What the f*** do the RMT think they are playing at.....

[fuming12]

So, the RMT are striking for a pay increase....during GCSE's. The poor kids who use the train to get to school are going to be left up the creek without a paddle, but no, a £44k average salary is not enough and they have decided to hold the country to ransom for more money.

There are 4 (possibly more) GCSE's being held next week and probably many a-levels too, schools are already warning that if pupils are late the exams will have to start regardless.

They cancelled trains that got kids to school during the pandemic, they are paid above average.

I would actually like to see the RMT fail, and be called out, on this one, AIBU? They are a disgrace.

I am a union supporter generally, but this is greedy in the extreme and smacks of extortion to line their members pockets at the expense of the general public. Higher wages = higher fares.

And I’d like to say thank you to every rail worker (and every family member of theirs) who have posted on this thread, for all the extra work they’ve done and all the sacrifices they have made over the pandemic because rail services are the lifeblood of the country.

The UK should be investing hugely in bus and rail- freighting far more goods by rail than road and massively incentivising passenger rail travel and expanding the rail network much further out to rural and suburban areas, which has barely been done since the decimation of the 1960s, despite the massive population and housing increase. How many threads do we have on here about people’s reliance on cars and sitting in traffic all day? And we don’t have a choice- we are facing environmental collapse.

Yet we have a government who couldn’t give a fuck about investing in infrastructure and who love to create villains out of poorly-paid public sector workers.

Just a quick hands up, who would be in support of the police striking? I know they aren't allowed but literally everything you are all outraged about, applies to the police and more. They put their lives in the line for us and no one seems particularly bothered that they have no pay rises, reduced workforce, shift work, crap equipment etc etc.

You have a selfish outlook. Do you think people should just lay down an accept if their conditions change ? Why don’t you take the day of work to take your kids to school ? Or is your job too important?

The entitlement of the general public is astounding.

I’m hearing rumblings of Doctors, nurses and teachers going on strike so strap yourself in.

Good on them! I hope other sectors strike too!

I was shocked by the 'median' wage as it is Bullshit. As previous posters have said that is including ASLEF drivers. RMT the wage of a conductor up in the North east is £30000 ish. Also you have to remember different areas are ran by different companies. The North east Northern are government owned so some private owned are giving ASLEF drivers 5% rises and others are fighting to get anything.

Also remember in this time of recession the government still granted themselves a pay rise this year.
IPSA has decided that the annual adjustment to MPs’ basic pay for 2022-23 will be the same as the average increase in pay for public sector employees last year. They will therefore receive an increase of 2.7%, bringing the overall salary from £81,932 to £84,144 from 1 April 2022.

Op you are doing what the media are wanting you to do and looking to the left when you should be seeing the truth. They got their payrise but everyone else should take it on the nose and skip it to save a recession. The rich will always continue to get richer.

They do fuck all around here anyway so would it make much difference? Several neighbours have had stuff stolen from their vehicles or sheds, attempted break ins, some have been mugged and none have had any sort of help from the police except a social media post saying be careful of your outbuildings and cars (all were locked so not sure exactly what people can do). Always time for photo ops for the paper though for inane things. I know they've been cut to the bone so not individual officers fault but they also seem pretty useless. We don't live in an area where there's a lot of serious crime that is a higher priority.

I agree trains should be the lifeblood, but to many they're unaffordable. A 10 minute trip here is so convenient and saves sitting around in traffic, but £12? No thanks, I'll sit in my comfortable car. A season ticket to London is nearly £14k when it's less than an hour each way. All of that for services to be late, jam packed, disgusting and having to wait around a gross station. No thanks.

I think we should all be striking at this stage!

This government is a disgrace and people are suffering. Yet they have been too busy partying, lining their pockets, mismanaging Covid and getting jobs and tax-payer money for their mistresses...

Is the strike inconvenient? of course it is.

But I want to see people fight back. It seems NHS workers and teachers will be next to strike. Good for them.

We need to wake up and stop allowing the current government to destroy the country. Blame them, not the unions.

I know this was written 4 days ago, but I am so done with 'pulling together'.

Boris and his cronies partied, the rich went to their second or third homes, whilst generally the more lower paid worked during the pandemic. Delivery drivers,supermarket workers, care workers, warehouse operatives, transport workers.

Now, the bosses will keep on awarding themselves pay rises and bonuses whilst the rest of society will need to accept a drop in disposable income because it is supposedly the right thing to do.

I think it is great that railway workers are paid a living wage. I just wish other workers - such as carer workers were unionised and had the same clout to strike for a cost of living wage.

I agree. i can’t believe people are moaning about people standing up for themselves when we’re coming to a time where more and more people can’t afford the cost of living.

I think there will be more and more strikes in the near future.

I would support the police yes. And nurses, the NHS, teachers etc.

MP's get their pay rises. Their ridiculous expenses claims and a cushy life.

I want everyone to get paid a fair and decent wage for what they do. Have good terms and conditions. Get sufficient holiday, sick pay etc.

£12? Ouch! Where do you live?

A 10 minute journey where I live is £3.10 single/£3.20 return.

Do remember it's tax payers who will have to pay for public sector pay rises.

So no complaining when your taxes and council taxes go up n

A GWR line, the most popular route the track is the most expensive in Europe per mile- but you have to travel it at least for the 10 mins to transfer to a different line.

I know this was written 4 days ago, but I am so done with 'pulling together

indeed. We’ve been ‘all it together’ since austerity - 2010 formally although started 2008.

How many decades are we expected to ‘pull together’ whilst a bunch of incompetents fanny about creating more problems hooting about sovereignty and squawking ridiculous divisive labels fuelled by their own egos.

Does pulling together mean that plebs should be happy MP’s get regular pay rises whilst they see basically nothing and are told that wage rises for them ‘are a bad thing because of inflation’. Wages have been propped up by in-work benefits for eons to line the pockets of those who frankly shouldn’t be in business if they can’t afford to pay their workers.

We were in a shit position to weather covid and now we’re in a shit position to weather global economic turbulence. Can it be ‘solved’? No. Could it be better? Absolutely. Let’s start with pay rises and cutting VAT.

Just a reminder this thread is about the fact the RMT have chosen to strike on the last week of GCSE's / A levels.

A set of kids who have had a shocking two years education, and don't deserve more.

It's utterly selfish of the RMT. I am aware strikes are meant to cause chaos, but affecting kids exams for me is a step too far.

And no, (for the 19th time) I am quite capable of getting my own child to school in a car, but there are many thousands of children who take the train to school whose parents are not so accommodating as me and will suffer. People keep trying to make this about my child, its not, its about all those kids out there who will suffer.

I’ll moan all I want thanks because wages in this country need a massive adjustment. At the moment my taxes are just redistributed by government to prop up their mates pitiful wages offered in their shitty companies that for some reason aren’t subject to the same rules of capitalism the rest of us are.

same with all the intervention in the ‘free’ housing market.

we pay whether it’s directly or indirectly. I’m happier the money going to resources I benefit from through council or other taxes over money going to a private corporation bottom line because they don’t pay a living wage.

Train journeys should be charged by the mile. At 10p a mile or something like that. Maybe with a slight increase during peak times. But the current fares are ridiculous.

I’m on the bus to work. It was 10 mins late due to traffic which is backed up miles into our city. There were about 100 people in the bus queue, when I’m normally 1st on. Now we are sitting in a traffic jam. The strike hasn’t even started yet.

My DC is taking their GCSE’s and has 3 this week, plus tutor groups at school to get help. They need to get the train to school.

I used to be in a union in the 90’s. Paid monthly for “protection” and was then made redundant and heard a lot of hot air from the Union, but no tangible help whatsoever.

My DC’s education has been disrupted enough and for them to do this now is despicable.

Also, we are all under pressure with rising costs not just public sector people. Why are their jobs so sacred and why are they more entitled to more pay rises than the rest of us?

As always those who don't have abundance of money are most affected. Others will work from home, get their children to school themselves, drive themselves where they need to go. Those who can't afford to will miss hospital apps, exams, work and so won't be paid. Strike isn't the effective tool it once was imo, it turns people against orgs.

It also affects peoples willing to commute too. Lots of my coworkers have left as they can’t do with the hassle and cost of our dire and pitiful infrastructure.

During the pandemic, which I had to work through, our buses just came to a holt and I was a cats whisker away from quitting. Increased prices as a result of strikes on an already laughable service will just make more people want to work from or closer to home.

@fuming12 and again your premise is redundant because, as stated in the thread, if kids miss their exams it’s because adults have failed them not a mode of transport.

No child is taking a cross country train for a bog standard GCSE, other methods of transport are available. There has been plenty of notice to plan and arrange these methods. Parents, schools even the kids themselves (at least 15, most 16) should be capable of putting in place an alternative - if they use the train regularly these are likely already known to them.

You do realise this isn't just "cross country" trains? We are in suburban London - once the strike starts there are NO local trains at all Tues-Saturday and the roads will be gridlocked and buses will be jam packed.

But its all fine as the RMT have given plenty of notice?

Around here (LONDON) rail workers are among the highest paid, more than cleaning, admin, delivery, supermarket. Also the trains were all cancelled during the pandemic - they certainly weren't working in this area!

There are tonnes of services affected, and although yes the majority can jump in the car or live somewhere well served by buses, there will be people that can't and that's not their fault.

Oh absolutely! Lots of my friends have found jobs closer to home even if it has meant a pay cut or whatever. The days of lots of commuters 5 days a week are long gone, but the railways won't adapt and think ah well we have x less passengers now at what was traditionally peak times how can we plan our services for other users as well now. They'll just charge more and more I expect and more will leave for closer jobs or hop in their cars. All of the years of extorting people finally coming home to roost.