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.

Zahawi has got some nerve trying to point the finger at rail workers for keeping kids off school, considering this is exactly what the government demanded for the last two years, writes

www.newstatesman.com/quickfire/2022/06/rail-strikes-stop-using-children-as-political-leverage-against?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1655277223

"It has been more than disappointing to see people fall for this buck-passing. “For shame,” wrote the lockdown-sceptic Laura Dodsworth. “Will people please, for once, put the young first.” The Conservative MP Nickie Aiken was lapping up support as she told the Telegraph the strike was “unforgivable”, and the Evening Standard that it was “appalling”. Using children as political leverage is never a good look, but it’s doubly bad to suggest that those planning industrial action have no consideration for kids. From the RMT to planned strike action among bin men, Post Office workers, bus drivers, airport staff and healthcare staff, working people are sending a message to employers and politicians that living under threat of economic disaster is unsustainable. The news is awash with stories of families having to pick between heating and eating. And while government policy fails to meet the needs of working parents, is it any wonder that so many have decided to take action?"

This strike is going to make life really hard for me but I still 100% support it. Railway workers deserve good pay and conditions.
We all do and we would have if we were in unions as strong as the RMT!

The press which is run by billionaire non Dom's rally against the unions because of their own self interest. I'm fed up with people accepting crap jobs and conditions while the rich get richer.
Well done RMT get these people a good deal.

Am I wrong or do workers membership dues not fund union officials salaries? And if so people make a choice to pay those or not, therefore those on high salaries must have large memberships opting in?

unlike the salaries of our political leaders…perhaps we should be able to opt in or out of those

'Fat cat union leaders' listen to yourself, spouting the Daily Hate line.
How much has Rees - Mogg made from the pandemic? How much are the energy companies paying their shareholders whilst the elderly struggle to heat or eat? How much is Rishi - non - dom Sunak's wife worth? How many supermarkets does Zahawi own? What about the hedge funders with their offshore billions? The low paid and the leaders they democratically elect to represent them aren't the ones to blame.

pathetic- have people no empathy or understanding of anything. Good on people for standing up for standards. This whole country is turning to shit. Big company after big company are shafting workers, think P&O, British Gas, BA…. Do you not want a future for your kids, where jobs pay them enough to live??

The school I teach at has decided to move the start time for exams to 9.30 next week so schools have this as an option

I also agree with you OP

Yeah how pathetic. How dare people want bins collected. I'm sure you'd be ok with rat infested streets (which was begining to happen) after weeks of no collections.

Oh and it's a very strong Labour council (which is very unlikely to ever be anything else) they are in dispute with.

What is the dispute about? The bin one?

Increase in pay and working for 3 days between Christmas and New Year (which they were getting a big bonus for). They also only do 4 days a week anyway. No collections one day. It is only the drivers though. Those that collect the bins aren't.

It's been going on since January. If the council hadn't put alternatives in places houses would have now 6 months of rubbish.

They are now continuing through the summer.

I've read the propaganda issued by both sides in this dispute, but I have not been able to find out:

1. Have the unions gone straight from negotiation to strike? Where was the overtime ban, the work-to-rule, the demonstrations/marches, the petition showing massive public support?

2. What are unions offering in the way of productivity improvements in exchange for the massive increase in pay being demanded?

3. Safety is claimed as one of the reasons for the strike. Will unions accept redundancies in any instance where it is shown this will improve safety (and is accepted to do so by ORR's Safety Directorate)?

Do you think they shouldn’t get a pay rise? I don’t know the specifics of this one, genuinely interested whether you think think it’s wrong of them. Id need to know if the 4 days were compressed hours, shifts, or already calculated in the hourly rate as well really. I know lots of people on 4 day 40 hour weeks eh.

the thing that strikes me is eventually everyone benefits from union action to push wages up (and this could be even more the case if we take the new Irish approach to a living wage of 60% of median wage. www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2022/0614/1304768-living-wage/ )Demanding fair pay and better conditions eventually does improve expectations for all even the non union jobs.

Pretending it’s greed only benefits the pot owners at the end of the day, milking huge profits from other peoples labour…

I think this one is a tit for tat strike tbh. There is an element of digging themselves in a hole that they now can't climb out of and has blown up into a big fight between the council and the union and everday joe is fed up with it all.

Unions have kicked off to the point where they were withdrawing the money for campaigning for local elections for the labour councillors.

The union says they only get x amount in pay. Council says they get y which is different. Each has evidence of both.

I think with it being an overwhelmingly Labour council it was thought they would cave quickly, which they haven't done.

Thanks that’s really interesting. Salary increases are negotiated centrally in Scotland for local government so it’s a bit different.

I remember the stress of exams.

I also remember the stress and distress felt after an accident which resulted in the loss of much loved colleagues.

@Florenz, on another thread you spoke of your hope that UK citizens can find local, well paid employment. How are they to get that increased, fair pay if you restrict their right to engage in industrial action?🤨

Workers should be able to strike, otherwise, as you said, we might as well go back to feudal times.

Hell yes I support the strikes. RMT workers work shitty hours, shitty jobs and unsocial hours.

My ex is RMT and I fully appreciate how much he does.

He's still a cunt though.

I Understand your perspectives, but no point in striking when it has little impact, besides surely they can resit the exams or be postponed etc ? Not that it makes it right, but it's an option.

Brilliant. Best get inventing, quick.

So because carers work with the elderly and the vulnerable they shouldn't strike even though it's a very effective tool. Almost like it's not their fault their pay is shit isn't it which is what you were insinuating. Although at the end of the day it's just a job, they should be able to strike without the moral obligations attached. The doctors strike is coming, I'm sure we will all enjoy that one.

Most of my working life I worked jobs that, legally, banned strikes. So I don’t believe in strikes.

You can quit, but not strike.

Not exactly the most balanced discussion. Are you 4?

Strikes are a last resort. Unions don’t use them unless management don’t listen. Pay close attention - the government have not made a decent pay offer - so they’ve done a crap job and pushed the union down this road. On purpose.

That's old as this is 2022 and not....2015. 🙄