Do you sympathise with the strikers?

[TheDoveFromAboveCooCoo]

I'm afraid it's a no from me.

We are in West Yorkshire and we are just entering week 3 of a full bus drivers strike from one of the operators.

It's costing £75 a week in taxis to get my daughter to and from school. It's 6 miles away so too far to walk and I'm disabled and can't drive.

For my eldest daughter to visit her girlfriend it should be a 15 minute bus journey. Now it's a bus to Bradford Centre, then another one to Leeds, then another to her town.

My husband works in a minimum wage job and some of his colleagues who cannot drive are having to take unpaid leave as they can't afford taxis to get them to work and back.

I'm pretty frustrated and wish they would just bloody agree on something!!

Interested to hear other peoples thoughts and opinions especially with all these other potential strikes coming up.

No I don't agree with it or support it in any way.

Yes- I believe in the right to strike. .
I think they are on a hiding to nothing though

No not at all, making life significantly more shit for people (who can do nothing about what you are complaining about) is pretty crap. It's no different to those idiots that glued themselves to the road for their cause (in my opinion)

No I don't. They have a decent offer on the table. Unions refusing to ballot members if they wish to take it or not. It will cause disruptive to so many others lives. Many of those who already live in poverty. Lady at top of thread having to pay £6 for taxi to get her child to school twice a day. If pay awards are really high it fuels inflation further. The government is only just recovery from Covid and the massive payout for furlough scheme and self employed grants, vaccination programmes, now war in Ukraine and paying for so many illegal immigrants too, as well as cost of living handouts to elderly, disabled and those on UC. Just saying there is a finite pot of money, if they spend on former then pay awards lower down the list. I remember the spiraling inflation and winter of discontent in 70's where just about everyone went on strike including teachers, fire brigade etc. I don't want to go back there. I would love a big pay rise but will just accept a small award to help keep inflation down.

Frankly I find the whole notion of striking, and of its being enshrined in law, quite bizarre.

Employers and employees are joined at the hip. If the employee thinks they aren't paid enough, by all means let them leave and find better pay elsewhere. Conversely if employers think they're paying too much, let them look for people who'll do the job for less.

But what kind of ridiculous notion is it that the employee can hold the employer - and by extension all the consumers - hostage?

Re the buses, I will confess that I don't know much about the strikes.

My DB is a bus driver, now working with a good employer, he started with one of the big private bus companies (not arriva but similar business model).

They pay for the employee to get their licence, but tie the driver into a contract by making them repay training costs if they leave within a set time frame, eg a couple of years.
They pay peanuts, operate split shifts and poor shift patterns knowing that drivers can't move on easily and the attitude is if you don't like it leave. They can always recruit more, cheaper inexperienced drivers, who will be stuck there for the contract time. So it's a revolving door.

Since Brexit they can't backfill as quickly which is putting more pressure on drivers who need to work, causing extra stress and leaving some hitting maximum driving limits each week without any extra pay.

I'm surprised bus strikes aren't happening in more places, but I would support those drivers who feel they have no other choice.

No, their demands are ridiculous. And I don’t think you should be able t9 stp essential services completely- Spanish friend was over during some train strikes and was appalled. Apparently in Spain they have to keep a percentage of services running, so it’s crowded but public transport doesn’t stop. And that’s Spain - hardly an anti worker capitalist paradise.

Absolutely.

Since Brexit they can't backfill as quickly which is putting more pressure on drivers who need to work, causing extra stress and leaving some hitting maximum driving limits each week without any extra pay.

This part doesn't make sense. Surely if they can't backfill as quickly, they'd be willing to pay more. That's how the wage market operates. Any market really.

You would think so, but employers seem to be slow on the uptake.
Look at the airports as an example. They still think people work for fun.

Yes i do. They have my full support.

It's not their fault that other people are not demanding similar pay rises when they should.
The government has refused to be involved - the minister in charge hasnt even engaged with any of the issues.

As for being disruptive... well that's the point of a strike!! It won't have any effect on managemnet if it doesnt causes issue that management has to deal with.

@L1ttledrummergirl

Then the employees should hand in their notice unless they get a raise. BTDT as an employee (more to do with conditions than wage) and had it done to me as an employer.

No hard feelings. As an employer I've always made it clear to my workers that I will treat them well and expect the same from them, but at the same time I don't own them.

If they want a higher wage I'd expect them to come to me first before seeking employment elsewhere, but if I can't give them the rise they're looking for, by all means they can find a job elsewhere. That's life.

I've had employees do just that and we've remained on good terms.

But what nobody should be able to do is to hold the employer hostage. Withholding work should be synonymous with quitting.

I wasn't aware of the bus strikes in Yorkshire - so sorry.

I am however hugely inconvenienced by the train strikes - ended up cancelling part of my holiday this week as travel home was going to be really difficult

Despite this I am supportive of strikers and I fear that in my sector (healthcare) there will be strikes too. We have had below inflationary pay rises for too long. The pandemic asked far too much of us and now the post - covid recovery planning is asking even more. There is real dissatisfaction about terms and conditions and an exodus of staff which is making recovery planning even work.

All of this is due to a failure of government. They have been too busy keeping their corporate mates happy that they have forgotten that they need the little people to actually do the work. Pay peanuts get shit.

The discrepancy between the top earners and the bottom earners is growing year on year. This is not a mark of a healthy society. We need to rethink everything at a societal level and get the sodding Tories (especially BJ's corrupt Tories) out of Downing Street.

Except they don't.

They are now so used to a system where they can have people at their beck and call, use zero hour contract etc... that a system where they actually have to look after their workers for them to stay just doesn't compute.

Just look at restaurants. They'd rather close 2 or 3 days than increase wages. Same with airports staff. etc....

And it's the same everywhere too. The old 'people are just too lazy and they are asking for too much' gets brandied arund again and again so much so that companies actually believe it. Guess what? It was never the issue....

@Jofergo I'd support a strike in healthcare wo a second thought too.

The wages are appauling both for nurses and junior doctors. Something needs to change.

I support everyone's right to strike.

I do not support this particular strike - not at all.

I'd support a strike in healthcare wo a second thought too

You might just get your wish. We've been offered 5% here, the unions want more and have recommended rejecting - we're about to be balloted. All the extremely long waiting lists caused by covid are about to get a lot longer.

Yes. We are stronger together. If you can, join a Union.

I'm quite shocked at some of the % pay rises workers are expecting. The private sector won't give anywhere near that.

We're all struggling and how the hell fo people think we'll repay the debt we're in from covid? Magic money tree??

Yep. Couldn't agree more. A cleaner on just over NMW needs to check their privilege. FFS

I honestly laughed when I saw a comment on another thread about the horrors of unions from someone on maternity leave. The irony hasn't been lost on all of us.

Absolutely not. The sooner we bring in more automation and put these greedy fuckers out of jobs the better.

I honestly laughed when I saw a comment on another thread about the horrors of unions from someone on maternity leave. The irony hasn't been lost on all of us.

😂

Rail workers want 7%, 2/3rds the rate of inflation, so still a real terms pay cut, they'd prob settle for 5%, they 've been offered 2 or 3% but the Govt has blocked meaningful talks.

As for repaying the debt, how do you feel about the 10s of billions Sunak has lost in payments made to business but found to be fraudulent?

Or the £4 billion of PPE which was either ordered incorrectly or substandard and will now be burnt?

If people do not have reasonable pay rises, then they will spend far less, lower GDP, more shop closures, more food banks, more in poverty.... and more benefits spending = more Govt borrowing .....

Hi Grant...

No. Not at all. The impact is too big on others. I'd love a 7% pay rise, I got 1% after nothing for 5 years.

Friends kids are doing their a levels and have to go up tonight to stay in hotels so they can walk to school in the morning.