To want to know if the ruddy rail workers are striking or not?

[AbsoluteGonk]

Booked half term trip to London for DS, DN and me. Then heard about the proposed strike. Tried to cancel tickets but was told I had to wait until Monday to see if the strike goes ahead!

Anyone have any idea?

:o at the response to Greater Anglia - they really are a shower of shite at the best of times. I need to know too - I have guests coming who will get here OK but may not be able to leave, and we all know how guests go off like fish after a few days.

rail prices go up why did there wages not go up? why did our service not get any better? why do you never run on time? why do you run two carriages instead of three during busy periods? why why why have you screwed with the bank holiday?

We were planning to get the train to Liverpool for a day out and to see the Three Queens. Looks like we had better change our plans

Tube will be affected as well.
Fuck bugger arsenal.

I'm hoping and praying the strike's called off as we'll be getting off the overnight ferry from Holland and were hoping to get home! We won't be able to get on a coach or bus as we'll have our bikes with us, so we may have a very long ride home!

will i be able to get to gatwick from central london on monday, do you reckon?

Cab, better get a lottery ticket and pray.

how much do you think a cab would be? from camden

80? 90? More?
More with the traffic.
Maybe you could take a tube somewhere out south and a cab from there?

eek it would be cheaper to come home...oh wait..there is a strike on!! bloody hell - bring back british rail!!! at least you knew where you were with them

Union members cannot be forced to indicate in advance whether they will take part in there strike. Therefore they can't tell you in advance which, if any, trains will run.
So if your non essential trip is disrupted do try to display a bit of understanding bearing mind the train drivers will have their pay docked. And this government is about to launch an assault on the unions. The same unions that helped secure stuff like paid time off work and five day weeks.

How about essential travel?
Are we allowed to feel a bit miffed about that?

Understanding my arse! My trip won't be disrupted it will be ruined and cancelled. It's essential that I work or I don't eat even though I don't get paid time off or enjoy a five day week.

They'll get no sympathy, support or understanding from me.

more re gatwick

Yeah you can be a wee bit miffed. Believe me I've been in the situation of working out how to get to seriously important medical appointments and had to reconcile that with my belief in the right to strike.

Sara I don't know why you don't have regular hours or paid leave. So I'm not going to comment. I'm off to bed now so will pick up tomorrow.

OP. You should get your money back from the rail company. Perhaps your ire should be directed at them. This is divide and conquer. Why hate those who can only be heard by striking at inconvenient times? I take it you're in an industry that is well paid and with good T&CS and you hope your kids will too.

Roll on automatic trains, automatic ticket machines and automatic bloody everything.

"Something rotten in the bagging area." No, I don't fancy automatic everything. My head will explode if I have to remember another username, password etc.

How about automatically maintained rolling stock and infrastructure? Doubt anyone striking is doing it lightly. Loss of pay and pensionable service contributions. They are withdrawing their labour to attempt to secure fair pay and working conditions. It is their right.

I'm pissed off with the rail company and the unions - I have enough ire to go round Striking is not the only way they can be heard - they can have discussions and negotiate and if they don't get their demands met, well tough bloody luck.

No, I'm not in a well paid industry, despite having a degree and post-grad quals. I can guarantee I earn less than the strikers. However, I'm not in a position to inconvenience several thousand people so I get on with my job. I want the rail workers to do the same!

Giddy (who is asleep by now anyway!), does it matter why I don't have regular hours or paid leave? Is it not enough for me to state that I don't?

All I want to do is get on with my work. The rail workers are preventing me from doing that, losing me money, due to a situation which is as far from my control as world peace, wild horses and the weather. I hope the Tories do launch an assault on the unions and prevent them from further holding the public to ransom.

AbsoluteGonk - but if you could, wouldn't you? Wouldn't you want to be heard and things to change for you? Do you really tell your kids to suck it up and be grateful for working long hours for not enough money? Don't be bitter, it's for them too.

Sara, how shortsighted and hateful your views are.

You're entitled to that opinion of course Margot. I think you'll find that I'm far from alone in mine.