We'll *Do Something" about the strikes

Whitewavemark2

Some of the robot accounts that the government are using to spread false propaganda.

Especially since the RMT is the rail workers Union. ASLEF is the drivers union, though a few drivers are members. ASLEF are not on strike but fewer trains can run due to safety issues. No guards, signalers etc.

As to the automated train that picks up faults, this has been running for years now and is not an issue with the maintenance staff. My partner doesn't miss walking along ballast for miles, there's still plenty of work to do. Too much is contracted out to inexperienced staff. Knowledge and experience is not valued.

Another thing, as 75% of UK railways are owned by foreign companies that use their profits to run their own railways, how much thought do you think they give to the comfort and convenience of UK rail users?
No guards, no catering on trains, unmanned stations anyone? Rant over.

The Police can't strike but there are loads leaving due to appalling pay and work conditions. I know of 2 who have left recently, 1 retired asap, and another completed training for train driver whilst still working. More money, less violence and abuse and better work patterns. Can't start as a driver until strike situation resolved though. Because they can't strike what option is left but to leave. Throughout the emergency services we are losing people with lots of experience. It's not always money but recognition and respect for the work they do.

Shinamae - agree totally - there's nothing more essential for an elderly infirm person living alone than a carer coming in to help that person up out of bed, get washed and dressed and given a breakfast. I spent several years nursing my Mum and telling our lovely carers not to come on Christmas Day but they always did because Mum was double handed. They turned up for time and a half which was hardly anything. Of course they were well rewarded but not by the agency. They're a class of worker who would never strike because their work is based on relationship but I support the right of anybody to withhold their labour if they're being exploited and 12 years of Tory austerity plus Brexit means that most public sector workers who are working in a situation of poor wages and many vacant positions causing work overload and stress are in that category. The only think Sunak can do is to properly tax the rich to pay the poor. Then 7% of the population own 84% of the wealth there's something radically wrong.

Sparklefizz

I understand the pay issue but if inflation then rises, that pay increase will be worth less.

Royal Mail say they are losing £1million a day through strikes, so where do the posties think the pay increase will come from? I order a lot of goods online and deliveries are very rarely via Royal Mail these days, mostly from DPD, Evri/Hermes, etc.

They have paid millions in dividends to shareholders. Perhaps a fairer share of the profits. Save them millions in the long run.

I thought that capitalism was based on supply and demand. If supply is good then prices remain stable and if there are shortages then prices rise. A worker sells his labour. When there is a large supply of workers the wages remain lower but when workers are in short supply then wages should rise.

Inflation was going up well before the workers started asking for more money so it's not their fault.

Probably every Gransnetter remembers the seventies in this country. However, times have changed and life has moved on. Undoubtedly inconvenience has been caused for a lot of people due to rail strikes, but today many can work from home - the internet has changed how people earn their salary. This must lessen the impact. Similarly, as a few other posters have said, Royal Mail are potentially killing off their business because other carriers are filling the gap. I recall the strikes at Fords in the sixties and seventies. Real hardship for the workforce, but oddly the strikes often occurred when Fords car parks were completely full of new vehicles, so when the men went back to work there was little interruption to supply, and if theyhad got the percentage increase they wanted, offset against what they had lost during weeks of striking it was a very small victory for them - and Ford had paid no wages for those weeks. Never a straightforward situation.

MaizieD

growstuff

Katie59

“ The financial sector has its place but it's a parasite on the sectors that actually produce goods and services.”

So I guess all those of us with pensions or ISAs have to accept that we are parasites.

That's just being a drama queen!

I was being a bit of one, too...

😹😹😹😹

growstuff

Katie59

“ The financial sector has its place but it's a parasite on the sectors that actually produce goods and services.”

So I guess all those of us with pensions or ISAs have to accept that we are parasites.

That's just being a drama queen!

I was being a bit of one, too...

Do you remember Liz Truss proclaiming that we needed to stop focusing on redistribution and "grow the cake"?

She then proceeded to redistribute even more from the poor to the rich and crashed our economy, to the tune of £72 billion.

The UK economy has sunk in comparison with France, Germany, The Netherlands, Australia and Canada. We are now at the bottom of that list in terms of productivity.

Because we also have the highest level of inequality, the standard of living of almost all UK citizens is also lower than most people in these countries.

If we compare the UK with France, only the very richest Brits are on the same level as their French counterparts.

Middle income French citizens are 20% better off than middle income Brits and the very poorest French people are 25% better off than the poorest in the UK.

Katie59

“ The financial sector has its place but it's a parasite on the sectors that actually produce goods and services.”

So I guess all those of us with pensions or ISAs have to accept that we are parasites.

That's just being a drama queen!

“ The financial sector has its place but it's a parasite on the sectors that actually produce goods and services.”

So I guess all those of us with pensions or ISAs have to accept that we are parasites.

The UK has the highest profits in Europe.

The U.K. has the lowest living standard

Who's mainly to blame? - the Conservative Party, their billionaire funders and proprietors of the right wing press.

What is in the interests of the ultra-rich is not in the interests of the country but for too many years the overwhelming bias of the UK press has been very effective in fooling too many people too much of the time.

It must not continue.

Oh I haven’t had time to follow lately but I’m sure gg13 deserves the nomination🙂

Some of the robot accounts that the government are using to spread false propaganda.

growstuff

There was a thread not long ago about nominating GNers for government roles. I'm nominating you to be Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy GrannyGravy.

Seconded

It’s a long time since I’ve visited and even longer since I last posted, being driven away by some very spiteful posters. However, I’m now laid up after ankle surgery so I’ll give it another go!
I see these strikes equalling a discontent with the world at large rather than just about being rewarded adequately by an employer. For too long we’ve seen the few benefit and the majority get by. However, the majority can no longer do the getting by and feel they want a bigger cut of the cake. And why not - when you see salaried bosses of near-failing firms (and even worse, those in the public sector) taking massive salaries for little obvious benefit to delivered service.
I work in the MoD civil service, have a degree, and receive a mid£30k salary. I work hard, I get things done, I make a difference. Just how is my value so much less than some 20 something graduate with diddly experience raking in 3 times as much? Our world has changed so much over the last 50 years and with it, all understanding of the value of such experience. We’ve been in a race to the bottom - and having reached that very bottom, are now agitating. Who’s to blame? The establishment at large.

Over the last few years all the railway engineering work undertaken at Christmas has made travelling by train either a misery or impossible, so no change there.
I think the delay in / lack of Christmas post will be more noticeable.

There was a thread not long ago about nominating GNers for government roles. I'm nominating you to be Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy GrannyGravy.

Wyllow3

(Just a note - Ambulance are not emergency services, they new a class below, "essential services")

Yes, they are classed as an emergency service, but it depends on the category of response.

MaizieD

GrannyGravy13

I know what I think is really important and that is Families being together at Christmas and some of these strikes will prevent that.

I definitely agree to people having a living wage I just do not think that striking is the correct way to achieve it.

The problem is, GG13, that if negotiations have no effect then withdrawing labour is the only strategy left for working people. This has been the case for the last 200 or so years. Have you ever read Mrs Gaskell's 'North and South' (mid 19th C) , or 'The Ragged Trousered Philanthropist' (Early 20th C). They explore the theme of workers withdrawing their labour to obtain better pay and conditions from both the employers' and the workers' sides. There will always be a tension between the two 'sides', but I don't think that in this day and age, when we regard ourselves as an humane and advanced society, we should be expecting people to work in unregulated, adverse conditions, for wages that fail to keep pace with the cost of living, sometimes falling very short of the cost of living, while those higher up the company 'hierarchy' and the shareholders who contribute little or nothing to the company have first, very generous, call on company profits.

I know that you appear to be an excellent employer; you have said yourself that a company that cannot treat its workers fairly (by which I assume you mean both pay and conditions) and still be profitable might not really be a viable company...

I would add that keeping people near or below the poverty line does nothing to keep the domestic economy functioning well. It makes good economic sense to maintain a well paid, healthy work force.

I agree with your last paragraph 100% MaizieD

I also get that strikes should be the last resort when all else breaks down.

I said upthread in one of my rambles that along with pay it’s terms and conditions which are important. Any company should be able to take their workforce with them when the business model needs modernisation. They should re-train (excuse the pun) where necessary.

I totally understand the need for companies to be profitable however, I do not get why these bosses do not understand that a happy workforce is for more productive than an unhappy one . This should be in every boardroom across the land both private and public sector!!!

Christmas is just one day and it’s not important for families to get together, what is important at that people are able to feed, house and keep their families warm

Working to rule might be a possibility but the rail service relies on overtime because they don't employ enough drivers. The public might be nearly as badly inconvenienced as a full strike.

GrannyGravy13

I know what I think is really important and that is Families being together at Christmas and some of these strikes will prevent that.

I definitely agree to people having a living wage I just do not think that striking is the correct way to achieve it.

The problem is, GG13, that if negotiations have no effect then withdrawing labour is the only strategy left for working people. This has been the case for the last 200 or so years. Have you ever read Mrs Gaskell's 'North and South' (mid 19th C) , or 'The Ragged Trousered Philanthropist' (Early 20th C). They explore the theme of workers withdrawing their labour to obtain better pay and conditions from both the employers' and the workers' sides. There will always be a tension between the two 'sides', but I don't think that in this day and age, when we regard ourselves as an humane and advanced society, we should be expecting people to work in unregulated, adverse conditions, for wages that fail to keep pace with the cost of living, sometimes falling very short of the cost of living, while those higher up the company 'hierarchy' and the shareholders who contribute little or nothing to the company have first, very generous, call on company profits.

I know that you appear to be an excellent employer; you have said yourself that a company that cannot treat its workers fairly (by which I assume you mean both pay and conditions) and still be profitable might not really be a viable company...

I would add that keeping people near or below the poverty line does nothing to keep the domestic economy functioning well. It makes good economic sense to maintain a well paid, healthy work force.