Strikes

[FarAwayHills]

Southern conductors, Southern train drivers, Post office staff, Argos delivery drivers, BA cabin crew, Virgin pilots and airport ground workers...all on strike over Christmas. It is just miserable for anyone with travel plans or for those just trying to get to work or run a business. Seems like the unions are co ordinating these for maximum impact and as usual it is the ordinary working people that suffer.

[ZackyVengeance]

Sorry had to say, the people striking are just ordinary working people

[Gileswithachainsaw]

Well there kinda wouldn't be any point in striking if no one noticed would there..

[Haggisfish]

Yes, maybe if the ordinary working people in these companies weren't continually being shafted and treated as commodities then they wouldn't feel the need to strike.

[RebelRogue]

Well that's kinda the point really,no one would particularly care if the strikes were on 5th of march for example.

[Esmereldada]

They are not striking to be a pain in the ass.

[Suppermummy02]

Sorry had to say, the people striking are just ordinary working people
being led by wealthy union barons with political machinations.

I think the time has come to have strikes in public services made illegal.
The train drivers strike is absolutely disgusting, causing chaos to millions just because they wont push a button to close the doors. Something that train drivers have been doing on other trains for decades.

[FarAwayHills]

I've no issues with workers standing up for themselves. Most of this is just a game between fat cat unions and politicians and has little to do with workers. What really gets me that they are doing it at this time of year when people want to travel to be with their family and the ordinary public will suffer the brunt of the strikes the most.

[GhostofFrankGrimes]

Most of this is just a game between fat cat unions and politicians and has little to do with workers.

workers (union members) have to vote in favour of strike action. Are union members not workers?

The increase in strike actions has the faint whiff of the 1980's about it. We know who was at the helm then.

[SouthWestmom]

Well I don't know the detail so will go and look but my initial thoughts are that it's a crappy mean thing to do.

[periwinklepickspoppies]

It's crap for all the travel plans that are being disrupted, yes. However, why are they striking? I'm sure that they can do without the extra stress that striking brings so they must feel very strongly about it.

[Believeitornot]

What makes you think this is a game?

People have to vote to strike so they must be pissed Off with their working conditions.

Is it so hard to believe that people might be fed up of being underpaid and overworked?

I would suggest you did a bit of research instead of just assuming it is just a game

[Believeitornot]

Have you seen the recent press stories about Amazon workers? People camping because they can't afford to live in their wages?
Uber drivers being exploited?
Restaurant workers being paid less than the minimum wage?
Train drivers are striking because southern are slowly degrading the role of guards - it isn't about modernisation?

I would be careful what you read in the press - in today's age it is more important than ever to check different places to find out the facts. There are plenty of lies around - we saw it with the Brexit campaign, we saw it with trump and even now, Theresa May's government continues to flirt with the idea of the truth.

So there will be plenty of lies out there about those who are striking. All to suit "The Establishment" (i.e those who are already rich and have a lot of power).

[SouthWestmom]

So BA is about pay increased not being agreed and Virgin about pilots wanting their union recognised but terms not having been agreed yet.
Not sure it's worth ruining travel plans for people , can't see a lot of sympathy being garnered tbh.

[GhostofFrankGrimes]

Ah yes, people should just accept low pay and stop complaining. More divide and conquer bollocks from the right.

[exLtEveDallas]

I think strikes like this just set 'the people' against the strikers. They are more of an own goal than anything else. The bosses that set the wages/shift patterns/conditions aren't the ones disrupted by the strikes. They couldn't give a shit. The people suffering for the strike action are the ones that can't make the changes the strikers want.

I remember being anti-firefighter for years after having to cover a certain strike period. It absolutely fucked me over. Caused me no end of pain. Afterwards you couldn't mention a firefighter in my presence without me growling and swearing. I've grown up a bit now but still remember how I felt and have to check myself if ever it comes up in conversation (my mum bought me a joke firemans calendar that year at Xmas and I spent a lovely time carefully defacing all the photos , she still thinks it was the funniest thing ever)

[Believeitornot]

These strikes don't set me against those striking because I take the time to find out what the issues are.

I also see that strikers are ordinary people.

You never see chief executives or board members go on strike because they tend to earn more than enough.

Funny that.

[exLtEveDallas]

I can see the issues. However I can also see that someone who has paid a premium for (for example) a Christmas holiday, who may well be paid less than the striking worker, being a tad 'miffed' that their holiday is delayed/cancelled/ruined because the union has decided to cause max impact by striking over a Holiday period.

No so funny that.

[NickNacks]

Childcare workers are poorly paid too, would like to see your responses if they all went on strike and you couldn't go to work!

[FourToTheFloor]

Believe what about those people whose jobs are at risk because of the strikes? Should they give a shit if you want more money when they might not have any?

All of these unions striking at once is what makes it even more crap. So we've found a way to get to the airport no thanks to Southern, thankfully aren't flying Virgin or BA but ground crew are ALSO striking?

I'm actually supportive of not removing guards but all together, and doing this at Christmas time - you're acting like arseholes quite frankly.

[GhostofFrankGrimes]

Lets hope your employer always treats you well and honours your T&C eh four?

[Believeitornot]

I couldn't go to work during the strikes - I live on a southern line and have no alternative as I'm so far out.

I am regularly late for work and late getting home because of southern. I've lost count of the cancelled trains, short formed trains, falling apart trains.

Southern trains are awful. Given how they treat their passengers I wonder how they treat their staff.

It is a fucking nightmare when there's a strike.

However I don't believe for a second that striking is the first resort. It is the last resort. This southern dispute has been rumbling along for months and months! The strikes are their last resort.

I blame those who do not treat their staff properly and try and ground them down.

We should all have the right to stop working and it's terrible that we don't. Employees are treated as commodities and it will only get worse as time goes on.

Thatcher was applauded by many for crushing the unions and miners yet decided later, we see that those mining communities never recovered. They're still incredibly deprived and it can be traced back to thatcher. It costs the government billions in welfare because they took away their jobs with no thought to what next.

Each of us has the right to a basic standard of living. And sadly it sometimes takes strikes (for those who can) to get it.

The strikes are the symptom of something going wrong. So yes, they're inconvenient at best, but we should be asking the bigger question of why?

Instead we get distracted by arguing about who is worse off because of the strikes instead of looking at those at the top who are creating the chaos in the first place.

[Believeitornot]

*decades later not decided later

[eternalopt]

Cracks me up when people complain about workers striking at a time of maximum impact. What would be the point of striking when no one would notice?!?

As for it being just an argument between "fat cat unions" and politicians, that's nonsense. If that was the case, the workers wouldn't vote to strike and more workers would cross the picket line so services wouldn't be affected. No worker is going to lose a days wages if they don't feel they have to. The right to strike is the last line of defence that a worker has and needs to be protected. I wish I worked in a unionised workplace.

[wanderings]

I agree with the strikes being an own goal if they go too far. If the unions are not careful, I do foresee strike laws being quietly toughened (perhaps the same day article 50 is or isn't triggered, or Donald Trump takes over, while the public is distracted). Perhaps Theresa May is plotting it already. Indeed, petitions from the fed-up public might start appearing; if they do, the government will probably leap at the chance to appear to be doing something the public wants, all in the name of that fabled "democracy". Didn't people fed up with the strikes of the 70's think that Thatcher was a "breath of fresh air"?

The late Bob Crow; the public loved him, didn't they? Was it tabloid tattle, or did he really earn £80k and live in a taxpayer-funded council flat? All we know is lots of people frequently couldn't get to work because of him.

So unions, be careful: the government does (in theory) have the power to make striking illegal; all they have to do is get the voting public on their side.

[CustardLover]

Strikes are the last resort of desperate / frustrated / exploited workers - the act is the only leverage they have and one of desperation and therefore is planned to make the greatest impact, so that it can be short and sharp and force those who are decision makers to solve the problems. The decision maker will only act if their pockets are attacked - the business case has to make it clear that it's actually better value to settle with the workers than continue with the disruption. In order to hit them in the accounts, it has to happen at the busiest time with the most disruption and when customers will be angry and kick up a stink. This is how strikes work and the companies KNOW this and have forced the workers' hands, taking the gamble that the strikers taking this last step of desperation will backfire and the public will turn against them rather than the real fat cats. Please don't blame strikers - we're all being manipulated and are victims together.