What do people think about rail strikes?

[ITUnurse]

I cannot find any threads on the rail strikes / opinion of them.

I personally do support the strikes. We in the NHS will face a similar struggle shortly. I support the rights of workers to strike. Conditions at the moment are dire.

However, if England is so right wing and strikes aren't supported and the Tories continue to be voted in. I've not seen much public support online except from a few and I'm at risk of being in an echo chamber.

Ultimately if England is so under the thumb of the tories, I'm not sure what the long term solution is. The rest of the UK doesn't return the Tories in such numbers.

If you don't support strike action, what do you think the rail workers, NHS workers etc should do? We've already got people leaving enmasse. It's difficult to comment on the conditions of a job you don't work in and nurses regularly get gaslighted on here I am genuinely concerned as to what is going to happen to the public sector of the UK with this right wing stranglehold.

Thanks

@EtnaVesuvius read your own words back. It’s what I’m doing already.

DH also works in railway industry and has been on strike this week too. It's not all about pay which is what everyone automatically thinks strike action is about. It's about the terms and conditions of their employment possibly changing, big shake up of the organisation, possibly shrinking the workforce etc.

I support other industries striking even if it inconveniences us.

This 100%

It has to be done. Unless you are super rich, if you do not support workers strikes you have misidentified your interests. And I can't drive so this affects me directly. I've been on strike for a total of 10 days last year (UCU). It was tough and caused cash flow issues. But again it had to be done.

100% support them. I support any workers right to strike, it’s the only power we have.

I’ve seen articles in the likes of the daily fail ‘exposing’ Mick Lynch and Eddie Dempsey’s ‘massive’ salaries and insinuating they are bad people and can’t be trusted. Surely that’s an own goal?? By that logic we should all be furious with the rail bosses and their massive bonuses and supporting the strikes.

Yes, that's it exactly WagathaChristieMystery. Keep wages low, keep them low so the poor become poorer and can hardly afford to eat each day. Perfect solution isn't it.

My only question is where would the money come from to meet these demands? Would it be absorbed by the public in the form of Putting up rail tickets?

Support them 100%!! Wish more decors had the balls to strike.

More sectors.

I'm 100% behind anyone striking and I will happily stay in solidarity with them on a picket line.
And disruption in the whole point. If people aren't inconvenienced, then a strike isn't working!
People need to be able to feed their kids and heat their homes, skills don't come free, they deserve decent wages and respect.
Shareholders are reaping massive profits in all sectors, and people are starving.
Railways, hospitals, schools, energy companies, anything that is part of our infrastructure needs to be re nationalised, cut out greedy shareholders altogether.

I fully support all strikes. I hope there is a general strike and lots of others. This government need pulling down.

Its like we are living in the era of ‘The Ragged Trouered Philanthropists’ Exploitation, shit conditions, low pay and greedy owners everywhere.

The fact that I am retired will give you a clue that I have seen how this country has declined since WW2.For example,I was taken to Switzerland in 1959 on holiday.We got 8 Swiss francs to the £.Today it is nearly parity.Switzerland has virtually no natural resources except hydroelectric power.We have plenty of natural resources.If you consider UK as a plc,the only people responsible for our success or failure are the management i.e the politicians.Switzerland is governed by referendum i.e the will of the people.Yes,the outlook is depressing for some,but at my age,it does not bother me and btw,global warming is now irreversible.You may not like that statement,but if you look at what is going on around the World,you will come to the same conclusion.Me? I'm alright,Jack !

Never underestimate the English love of the Tories. However, even that must be tested at the next election. They're literally destroying the country.

In other news the Avanti boss has just been paid a million pound bonus. Shareholders everywhere are raking it in.

Almost like Capitalism is one big con.

It's like in America where service staff are paid a pittance and the public are obliged to pay their wages via tips.

Be more polite!

the irony

I don't support the rail strikes at all! If you work at a rail ticket office and don't like your pay/conditions then go and get another job!

why not this argument for doctors, teachers as you support their right to strike? Why do you think transport doesn't need capable people in order for society to work?

I support the right to strike in principle, and I say this as someone with a professional experience of industrial relations (hr) but what's clear to me is that certain industries are much more 'strike effective ' than others. Mainly transport. Tube drivers can pretty much hold TFL to ransom.

I've re routed my train tickets from Manchester to London this weekend via Sheffield and LNER, so I suppose its effective in that Avanti won't get my money other operators will, but it was a planned bank holiday trip to see family members I can only see once a year in August and I'm lucky there were other routes available.

Not the rail workers but this extract from BBC news is an example of 'strike pay' , in this case it is the dock workers.

Robert Morton, Unite national officer, also told the BBC: "The people in Felixstowe aren't particularly militant and that's been shown by the fact there hasn't been a dispute for 30 years. But people are angry now a company who made £240m over the last two years are unwilling to share it with them."
He said dock workers, whose salaries range between £20,000-£40,000, were going to be paid £370 per week with strike pay.

I really don’t think it’s impolite to have a difference of opinion!

I never said I was on a low wage. I also never said I wanted people to stay on low wages. You are still making assumptions :)

Yes let’s all get another job.
Hmm then what will you do when you are sick or your parents need care, or you need food etc and nobody is working in these jobs?

Irritating for me personally but ... I fully support them.

Oh and the people at the top don’t care. Do you seriously think that they are on the NHS waiting list for treatment, or that they use state schools?

I really don’t think it’s impolite to have a difference of opinion!

So why tell others who disagree to be more polite? 😆