To not understand what the RMT are in a snit about?

[Sistanotcista]

Going to try and post a link to this article, but it might not work. This is the important extract: “If you earned, on average, £44,000 a year, wouldn’t you put up and shut up just now and thank your lucky stars that you’re fortunate enough to have a job which pays at least ten grand more than the UK’s median annual income of £31,772 (to the Office of National Statistics).”

Why on earth are they striking for better pay? I get that we would all like more (of course!) but their salaries seem pretty fair. What have I missed?

About to say the same thing.

My opinion on this counts for very little as I am a Joe Bloggs but I fully support this action and I hope that the RMT get everything they are asking for.

Should be banned by law from striking, like the Police.
Greedy fuckers.

Shame we can't ban thick fuckers.

I support it too. Eroding the T&Cs of the workforce is definitely worth striking over. Not everything is about money, and a race to the bottom will help no-one.

THE TRAIN DRIVERS ARENT ON STRIKE!!!!!!!!! STOP TALKING ABOUT DRIVERS. The majority of drivers are in ASLEF, different union.
It's the signallers, maintenance, track workers, station staff etc.

Why these days does everyone have to let their wages be chipped away at just because there is someone else worse off?

Why do you want to see a race to the bottom? A national average wage is always made up of some below and some above, that is obvious. Yes, they are decently paid. Not highly paid, but decently paid. Why should they not protect it?

It is not their wages that are causing price rises in train fares - it is profiteering from private rail companies.

Can't believe you support the private rail companies paying shareholders but don't support workers getting decent wages.

I support the strike. I wish my union would be as fierce as the RMT.

Teachers care a lot about children's education but should not have to be treated like shit because of that.

Teachers are not paid enough IMO for how hard they work and teh importance of their jobs.

Good on the RMT. Of course workers should strike if their pay conditions and services are being attacked. There is literally no other way they can oppose such things. Why focus on how much the average salary is? That's never done when discussing those higher up the pecking order - whose pay incidentally has gone up during the pandemic/lockdown not down.

Good for them. I'm completely in support.

Why these days does everyone have to let their wages be chipped away at just because there is someone else worse off?

• That’s not what I said. I was querying Biwi’s comment about salary erosion, as there were two possible meanings.


• I don’t. But it’s clear that increases to rail fares will hit many families who are already struggling.


• I’ve never once mentioned shareholders, so not sure where you get this from?

OP, don't fall for the misleading clickbait & Union bashing.

Think about it.
Do you seriously believe that 50,000 railway workers ALL earn £44k a year?
Do you not imagine that a number of directors & senior managers are raking it in, while the vast majority of non-skilled workers are as hard pressed as every other average/minimum wage earner?

They're nailing another corner of their own coffin down.

Railways are on their knees with the reduced passenger numbers after Covid.

I'd give them the pay rise they want but make at least 10% of them redundant to recoup it.

That’s why I posted - so different perceptions could be aired and considered. 😊

My husband works in the rail industry too and I agree with everything you say except for the bit about the NHS. You’re just as important.

Half of these assumptions are really so wrong. Of course you haven't heard about potential job losses, maybe that's because TOCs aren't openly telling their passengers oh did you know we just ran a voluntary severance scheme, oh and by the way we're currently working on a workforce reform scheme as the DfT have demanded we cut costs. Oh and that bonus we earned, that never got paid well you're not going to get it any time soon. We earned it pre-pandemic, payment would have been made in 2020 out of the previous years budget.

And to those who say the railways are making money. Nope, we still haven't broken even post pandemic.

I am not striking, us managers have been told we must cover those strike days and it's entirely frowned upon to not act like we are a big family.

At the same time, RMT didn't even try to negotiate. They called a strike and that was that.

I am upper management in the railways.

I'm in a union. They have been very good to me. I wish I was in the RMT though. The problem is that too many people who do my job think they can do without a union and that's why pay and conditions have got worse and worse. On the RMT strike days I will work from home. But if I had to go into the office I'd just put my walking shoes on and get on with it.

@BIWI

And especially not when the railways are making large profits.

They aren't. They're being massively subsidised by the taxpayer due to the fall in passenger numbers post covid.

We don’t really have unions in the private sector I know. When redundancies hit which they do with each downturn, so different to other experiences

What is the position on this?

I did hear we were each subsidising £600 per year but it was a quick report on radio

My DH is a teacher, as are many of my family.

He certainly doesn't want to strike.

I hope that this is the beginning and that we’re gonna have strikes from the teachers, from nurses, from Refuge collectors and all the other essential workers whose wages are not keeping up with inflation. current wage inflation to move within the private sector is around about 10%.

I'd give them the pay rise they want but make at least 10% of them redundant to recoup it.

Yes because 10% less staff is going to make the trains run more reliably and safely isn't it. 🤦‍♀️

The only downside is as wages match inflation you get into a spiral and inflation goes up again