What are your views on unions & strikes?

Lynch's retort to Madeley's questioning about whether he cared if people died.

People will die because of Tory policies, not because of rail strikes.

Vegansrock. Surely the reason some railway workers (drivers and track maintenance) are well paid is because their jobs need greater skill and carry more responsibility. Other jobs maybe less skilled and people do them for a while and then move on to something else. Lots do that and there is nothing wrong with that.

My self employed son is working in London. He's having the week off. He can't afford a hotel room in London. The longer the strike goes on the longer he's without an income, and the job he's working on is standing idle.

Sympathy with this and other pending strikes will soon disappear. It's easy for the comfortably retired and those WFH. Those that still have to leave the home and keep the country functioning are the ones being hit. They have no choice but to use trains or use cars they can barely afford fuel for. To say just walk to work or get on your bike is insulting. My son travels over 100 miles on a normal working day.

Did anyone see the Madeley interview with Mick Lynch this morning? Madeley asked him if he was a Marxist looking to destroy capitalism, and whether he cared if people died because of this strike.

Mick Lynch was calm and basically took Madeley to pieces.

After the interview was finished and Lynch was off air, Madeley made a comment something like "He always says everything said about him is rubbish.

What a disgrace Madeley is.

One reason why some railway workers are relatively well paid is that they have strong unions who fight for better pay and conditions for their members - which is their job. Another reason is privatisation- private companies have offered higher wages to train drivers to stop them from having the expense of training so they poach them from other companies. You would think Tories would approve of this. I and members of my family are being affected by this weeks strike - some being unable to get to work, one being unable to use her £150 theatre tickets on her birthday, one will have to walk/ cycle for an hour to get to work, I’ve had to cancel a medical appointment - all inconvenient - but I support the right of workers to strike.

The rail strike is not about drivers striking for more pay.

Unions aren’t the knights in shining armour they once were… they fight to keep themselves in the headlines and payroll with union dues. Women in particular are badly supported. Train drivers… I’m trying to reconcile the graft & skill with the salary…. when you think of more skilled and less paid roles who are not striking. Sometimes it’s greed more than need.

Not all strikes are about pay.

TwiceAsNice

So they’re hardly on minimum wage then are they? Yes I am being sarcastic!

I never know what people are suggesting when they say this sort of thing.

What do you want? Every job to pay the same amount and that to be the minimum wage? Perhaps you could explain.

This is a link to the original Reality Check, which doesn't include cleaners.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/61840077

mokryna

My daughter’s friend stopped working for the NHS recently to work for the railway, We can see why she did as one of the reasons was pay.

Strikes make me very angry as others are held to ransom.

^according to BBC Reality Check, figures regarding average salaries for rail workers as supplied by the Office for National Statistics are:

Rail travel assistants including ticket collectors, and guards – £33,310
Rail construction and maintenance workers – £34,998
Rail transport workers including signallers and drivers’ assistants – £48,750
Train and tram drivers – £59,189
Rail and rolling stock builders and repairers – £46,753^

This is an odd list, because it only includes the more senior roles - where are the cleaners, and catering staff? Also, I wouldn’t be a ticket office clerk or a ticket collector for a gold watch, I bet they have endless abuse.

I could be wrong, but I think it's mainly the cleaners and catering staff who are striking and station and ticket office staff because jobs are being threatened.

So they’re hardly on minimum wage then are they? Yes I am being sarcastic!

My daughter’s friend stopped working for the NHS recently to work for the railway, We can see why she did as one of the reasons was pay.

Strikes make me very angry as others are held to ransom.

^according to BBC Reality Check, figures regarding average salaries for rail workers as supplied by the Office for National Statistics are:

Rail travel assistants including ticket collectors, and guards – £33,310
Rail construction and maintenance workers – £34,998
Rail transport workers including signallers and drivers’ assistants – £48,750
Train and tram drivers – £59,189
Rail and rolling stock builders and repairers – £46,753^

and mine!

We can be pretty sure that the right wing press will try to whip up division by referring to this strike as "Labour's strike" perhaps in the hope of improving the Conservatives chances in this week's byelections.'

They've been doing it all weekend on SM.

Anniebach

The unions certainly know when to call a strike

I'm assuming sarcasm there, Ab

The unions certainly know when to call a strike

The Government are deliberately exaggerating the average pay of rail workers by including the drivers (96% belong to a different union, ASLEF) because they are the highest paid, but excluding the cleaners who are the lowest paid.

It seems that Grant Shapps actually obstructed negotiations between union and employer and now accuses Kier Starmer of wanting the strike to go ahead when in fact the opposite is true.

We can be pretty sure that the right wing press will try to whip up division by referring to this strike as "Labour's strike" perhaps in the hope of improving the Conservatives chances in this week's byelections.'

I'm with them all the way. Unions are essential if workers are to have any hope of gaining - and keeping - good pay and conditions. ??

DiamondLily

TwiceAsNice

So they have chosen. I only said told because I wondered if they have been “persuaded” to strike. If it needs 50% nowadays to strike how about the ones who don’t vote to

As some services are running, although greatly reduced, I imagine those that don't want to strike, are going to work.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-61861040

The RMT workers who go to work would not be popular with their colleagues for strike breaking... I suspect that those still working will not be union members at all.

GrannyGravy13

TFL were awarded a 8.4% pay rise in April 2022

The salaries of workers start at £22,000 and go up to £62,000

TFL train workers are striking, lots of people would love a pay rise of 8.4%

TFL workers are striking presumably because they are members of RMT and a little thing called solidarity. It's part of a union's strength.

Well said.

TwiceAsNice

So they have chosen. I only said told because I wondered if they have been “persuaded” to strike. If it needs 50% nowadays to strike how about the ones who don’t vote to

As some services are running, although greatly reduced, I imagine those that don't want to strike, are going to work.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-61861040

TFL were awarded a 8.4% pay rise in April 2022

The salaries of workers start at £22,000 and go up to £62,000

TFL train workers are striking, lots of people would love a pay rise of 8.4%

So they have chosen. I only said told because I wondered if they have been “persuaded” to strike. If it needs 50% nowadays to strike how about the ones who don’t vote to