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.

Yes Shapps. Apologies for the spelling error.

No apology for the sentiment in my post though.

And I’m not surprised by your post.

I will stop there before I get myself banned.

I'm sure that our rights are a lot better than the US for example. Doesn't mean that we should be aiming to drop down to their level.

Weapons grade bollocks.

People, especially families, cannot live on the minimum wage without needing state support FFS

Apparently road traffic is quiet (some spokesperson on radio)

Unlike a few years ago this would have seen a big surge in traffic

I guess the pandemic beat that need out of us and people just wfh instead

not everyone disclaimer

Yep. Ironically a lot of people who’ve been forced back to the office full time are loving the strike even though they hate the idea of unions.

if they had unions, they’d have collective bargaining and be able to negotiate more WFH! Oh the irony

Only because we were in the EU. It won't last. I am actually surprised the government hasn't done anything about dismantling employment rights yet - probably only because of covid and the labour shortages. Just wait.

We can only have well paid public sector employees if we are prepared to pay more taxes.

Believe although it takes some of the sting and bargaining power away as people just continue to work rather than get stuck in gridlock

Depends on your perspective. The government have made quite the fuss about getting people back to the office for the high street economy.

On an individual level for many it’s just ok I’ll stay home then and wfh as I do a few days a week anyway

Compared to way back when we all had to turn up and struggle, walk etc whatever to get to work it’s no where near the same

I know it’s not the same for everyone, and I feel for people who do have to go but at least the roads are quieter and buses quite fast

Buses quite fast

Not where we live, so many bus services cancelled on a daily basis because of staff shortages.

Strikes are meant to cause disruption ffs

How are they disrupting your life @UnshakenNeedsStirring?

Cant get the job that I had lined up done. What else?!

I still support strikes though

Yes and no. The railways are a vital part of the economy and need properly managing by the government. They need to modernise the railway in terms of tickets and travel for flexible working - but that doesn’t mean fucking over rail staff.

So yes wfh is ok for a short period but it will be difficult for the long term. And plenty of key workers need the trains.

the problem is that this government have allowed private finance to leech money out of the railways and they need more to leech, hence wanting to cut staffing costs.

I suspect many have a warped view of train services. They may be a 'public service' but first and foremost they are a commercial enterprises. Its in their interest not to have manned stations (stations are a nuisance in themselves), its not in their interest to have guards on trains. Trains will go the way of buses, we have an ok service morning and afternoon rush hour not much outside that. Busses stop about 7:30pm so only drivers go to the cinema in the evening. Trains will go the same way no point running them for a few people during the day..

Buses stop at 7:30? We have buses running 24 hours in London? Tubes run 24 hours to and normal trains start at 5 am ish and shut at 1 pm. Passenger numbers are really high and there is standing room only in trains.

Newsflash: London =/= the whole of the UK

Public transport is often shite everywhere else. Surely you must have left London at some point in your life and noticed that?

@Stompythedinosaur well said!

I had to take 4 buses into work which took a stupid amount of time, but I'd rather do that and be inconvenienced for a day or two than go against a strike because it meant it took me longer to get into work!

Not everyone lives in London, which is known for its excellent public transport @UnshakenNeedsStirring. Northern Rail have dropped one of their evening trains, so we have no trains from the nearest city between 20.35 and 22.35. The 22.35 being the last train of the day.

We have no trains whatsoever and the whole County is without any trains at all, in my village there is one bus every hour and even then we're lucky if it turns up.
In spite of this I still support worker's right to strike.

A shift of the industrial action to side step the GCSE/A level exam season would have been a master stroke of goodwill & tactical planning which would keep the general public on side.

Our local tube station no longer has a ticket office - boarded up & gone.
No staff to be seen.
The industrial action is to highlight essential safety matters required for a mass transportation system. I support the industrial action.

I’ll not change my mind about that but I am fucked off that my nephew cannot get to school because there are no trains & no alternative means of getting to school. A few weeks wait until the school summer holidays would make a significant difference to train /tube passengers who need to be at school now for work or exams.

I'm not in London (far from it, I'm in a village just outside a small seaside town), and the first eastbound train from my nearest station (three miles away) is at 4:30am, the last westbound one at 1:30am. Trains are well-patronised, to the extent that they leave people behind on the platforms, especially on weekends (unlike London Underground there's not one three minutes later either). Buses (10min walk away) run from 6:30am to 11:30pm and there are six per hour.

That's great for your area. But it's not the case in many areas.

I was responding to UnshakenNeedsStirring as she appeared to believe that the availability of buses in London was indicative of the rest of the UK. But it isn't.