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Original poster

To think this spineless government will give in to grabby train drivers

185 replies

LupaMoonhowl · 31/08/2025 09:32

I live in London and wasn’t aware of this till I saw in mentioned in passing on another thread.
It is utterly scandalous that they can hold the city to ransom like this! How can they cut off key transport for 5 days! And no doubt they’re confident that the spineless, incompetent and public sector/vote buying government and cynical chancer Kahn will give into what they demand.
Back to the 70s 😔😔
Tube and DLR strikes - September 2025
Strikes are planned on the Tube and DLR.

  • From Sunday 7 to Thursday 11 September 2025, Tube services will be severely disrupted, with little to no service expected
  • Any services that do run between Monday 8 and Friday 12 September will start later than usual with no service before 08:00
  • On Tuesday 8 and Thursday 11 September 2025, there will also be no service on the DLR
OP posts:
Ratafia · 31/08/2025 10:28

You must have an incredibly short memory if you can't remember the strikes that happened under the last government.

SirBasil · 31/08/2025 10:27

Absentmindedsmile · 31/08/2025 10:22

The point is the tube can work without drivers. The newer trains all have driverless capability.

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so do it then.

there is a reason there are drivers and a lot of that is to do with safety.

IGaveSoManySigns · 31/08/2025 10:27

Damn, imagine thinking the people that keep the city running are “grabby” for wanting to be paid fairly

Katemax82 · 31/08/2025 10:24

This reply has been deleted

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Katemax82 · 31/08/2025 10:23

As the wife of a train driver who had to completely change career path due to the pay freeze/strikes of 2022 yabu for calling them "grabby"!!!! I could write a huge rant sticking up for train drivers but I've tried before, I get really fucking angry arguing with people who haven't a fucking clue

Absentmindedsmile · 31/08/2025 10:22

SirBasil · 31/08/2025 10:20

really? so if they all walked out for a week? Londoners would have absolute hissy fits (at the least) and the key workers like teachers and nurses would get to their jobs... on foot?

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The point is the tube can work without drivers. The newer trains all have driverless capability.

SprayWhiteDung · 31/08/2025 10:21

CeciliaDuckiePond · 31/08/2025 10:05

I don't trust driverless trains. Why haven't we got driverless cars yet? - because every time they trial one, it has an accident within hours! Driving a vehicle needs a human eye. I was reading about a serious rail accident being averted because a driver spotted that the points were set incorrectly - not part of his remit to look at the points, but a case of experience telling him something wasn't right. If he'd just let the train run on it would have gone into the side of another train.

I agree with you on driverless cars and lorries etc.; but when a method of transport can only move on a fixed set of rails, which no other transport (and the general public) can/will use alongside them, it's a doddle in comparison.

All you need are sensors/cameras/other safety equipment to monitor and make sure that nothing/nobody has got on to the rails that shouldn't be there and that the rails aren't broken - in which case all approaching trains could be automatically stopped plenty in advance until the obstacle/issue has been resolved.

SirBasil · 31/08/2025 10:20

Absentmindedsmile · 31/08/2025 10:19

Ah I agree with Key workers being paid more. Teachers , nurses, police, firefighters, etc. Tube drivers are not key workers.

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really? so if they all walked out for a week? Londoners would have absolute hissy fits (at the least) and the key workers like teachers and nurses would get to their jobs... on foot?

CeciliaDuckiePond · 31/08/2025 10:19

LittleBearPad · 31/08/2025 10:07

There are driverless taxis operating in the US.

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Road layout in the US is much more straightforward than in the UK because towns were designed with driving in mind. I'm not sure I'd pick the US as a model of safe driving, in any case.

Absentmindedsmile · 31/08/2025 10:19

Bambamhoohoo · 31/08/2025 10:08

I mean, this is an obvious point right?

I elect a government to oversee and agree negotiations.

the financial decision making is based on extensive modelling none of us have access to and it’s up to their employers to work out what’s affordable and negotiate.

personally, if the country was wealthier than it currently is I couldn’t care less about paying for key workers salary increases.

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Ah I agree with Key workers being paid more. Teachers , nurses, police, firefighters, etc. Tube drivers are not key workers.

Bambamhoohoo · 31/08/2025 10:18

SprayWhiteDung · 31/08/2025 10:14

I suppose, however noble or justified their action and demands are, once one sector fights for an across-the-board increase and gets it, then the next one does, and the next one.

The eventual result can be to re-level the playing field - which of course is not a bad thing - but you can potentially end up with nobody better off in the long run.

If they increased the minimum wage to £100/£10,000/£1m an hour, it would sound absolutely amazing - but the end result would be that prices, expectations and inflation would all just rise across the board to compensate.

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But that’s where their employer and where relevant the government’s responsibility lies.

The idea that they shouldn’t ask or demand because they might send the economy crazy is bonkers. That’s not their responsibility.

SirBasil · 31/08/2025 10:17

SprayWhiteDung · 31/08/2025 09:55

A lot of those sectors are balloting or have/ are striking.

Yes, they are indeed. But they still can't individually negotiate their salaries, as PP seemed to be suggesting that most people apart from train drivers could.

It's not like a teacher or a nurse can go and butter up their boss, point out how good a worker they are and pull a few strings to bag a bigger salary just for themselves.

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teachers, nurses, refuse workers, council workers.... have unions. And the unions negotiate the pay.

How do people not get this? ah yes, a steady campaign of anti-union rhetoric that (some) workers fell for.

ho hum

itsgettingweird · 31/08/2025 10:15

SprayWhiteDung · 31/08/2025 10:05

I'm a bit confused because you quoted my response to the suggestion that most people can negotiate their salaries individually; but I think we're essentially on the same page!

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I think we are too!

Absentmindedsmile · 31/08/2025 10:15

CeciliaDuckiePond · 31/08/2025 10:05

I don't trust driverless trains. Why haven't we got driverless cars yet? - because every time they trial one, it has an accident within hours! Driving a vehicle needs a human eye. I was reading about a serious rail accident being averted because a driver spotted that the points were set incorrectly - not part of his remit to look at the points, but a case of experience telling him something wasn't right. If he'd just let the train run on it would have gone into the side of another train.

DLR?

SirBasil · 31/08/2025 10:14

whenever someone posts a tale of woe about how their employer is shafting them, i always say: join a union.

And this is a good example of why. If train drivers are so valuable to society, their salary needs to reflect that. If the train companies are so cheap that they won't employ enough drivers - that's on them, not on the drivers.

SprayWhiteDung · 31/08/2025 10:14

Bambamhoohoo · 31/08/2025 10:01

I never really get why people don’t think “good for them” don’t you want to earn as much money as you possibly can? The maximum return for your labour?

whether it’s financially reasonable is their employers problem, not yours.

I suppose, however noble or justified their action and demands are, once one sector fights for an across-the-board increase and gets it, then the next one does, and the next one.

The eventual result can be to re-level the playing field - which of course is not a bad thing - but you can potentially end up with nobody better off in the long run.

If they increased the minimum wage to £100/£10,000/£1m an hour, it would sound absolutely amazing - but the end result would be that prices, expectations and inflation would all just rise across the board to compensate.

LlynTegid · 31/08/2025 10:14

London Underground is the responsibility of the London Mayor, so the answer is no to the OPs question.

I would be OK with night tube ending, given how much smaller the evening economy is becoming.

Absentmindedsmile · 31/08/2025 10:14

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 31/08/2025 10:04

Yeah, my nephew is a train driver. He drives a train.

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Tube drivers aren’t really driving. The train can be driverless. The technology does all the work. He could lose his job tomorrow and the trains would still be working. But don’t worry he won’t, unions. Mainline trains still need drivers.

LambriniBobInIsleworthISeesYa · 31/08/2025 10:14

Up the workers. Freedom for Tooting. I hope that the train drivers get what they want… and I’m a Londoner.

LlynTegid · 31/08/2025 10:13

Bruisername · 31/08/2025 09:40

Are there any details of the working week and extreme shift patterns? Not doubting it but I’ve never seen the actual details so curious

i will just work from home but I feel for those on low incomes who will have to find a way in and those on zero hours contracts

My understanding is that night tube trains are not separate drivers but part of their roster pattern. There was not night tube 15 or 20 years ago, so a long term driver would not have had night work.

Bambamhoohoo · 31/08/2025 10:13

EmpressoftheMundane · 31/08/2025 10:10

I think we would all agree with that. It would be great if the country were wealthier and we all had more across the board.

But it isn’t. We are in a very bad state. Train drivers grabbing more for themselves is at the expense of others.

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Absolute tosh. I remember on this very forum 20 years ago posters hysterically calling train drivers grabby lazy incompetent for going on strike back then and we were positively ROLLING in cash in those days.

a sizeable part of the population have always hated public sector works pushing for salaries and working conditions, whether the tax payer can afford it or not.

Mikart · 31/08/2025 10:12

Its shit...there's the London Half Marathon on Sunday so this will stuff runners and onlookers.

Bambamhoohoo · 31/08/2025 10:11

LittleBearPad · 31/08/2025 10:07

There are driverless taxis operating in the US.

Show quote history

They operate in many countries. If I remember correctly the reason the don’t here is that driverless cars are illegal in the uk

EmpressoftheMundane · 31/08/2025 10:10

Bambamhoohoo · 31/08/2025 10:08

I mean, this is an obvious point right?

I elect a government to oversee and agree negotiations.

the financial decision making is based on extensive modelling none of us have access to and it’s up to their employers to work out what’s affordable and negotiate.

personally, if the country was wealthier than it currently is I couldn’t care less about paying for key workers salary increases.

Show quote history

I think we would all agree with that. It would be great if the country were wealthier and we all had more across the board.

But it isn’t. We are in a very bad state. Train drivers grabbing more for themselves is at the expense of others.

Bruisername · 31/08/2025 10:08

The dlr is driverless