massive grey area in between the black and white extremes is obviously too complicated for her little brain to understand.

I'm often critical of some of the tone deaf and idiotic sentiment that comes out of unions. But important to realise that there are plenty of people like this woman fighting for huge pay settlements for themselves and the rest of the exec teams.

Wonder if the exec team at network rail did all study harder than the rest of us at school? Maybe some of them didn't study harder, but went to the right schools, then the right uni, then the right job after a recommendation from mummy and daddys friends

She also doesn’t seem to believe that socialism can exist beyond the extreme left of Stalinist/Leninist/Marxist communism, but believes that even a pay freeze for herself equates to such an ideology regardless of the fate of her workforce.

I think this trumps anything that has ever come out of the mouth of the unions for tone deafness. You make a very good point about it not making a difference how hard you work at school, but which school you go to…

 

[Watershed]

why if the head of the railway is double the head of the army, why can railway as a whole not receive double the government funding of the army?

That's not how it works. Once you get to these sorts of positions, pay can vary significantly and only bears the loosest connection with how much money/people etc. you are in charge of. Often it can be down to individual negotiation more than anything else.

For those that criticise what Andrew Haines earns - how much would you demand to be paid to sit in his shoes? Honest question.

Even if these huge salaries were justified on the grounds of stress caused by difficulty of doing the job, £590k is nearly 4x what Boris makes and there is no way Network Rail is 4x as bad as possession of “nuclear codes” and surprise visits to Ukraine in the middle of a war, that is without people like Nicky Hughes to contend with…

Politicians are not paid enough IMHO. Whilst it may rankle to pay more to some of the lowlifes currently inhabiting Parliament, ultimately they make vital decisions about how the country is run and what the law should be. People shouldn't have to rely on donations to be able to go into politics - it provides far too much room for 'undue influence'. It should be an well thought of career as it is in other countries, not something for failed businesspeople and dodgy dealers, as is too often the case here.

So whilst de Pfeffel does get paid less than Haines, the same can be said for the head of almost any other significant organisation in the UK and across the world. Clearly he is not in it for the money, otherwise there are far more lucrative things he could be doing.

 

[JohntyRogers]

he hasn't had a 200K pay rise because he's always been between 550k and 590k https://assets.publishing.service.g...054/senior-officials-150k-updated.csv/preview Notably, this is 2x as much as the professional head of the armed forces.

No your wrong. Ibjave the directors remuneration report right hear that's shows in 2019 he was on just underr 300, as of 2021, just over 500k. Why could you not find this. Its right there. Did you even try before brandishing me a liar.

 

[Spartacus]

Politicians are not paid enough IMHO. Whilst it may rankle to pay more to some of the lowlifes currently inhabiting Parliament, ultimately they make vital decisions about how the country is run and what the law should be. People shouldn't have to rely on donations to be able to go into politics - it provides far too much room for 'undue influence'. It should be an well thought of career as it is in other countries, not something for failed businesspeople and dodgy dealers, as is too often the case here.

I'm with you all the way there. Politics in this country, at least honest politics, pays peanuts, and you know what you get when you pay peanuts. Anyone with a brain on their shoulders is far more likely to go into business than politics as the pay is so much higher, and typically has a good deal better job security, usually without undue public pressure too.