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Post by northwestman on Jun 20, 2022 13:18:00 GMT 1
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jun/20/uk-minister-warns-public-workers-to-brace-for-real-term-pay-cuts-amid-rail-strikesPeople should prepare for rail strikes this week, a senior minister has said, as he warned that the majority of public sector workers should expect a real-terms pay cut this year. Although pensioners have also taken a real-terms pay cut this year, the Government has reinstated the Triple Lock, which will almost certainly mean that the state pension will go up 10-11% next April, as the % increase is calculated on the rate of inflation this September. I believe that the same increase will also be applied to state benefits. So is the government now prepared to tell public sector workers that next year they can look forward to pay increases of at least 10%? I think not. That being the case, I'm waiting for them to renege on reinstating the Triple Lock. Either that, or a miraculous drop in the inflation rate just for the one month of September will take place!
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Post by staffordshrew on Jun 20, 2022 13:33:25 GMT 1
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Post by Pilch on Jun 20, 2022 15:40:49 GMT 1
what should they do instead ?
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Post by staffordshrew on Jun 20, 2022 15:43:02 GMT 1
what should they do instead ? Call an election "Who governs Briton" That went well last time
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Post by Feedo Gnasher on Jun 20, 2022 16:18:56 GMT 1
The unions are rightly representing their members, but it’s so misguided pushing for blanket 10% rises to cover all the recent price increases. Will only push inflation further once other sectors do the same.
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Post by martinshrew on Jun 20, 2022 16:37:15 GMT 1
The unions are rightly representing their members, but it’s so misguided pushing for blanket 10% rises to cover all the recent price increases. Will only push inflation further once other sectors do the same. A blanket 10% is absurd and totally unrealistic. The unions of old were incredible in their time, the modern day unions are an absolute disgrace.
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Post by staffordshrew on Jun 20, 2022 16:43:58 GMT 1
The unions are rightly representing their members, but it’s so misguided pushing for blanket 10% rises to cover all the recent price increases. Will only push inflation further once other sectors do the same. A blanket 10% is absurd and totally unrealistic. The unions of old were incredible in their time, the modern day unions are an absolute disgrace. Don't think they have mentioned a blanket figure - just that 2% plus an additional 1% for accepting changes in working practices is unacceptable and far less than inflation. If they negotiate job changes, surely they would seek to share in the savings/increased productivity?
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Post by martinshrew on Jun 20, 2022 17:03:28 GMT 1
A blanket 10% is absurd and totally unrealistic. The unions of old were incredible in their time, the modern day unions are an absolute disgrace. Don't think they have mentioned a blanket figure - just that 2% plus an additional 1% for accepting changes in working practices is unacceptable and far less than inflation. If they negotiate job changes, surely they would seek to share in the savings/increased productivity? Maybe the savings will help plug the shortfall of the woefully underperforming TFL under Khan?
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Post by Pilch on Jun 20, 2022 18:05:35 GMT 1
what should they do instead ? Call an election "Who governs Briton" That went well last time of course because that would stop the proposed job cuts on the railway I didn't think you had thought it through properly , or even at all
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Post by Worthingshrew on Jun 20, 2022 18:05:56 GMT 1
I’d really like to know where the Govt are going to get these agent staff from. There is a real shortage of staff in every sector of the economy since Brexit.
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Post by Pilch on Jun 20, 2022 18:18:17 GMT 1
I’d really like to know where the Govt are going to get these agent staff from. There is a real shortage of staff in every sector of the economy since Brexit. surely you've worked out it was just an idle threat to halt the strike, as if they are going to use agency staff in safety critical posts but you can see why the likes of train drivers are worried about their jobs, their average salary is over £66K for the likes of virgin, not bad for a vehicle without a steering wheel and many fail safe safety features
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Post by northwestman on Jun 20, 2022 18:27:50 GMT 1
Militant transport union barons threatening to bring Britain to a standstill have been accused of defending ruinous work practices that date back to the ‘steam age’. An investigation by The Mail has found that the rail industry is gripped by so-called ‘Spanish practices’ that prolong delays and hike up fare costs. www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10905687/Train-services-cancelled-staff-wont-work-sunny-GUY-ADAMS-investigates.htmlIn addition to ‘walking allowances,’ some railway staff benefit from a bizarre rule that allows them to restart a scheduled break completely if they happen to bump into a manager who says ‘Hello’. Under antiquated conventions, any conversation with the boss class counts as ‘work.’ Astonishingly, this invalidates any break-time. Imagine your line manager stopping to say “Hello” when you are on a formal break. In the office or on-site, that’s a positive sign of teamwork. Ludicrously, in the rail industry the rule book decrees that the break has to restart from the beginning. Unions have also resisted fitting automatic sensors to trains that will check the track for defects. ‘Each one takes 70,000 pictures a minute and finds tiny cracks and flaws no human eye can see. But instead they insist on sending people out to walk along the track looking at the rails,’ adds the source. ‘Not only is this less likely to pick up problems, it’s more dangerous for staff. In the past two years alone, eight rail workers have been killed by trains while working on the track.’ The article lists an amazing number of questionable work practices.
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Post by staffordshrew on Jun 20, 2022 18:38:36 GMT 1
I’d really like to know where the Govt are going to get these agent staff from. There is a real shortage of staff in every sector of the economy since Brexit. surely you've worked out it was just an idle threat to halt the strike, as if they are going to use agency staff in safety critical posts but you can see why the likes of train drivers are worried about their jobs, their average salary is over £66K for the likes of virgin, not bad for a vehicle without a steering wheel and many fail safe safety features Keep up, Virgin don't even run a franchise anymore.
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Post by staffordshrew on Jun 20, 2022 18:42:21 GMT 1
Militant transport union barons threatening to bring Britain to a standstill have been accused of defending ruinous work practices that date back to the ‘steam age’. An investigation by The Mail has found that the rail industry is gripped by so-called ‘Spanish practices’ that prolong delays and hike up fare costs. www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10905687/Train-services-cancelled-staff-wont-work-sunny-GUY-ADAMS-investigates.htmlIn addition to ‘walking allowances,’ some railway staff benefit from a bizarre rule that allows them to restart a scheduled break completely if they happen to bump into a manager who says ‘Hello’. Under antiquated conventions, any conversation with the boss class counts as ‘work.’ Astonishingly, this invalidates any break-time. Imagine your line manager stopping to say “Hello” when you are on a formal break. In the office or on-site, that’s a positive sign of teamwork. Ludicrously, in the rail industry the rule book decrees that the break has to restart from the beginning. Unions have also resisted fitting automatic sensors to trains that will check the track for defects. ‘Each one takes 70,000 pictures a minute and finds tiny cracks and flaws no human eye can see. But instead they insist on sending people out to walk along the track looking at the rails,’ adds the source. ‘Not only is this less likely to pick up problems, it’s more dangerous for staff. In the past two years alone, eight rail workers have been killed by trains while working on the track.’ The article lists an amazing number of questionable work practices. Any questionable work practices are 50% down to bad management over the years. It takes two to tango.
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Post by Pilch on Jun 20, 2022 18:44:02 GMT 1
Militant transport union barons threatening to bring Britain to a standstill have been accused of defending ruinous work practices that date back to the ‘steam age’. An investigation by The Mail has found that the rail industry is gripped by so-called ‘Spanish practices’ that prolong delays and hike up fare costs. www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10905687/Train-services-cancelled-staff-wont-work-sunny-GUY-ADAMS-investigates.htmlIn addition to ‘walking allowances,’ some railway staff benefit from a bizarre rule that allows them to restart a scheduled break completely if they happen to bump into a manager who says ‘Hello’. Under antiquated conventions, any conversation with the boss class counts as ‘work.’ Astonishingly, this invalidates any break-time. Imagine your line manager stopping to say “Hello” when you are on a formal break. In the office or on-site, that’s a positive sign of teamwork. Ludicrously, in the rail industry the rule book decrees that the break has to restart from the beginning. Unions have also resisted fitting automatic sensors to trains that will check the track for defects. ‘Each one takes 70,000 pictures a minute and finds tiny cracks and flaws no human eye can see. But instead they insist on sending people out to walk along the track looking at the rails,’ adds the source. ‘Not only is this less likely to pick up problems, it’s more dangerous for staff. In the past two years alone, eight rail workers have been killed by trains while working on the track.’ The article lists an amazing number of questionable work practices. if I remember correctly walking time was something like 20 minutes an hour, it was used if asked to work outside your normal place of work. eg if a signaller was based at wellington and asked if he could work at Shrewsbury 11 miles away , he could claim 22x20 minutes pay for just nipping there and back in his car I do remember a rule when I was there that also stopped whilst I was there, if you were on a course you could claim the same rate of pay as the highest paid member of staff also attending the course. Great if a big knob was attending another rule that I used to use, if the roster came out and you had not been offered overtime in the correct set down order , you could claim it anyway. They could of course insist you then worked it. I often did this on earlies and instead of working until my normal shift finished I would work 12 hours, someone would then be paid a full shift to come and finish what was left of mine. Everyones a winner. There was a few years where I worked near Ironbridge on the coal trains where I could go home early if the last train had gone. this was great when Monday was my day off and it was a bank holiday. I would sign on first thing, followed by signing off as there was no planned trains and go back home having claimed 12 hours too ;-) 12 hours at double time and 3 quarters = 33 hours pay for 1 minutes work was a good days work , shame the box closed
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Post by Pilch on Jun 20, 2022 18:45:43 GMT 1
surely you've worked out it was just an idle threat to halt the strike, as if they are going to use agency staff in safety critical posts but you can see why the likes of train drivers are worried about their jobs, their average salary is over £66K for the likes of virgin, not bad for a vehicle without a steering wheel and many fail safe safety features Keep up, Virgin don't even run a franchise anymore.
I said the likes of them to make it easier for some to understand ;-)
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Post by staffordshrew on Jun 20, 2022 18:50:48 GMT 1
Militant transport union barons threatening to bring Britain to a standstill have been accused of defending ruinous work practices that date back to the ‘steam age’. An investigation by The Mail has found that the rail industry is gripped by so-called ‘Spanish practices’ that prolong delays and hike up fare costs. www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10905687/Train-services-cancelled-staff-wont-work-sunny-GUY-ADAMS-investigates.htmlIn addition to ‘walking allowances,’ some railway staff benefit from a bizarre rule that allows them to restart a scheduled break completely if they happen to bump into a manager who says ‘Hello’. Under antiquated conventions, any conversation with the boss class counts as ‘work.’ Astonishingly, this invalidates any break-time. Imagine your line manager stopping to say “Hello” when you are on a formal break. In the office or on-site, that’s a positive sign of teamwork. Ludicrously, in the rail industry the rule book decrees that the break has to restart from the beginning. Unions have also resisted fitting automatic sensors to trains that will check the track for defects. ‘Each one takes 70,000 pictures a minute and finds tiny cracks and flaws no human eye can see. But instead they insist on sending people out to walk along the track looking at the rails,’ adds the source. ‘Not only is this less likely to pick up problems, it’s more dangerous for staff. In the past two years alone, eight rail workers have been killed by trains while working on the track.’ The article lists an amazing number of questionable work practices. if I remember correctly walking time was something like 20 minutes an hour, it was used if asked to work outside your normal place of work. eg if a signaller was based at wellington and asked if he could work at Shrewsbury 11 miles away , he could claim 22x20 minutes pay for just nipping there and back in his car I do remember a rule when I was there that also stopped whilst I was there, if you were on a course you could claim the same rate of pay as the highest paid member of staff also attending the course. Great if a big knob was attending another rule that I used to use, if the roster came out and you had not been offered overtime in the correct set down order , you could claim it anyway. They could of course insist you then worked it. I often did this on earlies and instead of working until my normal shift finished I would work 12 hours, someone would then be paid a full shift to come and finish what was left of mine. Everyones a winner. There was a few years where I worked near Ironbridge on the coal trains where I could go home early if the last train had gone. this was great when Monday was my day off and it was a bank holiday. I would sign on first thing, followed by signing off as there was no planned trains and go back home having claimed 12 hours too ;-) 12 hours at double time and 3 quarters = 33 hours pay for 1 minutes work was a good days work , shame the box closed May I ask why, if it's such a cushy number you are now walking the streets? Or is it the same as Post Office workers, where a great job has been turned into a so-so job due to changes in working practice - even though Postal staff have a strong union.
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Post by frankwellshrews on Jun 21, 2022 0:35:57 GMT 1
Good luck to them.
Gets me out of schlepping in to Birmingham a couple of times this week so it's a thumbs up from me
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Post by neilsalop on Jun 21, 2022 6:19:15 GMT 1
I have to go to Birmingham on Saturday morning and fully intended to go on the train, but now I'll have to drive in and park. We'll go in the wife's car to save on the ULEZ charge, so it will actually be cheaper than three train tickets. Not quite as convenient, but I'm sure we'll manage and will get ourselves a Costa with the money we save.
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Post by shrewder on Jun 21, 2022 7:14:24 GMT 1
Visiting Shrewsbury next Monday, was going to come by train but expect there will still be disruption due to rolling stock not be in correct locations. Will now unfortunately come by car.
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Post by returnofthehype on Jun 21, 2022 7:26:05 GMT 1
With a bit of luck they will sack all the rail strikers and allow people who actually want to work the opportunity……
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2022 8:17:32 GMT 1
Like a lot of things, my view on unions/strikes has softened over the years, I realise that I was falling for the divide & conquer tactics by the gov't/tabloids which would talk about greedy militant, left wing, unions who are inconveniencing good old hard working Brits by holding the country to ransom. The reality is many of the perks/benefits/rights that we workers have in this country have been won by unions and whilst we might think that what they are asking for is taking the p**s (particularly in the current climate), if we had the opportunity to have it, the majority of people would take it.
However, there is definitely a thought at the back of my mind that its a p**stake. I have a friend who works on the trains and some of the stories he has told me where he has been able to earn decent money for very little work genuinely amazes me, but again if I was in his position I certainly wouldn't turn it down.
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Post by davycrockett on Jun 21, 2022 8:40:17 GMT 1
With a bit of luck they will sack all the rail strikers and allow people who actually want to work the opportunity…… Good job your not in charge then How long will it take to recruit and train 40,000 new employees and get them up to speed? Genius!
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Post by staffordshrew on Jun 21, 2022 8:46:19 GMT 1
Good luck to them. Gets me out of schlepping in to Birmingham a couple of times this week so it's a thumbs up from me Two fingers up to Mr Rees-Mogg too - now everyone who can do it can show him that working from home works again.
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Post by staffordshrew on Jun 21, 2022 9:00:30 GMT 1
We know from Margaret Thatcher that things like this turn out to be affecting your union too, even ones you never thought of as 'militant'.
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Post by martinshrew on Jun 21, 2022 9:37:32 GMT 1
We've worked from home for that long it should be a breeze for anyone who has previously done it.
I feel sorry for those in low wage jobs who can't travel to work being disrupted by these bloody unions and their unrealistic demands.
I've seen people worried about their immigration status due to non-attendance of college because of these strikes. It's plain wrong.
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Post by Pilch on Jun 21, 2022 9:44:53 GMT 1
if I remember correctly walking time was something like 20 minutes an hour, it was used if asked to work outside your normal place of work. eg if a signaller was based at wellington and asked if he could work at Shrewsbury 11 miles away , he could claim 22x20 minutes pay for just nipping there and back in his car I do remember a rule when I was there that also stopped whilst I was there, if you were on a course you could claim the same rate of pay as the highest paid member of staff also attending the course. Great if a big knob was attending another rule that I used to use, if the roster came out and you had not been offered overtime in the correct set down order , you could claim it anyway. They could of course insist you then worked it. I often did this on earlies and instead of working until my normal shift finished I would work 12 hours, someone would then be paid a full shift to come and finish what was left of mine. Everyones a winner. There was a few years where I worked near Ironbridge on the coal trains where I could go home early if the last train had gone. this was great when Monday was my day off and it was a bank holiday. I would sign on first thing, followed by signing off as there was no planned trains and go back home having claimed 12 hours too ;-) 12 hours at double time and 3 quarters = 33 hours pay for 1 minutes work was a good days work , shame the box closed May I ask why, if it's such a cushy number you are now walking the streets? Or is it the same as Post Office workers, where a great job has been turned into a so-so job due to changes in working practice - even though Postal staff have a strong union. the clue is in the last 4 words of my post
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Post by staffordshrew on Jun 21, 2022 9:55:07 GMT 1
May I ask why, if it's such a cushy number you are now walking the streets? Or is it the same as Post Office workers, where a great job has been turned into a so-so job due to changes in working practice - even though Postal staff have a strong union. the clue is in the last 4 words of my post What happened to redeployment?
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Post by dabber180 on Jun 21, 2022 9:55:49 GMT 1
With a bit of luck they will sack all the rail strikers and allow people who actually want to work the opportunity……
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Post by dabber180 on Jun 21, 2022 9:59:46 GMT 1
There are legitimate reasons why there is a strike. Conditions, Work practices as well as fair pay. All associated on the frontline rail industry do a fine job despite often having one hand tied behind there back thanks to an inept government. People do want to work, but in a fair way. Not much to ask.
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