Tube drivers and their pay

[Flashbangandgone]

It makes me angry.... Surely tube drivers are paid far, far more than jobs with equivalent levels of responsibility, and they only get away with it because they can hold London to ransom... Do they have no shame!?

A member of my family has been applying actually. He's just trained on the trains. He would be over the moon to get the job- he'd be in about three times his previous salary (supermarket worker inc nights) fingers crossed.

How does the educational requirement and personal financial investment compare for train drivers?

6 months... I challenge someone to name one job that pays half the £48k salary for a similar period of training!

I think people should be paid a fair salary for what they do, and that many in our society are underpaid and undervalued.

Flash bang - but we DONT have driverless tubes and trains so that's a straw man argument you're introducing there.

I would want to feel safe on my journeys. A tired driver, much like a tired pilot, nurse, doctor, whatever, is not safe. i don't want anyone flipping when I'm in the carriage (or DH, or DS etc).

Armed forces/police can't strike and nurses/doctors don't get paid enough is a pointless argument. Why do people bring it up? Is it the doing of train drivers??? No.

Hardly anyone on this thread actually realises what the strike is about so how you can have such strong opinions on it, I don't understand!

Do working class people with only GCSEs only deserve shit pay? And never deserve to earn more than uni graduates? Because that's what you are basically saying.

As usual, the general public doing the complaining and wishing the drivers a lower paid, horrible future, have not done any real research and are just going off what the papers say. The papers want a good story, so only publish the most shocking details. Most will earn a lot less. It will not be about money, but conditions and job quality. I hate this "well I/someone I know works long unsociable hours for low pay, so everyone else should". People don't look at the big picture nowadays and one across as rather selfish.

I don't want unions that hold all the power like in the 70s, but I don't want unions to die out, which is slowly happening. We will all live in a world where management and shareholders cream off the money while general workers get worse and worse conditions for lower pay. It's not going to leave a good future for the younger generation.

a tube driver is responsible for similar if not more passengers than a pilot but nobody is berating a pilots salary

I think there's slightly more to being a pilot that being able to hold down a handle whilst telling red from green.

Very few people could ever master the skills to become a pilot. The average chimp could drive a tube train with a few hours instruction.

I rarely use the tube but when I do my god how awful the air quality is down there. Imagine breathing in that horrible dusty air for 40hrs a week - there was a report roughly a yr ago stating that heavy metal particles were found in the air after running some tests - imagine what that could do to your health. Sorry but £49k a year would not even entice me to want to put my health at risk like that, not to forget the possibility you may have someone jump infront of your train and have to witness that.

I like the idea of the tube being open longer but then I also think how the hell are they going to do any continual maintenance without further disruption if they run all night.

Like others I agree about the race to the bottom... should be the other way round. There will always be someone who earns more than you anyway but there are always pros and cons to everything. Those complaining about the pay well you go do that job then and lets see how you like it.

Pilots aren't really that well paid. Certainly some earn less than £48k

A few years ago there was a TV series called the tube- it was brilliant. Tfl should do more
Like that- great PR. They'd have more public sympathy if they opened up more about what they're job involves

Ilovecrapcrafts - I'm sure they make up the shortcome by selling scratch cards :)

"everyone's overpaid but me"

Less maintenance at night, more disruption during the day. Bring it on! No, wait.

I have read the arguments, and Flash I agree with you. There needs to be sensible negotiation re the rotas, but for £50k a year and 10 weeks holidays I thnk you'd find plenty of takers if the current work force don't like the idea of working the odd night.

Fwiw I had a lovely cycle to work today and don't miss the tube at all. I know someone who is a tube driver who kindly reminded me about the strike. I texted back "thank god for bikes."

Flash: I'm curious what your job is and what your family income is.

I have a first class degree in a 'proper' subject and used to have a 'proper' job, where people would nod approvingly when I gave my employer and job title. I liked the job a lot and it wasn't always easy but nothing about it required a degree, despite it being an essential selection criterion.

I now earn almost exactly the same and an error on my part could cause serious injury or death but because the railway does not impose artificially inflated selection criteria, preferring aptitude testing, I am apparently no longer worthy of my salary.

I know countless people doing well paid jobs that apparently require 3+ years of higher education which really, truly don't. Buy into the myth if you want but a degree doesn't automatically make you worth any more than anyone without one.

MrsDeVere :( sickening, isn't it.

Wow, there are a few more on my cunt spreadsheet now.

I am disgusted by the level of nastiness on this thread because some essential workers had the audacity to strike to maintain decent terms and conditions.

Shameful.

I work in private sector and trust me there are just as many people in high paid jobs (£50k+) who have degrees, MBAs etc. yet are incapable of even making a simple decision or just aren't very intelligent and you wonder how the hell they landed the job.

'Doing the odd night' Don't bother finding out what it's about.

TTWK what an utterly vile post

Tube drivers striking causes massive disruption to London.
That implies that the work they do is practically indispensable.
Why shouldn't we pay people according to how useful their job is to society?

Oddly 2 days ago tube staff where being hailed as hero's for their part in helping dying and injured people 10 years ago

now they are scum

how quickly to world turns

I would hate to have night shifts imposed on me and I'd strike about it to!

needmorespace Wow, there are a few more on my cunt spreadsheet now.

Apart from the issue, which is a serious one, just how up your own backside do you have to be to have a spreadsheet of people you label "cunts" and refer to it on an internet discussion site?

MrsDeVere every industry and job you mention is dominated by men. There are plenty of female workers working just as hard in sectors with no large bullying unions, doing just as important jobs. But no-one jumps about justifying them being paid nearly 50 grand a year.

I'm a nurse - no chance of us going on strike!! The Government know this so will quite happily continue to take the piss with our pay, pension and terms and conditions.

However yanbu to raise an eye brow at tube drivers moaning about having to work the occasional night when they are earning a really good wage.