Train strike and how do people going work and school on these days

[rka2017]

Hi all,
how people going to work on train strike days if their only mode of transport is train

Bike, walk, bus, taxi?

Fully support the striking workers though. The blame for these strikes is fully with Network rail/train companies and the government.

A lot of people here work from home when there's a strike

I spoke to a colleague today re this and she's WFH.

I have two options, an express bus (in London) but I'd be allowed to WFH if need be.

You can't really get into work if the train is the only option unless you're really clever and look at lots of options with Citymapper/Google maps etc to see if there's a tube station you can get to.

I don't know about all train lines but mine is still running some trains just less often.

wfh is only available for office jobs not every one can, people working on minimum wage can’t afford taxis . If you live in rural areas without proper lights ,walking cycling at night risky as in the past alots of cyclists hit by vehicles.

My neighbour’s twins have GCSE mocks next week at their grammar, a train ride away. Their consultant doctor parents have to take the day off to drive them there. There goes a few more disappointed patients.
This is the third batch of train strikes affecting the kids and it is 2-3 days at a time. It is a nightmare. As if they have not had enough post Covid. I don’t support the strikes, anymore. All sympathy gone now.

I'm quite lucky to have a few options for getting to work, but I'm totally behind the RMT (and the postal workers).
Something has to give. Wages have been flat for decades while prices continue to rise..and now they're cutting things like working conditions and pensions now. Fire and rehire is an abomination.
Does it not occur to the powers that be that if no-one can afford to buy things the economy will nose-dive even faster.

Because they are very short staffed my daughter's work has agreed to pay both her parking and congestion charge other she simply would not be able to get to work.

My husband will drive next week but he only got his licence back recently (due to a medical conditions) he would have been truly stuffed otherwise, his only option would have been a hotel.

I WFH if I can, and drive if not (though this is a far from ideal situation as I have to take the only car we have).

@Aleaiactaest

I don’t support the strikes, anymore. All sympathy gone now.

20 recommendations were made in March of this year after the conclusion of the investigation into the Stonehaven crash - not a single one has been implemented.

Why don't you support safety?

People died. It was only due to covid restrictions that the death toll wasn't higher.

Exactly last month it happened three times on working days. I thought one off but looks like ongoing and strike always announce before a week notice

strike always announce before a week notice

2 weeks, legally, and the RMT are to the letter.

I'm sorry to everyone who is disrupted but I am wholeheartedly supporting these strikes. If you look into the reasons further than 'money' you will see how necessary they are. The rail workers themselves are losing money for every strike day and they have as many bills to pay as the rest of us.

I support the strikes. They're for good reason. I will be riding my rusty bike instead.

Workers get paid during the strike from the RMT warchest. They have a fund just to pay people when they go on strike. Strikers aren't losing out on money, according to my neighbour who is a railway driver himself.

Some of the teachers at my DC’s schools cannot get into work next week. A number of our neighbours who are doctors, nurses, midwives etc cannot get into London to go to work in the big teaching hospitals.
NHS staff in general, teachers etc would have far more reasons to strike. Fed up with the RMT thinking they are special. It is a crap time for everyone. They have already striked several times. I have zero sympathy left and the same applies to literally all my friends in the NHS and teachers etc.

@madness - more people are going to die due to lack of NHS care. To pretend these strikes don’t affect NHS waiting lists is madness. What about Central London workers on minimum pay who cannot get to work etc? London and area is screwed and it costs the country so much money. Like I said, no sympathy left, the lot of them should get the sack. Let them get a taste of their own medicine.

Dh's medical condition means he cannot ride a bike. He'd struggle to ride it the distance he has to travel anyway (40 miles each way on a normal day, 60 miles the other day which happens to be Strike day). His students wouldn't get taught if he couldn't now drive.

Dd works in central London on not much more than minimum wage. She finishes work at 10.45pm at night. You really want her to cycle all the way home.

I never mentioned the NHS.

I won't get into a discussion with someone who's thinking doesn't reach past central London though. Pointless.

Workers get paid during the strike from the RMT warchest. They have a fund just to pay people when they go on strike. Strikers aren't losing out on money, according to my neighbour who is a railway driver himself.

Interesting, how much are the RMT paying each rail worker who loses a day to strike?

Someone is talking bollocks here, it may or may not be your neighbour, but the RMT are not giving every person who strikes full pay and it's mad that anyone would believe so.

What I would really like is an analysis of what the RMT is costing the country during these strikes. We got an estimate for the Queen’s funeral services into the billions.
I would like to know how much the economy loses due to the RMT striking. It commenced in June as far as I remember and they have already striked for many days. Enough is enough. The country is on its knees and they are putting themselves and their workers above the rest of us, not OK.

The country is on its knees and they are putting themselves and their workers above the rest of us, not OK.

You know other people are striking? Other people are negotiating through their unions?

This isn't an either or situation and it's frankly very strange for you to the ink RMT are putting themselves above anyone. What they are doing is fighting for the safety and rights of both their workers and the general public who use the railway network. If anything the RMT have encouraged people not to be sour but to stand up for their rights too.

Also, the queens funeral cost? What on earth has that got to do with this industrial action

I'm not supporting the strikes... not because I don't think the workers have rights but because:

• I've commuted for over 30 years and have lost count of how many times trains have been delayed/cancelled/overcrowded.
• I recently went to the dentist and discovered that most trains now stopping at a certain station en route had suddenly changed - but no real sign to say this... I got ages out and almost missed dental appointment.
• Thameslink I can catch is still overcrowded with less seats than before - there is space for seats.
• Price increase to fares

Yes, I know it's not necessarily the workers who effect/affect the above but rarely see train drivers/station staff/platform staff and if I do, they're certainly not helpful/friendly. I know for a fact because a friend told me who works for one of the train companies, that sometimes if drivers couldn't be bothered to drive the train (e.g. at Victoria) then they just wouldn't turn up. Which meant that then we had to wait for another train!

Seeing as they generally earn approx. £54,000 per annum which is way more than I do and get better pension deals etc (I have just the state and a private one), no company one than I do, then sorry, no, I don't support their strikes. WFH for me and lots of friends and family has been a godsend for us, saving us money and time. One of my work colleagues told me he reclaimed back £200 last month in cancelled and delayed trains.

Fix the train services and maybe then general public will support their strikes.

I know for a fact because a friend told me who works for one of the train companies, that sometimes if drivers couldn't be bothered to drive the train (e.g. at Victoria) then they just wouldn't turn up. Which meant that then we had to wait for another train!

Employ some critical thinking skills here and ask yourself if, realistically, showing up for work if and when you feel like it would be at all acceptable by an employer.

Seeing as they generally earn approx. £54,000 per annum

You know it's not just driver affected? This goes right down the chain of workers.