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?

So, my dear? Lots of shortsighted people around. Just happy with the status quo. Poor people, poor future.

Best strike was when Brussels bus drivers carried on driving buses but refused to take fares. So disruption to boss class and sympathy from passengers.
Our half term hols to Belgium via Eurostar up spout. So far Eurostar refusing refunds. Have booked long expensive ferry trip and overnight hotel to try to get there

I think that it's very simple. If these people simply not doing their job can cause so much disruption, perhaps they are, actually, very important to society and should be paid accordingly.

For the record, I've never been on strike, and never worked in the transport industry.

"So, my dear? Lots of shortsighted people around. Just happy with the status quo. Poor people, poor future."

"My dear"? Really? Is that the best you can do for patronising Margot? I said you were entitled to your opinion, not entitled to be condescending.

We and our future will be bloody poor if we can't get to do any work due to these blackmailers.

Don't be daft. They are not blackmailing anyone. I take back 'my dear' and I wish you tons of work, poorly paid and uncertain. Have some sympathy.

I'm all for strikes, but there has been a lot of train driving strikes.

I bet people who need to catch trains are now losing the respect and support.

I very rare use trains now, but this sort of thing every few weeks would start to rattle my nerves.

I've got tons of work thanks, it is poorly paid and uncertain but I'd like to be able to actually do it, which requires a certain amount of travel.

I've still no sympathy and I still consider the actions of the strikers to be blackmail.

Thank you for taking back the "my dear".

Every few weeks? Come on. When was the last one with potential to affect you?

Sarascompact - I'm not going to change you by appealing to your better nature. You sound bitter and hard and you may have your reasons. Perhaps overwork is one of them. I'm not being sarky or condescending.

Maybe that's just as well Margot because I don't have a better nature when it comes to strikers making life difficult for the public when the public can do nothing and are not the ones to blame for any injustices, real or imagined.

Bitter and hard? Perhaps I'm just not a socialist or a liberal. Overworked? Aren't we all, in our different ways?

I'm not being sarky or condescending either.

Oh well. We'll leave it there. You'll have to hope your life will never change for the worse and you won't need others.

I do. Railway staff, to be precise. That's why I'm pissed about the train strike.

you will get your wish soon enough when they make striking impossible and slowly errode all the hard fought employment rights as it has already started with the 0 hour contracts that effectively mean you opt out of the vast majority of employment rights (Uk the only bloody country not to ban them)

Oh ffs, I was relying on our break to York to keep me sane over half term

Does anyone know if they'll cover the cost of the hotel I've booked ??!

Triooooo - no they won't.

I support the right to withdraw labour. But on a bank holiday weekend? PLEASE. That will win precisely fuck all support.

Also remember that it is the infrastructure provider staff striking (some of them...); NOT the train operating companies.

I support the right of workers to participate in industrial action but am gutted about this. We're due to go on holiday on Monday and cannot find anyway to get there with no trains running.
It looks like our only option will be to travel up the day before and try to find somewhere to stay overnight that will probably end up costing hundreds.

I think that it's very simple. If these people simply not doing their job can cause so much disruption, perhaps they are, actually, very important to society and should be paid accordingly

^this a million times over

I get the train to work every day. I'm not happy at being screwed but I'm fed up of people being expected to put up with years of awful pay. Years! Yet the execs are not expected to sign up to such pay deals which is quite telling. And is always the way.

Triooo Do you have annual travel insurance? If you're far enough from home then they may cover it, though some policies do exclude industrial action.

Youarekiddingme of course motorway drivers need to know! Given most people I know who were planning on.travelling by train will now be going by car, there will be both bank.holiday traffic and also displaced rail users too. This will affect both people coming back on Monday, but they'll also now go there by car too on Friday with all the half term traffic too!

Also, I'm a rail commuter (1.5hrs each way every day). I looked at the pay offer and thought it looked very fair. Most other industries have to wait til April and see what happens rather than an agreed deal in advance.

'Years of awful pay'

?!

Are you kidding? Do you know the standard of the pay, conditions and pension of the members of the two unions who have voted for industrial action? Compared to the vast majority of workers in this country - who are not striking - it's fucking spectacular.

(The sweet irony of that is the unions have played a significant role in securing those terms and conditions.)

Striking is a political bashing stick. Nothing else. I'm just surprised this didn't come before the election this time.

They're holding down their pay - that is awful.

Are they doing the same to the senior executives?

And the fact that so many people in this country have poorly paid jobs is exactly why we need more unions not less.

Low paid jobs =

• zero hour contracts
• billions in benefits to those who work
• billions paid out in housing benefit mainly to those who worked.

Better paid jobs are needed = which will cost government less.

Iggly, go and research the pay rises the members of these two unions have had over the years. See how that compares to the national average. Then rethink your statement about their pay being 'held down'.

And then work out how many of them are on zero hours contracts.

Then work out how their annual pay compares to most others.

Unions won't fix poorly paid jobs. Neither will striking.

Anyway, back to the original theme of the thread. I'm genuinely gutted for anyone who will have plans disrupted over the bank holiday.

Almost the entire public sector has had zero pay rises for several years, so that tends to reduce support for others who are getting pay rises, no matter how small.

There is still some legal action underway. The strike ballot may not have been correctly carried out, and if found lacking, then the strike must be called off. But services that have been cancelled in anticipation of the strike might not be reinstated.

BTW: if they were going to maximise impact in getting their message across, they'd strike on busy days - on any commuting day. For being 'quieter' is the rationale for putting so much engineering work on Bank Holidays. This isn't striking to cause disruption, it's the opposite.

It's going to affect me massively on Tuesday but I support their right to strike & hope they get what they want.

Commuters/customers have zero say in these negotiations, the unions should be targetting the people who do have a say. A way to get point across for example, without totally disrupting the customer is to open ticket barriers, to not open ticket offices or check tickets. The service still runs but the company is hit by falling revenues. With the one day strikes the customer still pays (if using season ticket) and doesn't get service. Company still receives revenue for that day, so does striking really affect the company that much?