Jump to content

The Tube strike


Thorpe-le-Saint

Recommended Posts

Am I the only person who sympathises with the RMT union? Granted I am a trade unionist, but even if I wasn't, the flak they are getting is disgraceful. Just because there is a pretty insignificant international going on at Wembley, people think it is apporpriate to slate these workers. Sure it is inconvienient, but what is more important? Andorra at home or a decent living wage and feeling safe from dismissal?

Edited by Thorpe-le-Saint
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Am I the only person who sympathises with the RMT union? Granted I am a trade unionist, but even if I wasn't, the flak they aer getting is disgraceful. Just because there is a pretty insignificant international going on at Wembley, people think it is apporpriate to slate these workers. Sure it is inconvienient, but what is more important? Andorra at home or a decent living wage and feeling safe from dismissal?

 

TBH, Im pretty sure it not just the few thousand that are/were going to Wembley that are kicking up a fuss over people who are insisting (in a time of recession and job losses) on a pay rise of 5%.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had to walk an hour from my station to work. 3 hours to get to work in total. Mainline trains ****ed up to.

 

They get paid sh1t loads for an unskilled job. They need to get their heads out of their @rses and get over themselves!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Am I the only person who sympathises with the RMT union? Granted I am a trade unionist, but even if I wasn't, the flak they aer getting is disgraceful. Just because there is a pretty insignificant international going on at Wembley, people think it is apporpriate to slate these workers. Sure it is inconvienient, but what is more important? Andorra at home or a decent living wage and feeling safe from dismissal?

 

stopped reading after this bit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Am I the only person who sympathises with the RMT union? Granted I am a trade unionist, but even if I wasn't, the flak they are getting is disgraceful. Just because there is a pretty insignificant international going on at Wembley, people think it is apporpriate to slate these workers. Sure it is inconvienient, but what is more important? Andorra at home or a decent living wage and feeling safe from dismissal?

 

How much do tube drivers already get paid? Just a question.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Am I the only person who sympathises with the RMT union? Granted I am a trade unionist, but even if I wasn't, the flak they are getting is disgraceful. Just because there is a pretty insignificant international going on at Wembley, people think it is apporpriate to slate these workers. Sure it is inconvienient, but what is more important? Andorra at home or a decent living wage and feeling safe from dismissal?

 

Well, considering the current state of the economy essentially NO-ONE in my line of work and industry feels safe from dissmisal. If that alone is reason to strike then the entire industrial and production sector should stop right now!

 

How f**king dare they demand a pay rise at the moment, they should be fortunate in the knowledge they have a damn well paid and relatively secure job in these rocky times, and that they are potentially ruining family outings and long standing arrangements for people who have in many cases saved a lot of money to see England to prove some kind of point is disgraceful.

 

Sod them all.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Jeez, 35K. If i remember correctly, they strike every year as well?

 

 

Only during the summer though, God Forbid them having a few days off when it might rain or be cold.

Principles like weather to you know.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Am I the only person who sympathises with the RMT union? Granted I am a trade unionist, but even if I wasn't, the flak they are getting is disgraceful. Just because there is a pretty insignificant international going on at Wembley, people think it is apporpriate to slate these workers. Sure it is inconvienient, but what is more important? Andorra at home or a decent living wage and feeling safe from dismissal?

 

1. Over £30k per annum IS a decent living wage!

 

2. Did someone say normal employment laws don't apply to RMT personnel?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Am I the only person who sympathises with the RMT union? Granted I am a trade unionist, but even if I wasn't, the flak they are getting is disgraceful. Just because there is a pretty insignificant international going on at Wembley, people think it is apporpriate to slate these workers. Sure it is inconvienient, but what is more important? Andorra at home or a decent living wage and feeling safe from dismissal?

 

Absolute disgrace them striking and only fuel the fires for trade unions to be disbanded completely. Sack the lot of them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There's a place for unions - such as protecting workers from exploitation, giving a voice and whatever. In the 80s I supported the miners against Thatch, as it really was their livelihood at risk. However (adopting Self righteous brothers voice) if those RMT lot were on fire I wouldn't **** on them!!

They are taking the mickey big style and now is the time to adopt a stance whereby we simply sack them all, re-employ those who want to do the job without going on strike (even give them the same money they're on), train up some new people and accept that the underground will be closed for 6 months. Suspend congestion charge for the same period.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Would you take 19k to risk your life everyday?

 

 

TDD is in HM Armed Forces, so slightly dumb question.

 

£35k to drive a tube train by the way. This is why Labour's time has run out and the Tories need to smash these unions and their pie in the sky greed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

TDD is in HM Armed Forces, so slightly dumb question.

 

£35k to drive a tube train by the way. This is why Labour's time has run out and the Tories need to smash these unions and their pie in the sky greed.

 

Does he get £19k then? Surely he is an ideal person to talk to about all this

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We maybe shouldn't judge them. Are they not making a stand against the government? When we are bailing out the corrupt money men of this world, then I think tey are just saying 'where's ours'. We should all be doing it. ;-)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Does he get £19k then? Surely he is an ideal person to talk to about all this

 

 

So you are campaigning to lower the wages of the armed forces then?

 

Firemen get a decent wage, and there are queues round the block for people who want to be firemen, so their "pittance" is hardly putting people off.

 

If firemen don't like it, get another job because they are easily replaceable.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The problem with Unions is that they have to kick up a fuss now and again to justify their union dues.

 

If they don't kick up their membership falls. Someone has to keep the capitalist union leaders in their million pound houses - it's just a shame that their members are being mugged.

 

As for the tube strike, it amounts to commercial terrorism.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It is all about supply and demand. Gradually these 'underpaid' tube driver jobs will be taken by eastern europeans and the fecking nobs in the press will bang on about British jobs for British people.

 

Tube Train drivers don't even have to steer FFS.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The starting salary for a tube driver is, as has already been mentioned, somewhere in the region of £35k, which rises to £42k-ish. For this, they get a 37-hour week (although I'm sure I read somewhere that tube drivers have similar restrictions as coach/bus/HGV drivers in that they can only be driving for a certain number of hours at a time - 5 hours was the time I saw, which then makes it a 25-hour week) and 43 days' paid leave.

 

I'm yet to speak to anybody in London who has any sympathy for them over this.

 

Also, apparently they were quite close to striking some sort of a deal (although quite why TfL were willing to listen to them in the first place is a bit bizarre) until Crowe decided that he'd throw in one extra demand, which was the reinstatement of two of his members who had been sacked - one for an alleged theft, the other for ignoring safety procedures.

 

Their main motive for striking was for a 5% pay rise (up to £2k) and a guarantee that there would be no compulsory redundancies. Now I don't quite know what bizarre little world they live in at the RMT, but there's a global recession going on where thousands of people are losing their jobs on a pretty regular basis. Why should they be immune to that, if that's what is required?

 

Credit to those from the rival union who thought it was all ******** and went to work anyway, and particularly to those RMT members who also thought the same and broke the picket line. I managed to get to Wembley on the Jubilee line without any problems last night as a result - in fact, it was the easiest journey to Wembley I've had since it was rebuilt.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Absolute disgrace them striking and only fuel the fires for trade unions to be disbanded completely. Sack the lot of them.

 

You dirty Thatcherite.

 

I should have done my research...35k a year? Robbing bastards (although it is London; prices inflacted etc). But still, the unlawful dismissal of fellow workers is worth striking over.

Edited by Thorpe-le-Saint
Link to comment
Share on other sites

You dirty Thatcherite.

 

I should have done my research...35k a year? Robbing bastards (although it is London; prices inflacted etc). But still, the unlawful dismissal of fellow workers is worth striking over.

 

Define unlawful.

 

Just because they work in the public sector it gives them immunity from dissmisal if they break their terms of employment or if the firm becomes bloated and unsustainable?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You dirty Thatcherite.

 

I should have done my research...35k a year? Robbing bastards (although it is London; prices inflacted etc). But still, the unlawful dismissal of fellow workers is worth striking over.

Given that safety is a rather big issue, particularly with public transport - and even more so with the tube in it's rather "remote" setting, I would say completely disregarding safety procedures would probably come under gross misconduct which is generally a sackable offence in any line of work.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Define unlawful.

 

Just because they work in the public sector it gives them immunity from dissmisal if they break their terms of employment or if the firm becomes bloated and unsustainable?

 

"It is an out and out lie that we were only interested in the two sacked drivers. There were another five specific cases where management had abused the disciplinary procedures. It was agreed that ACAS would look at all seven cases and we said that we would be able to suspend the action to allow this to go ahead.

 

Taken from Bob Crowe's statement to members of the RMT union.

 

Now obviously, Bob Crowe is going to have his own agenda, but I do agree with what he is saying. You cannot have a situation where management abuse disciplinary procedures: that is what I define as unlawful. Lord knows, if that happened to a member of any of the trade unions I belong to, I'm sure there would be a ballot for strike action as there would/should be in any sector?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Given that safety is a rather big issue, particularly with public transport - and even more so with the tube in it's rather "remote" setting, I would say completely disregarding safety procedures would probably come under gross misconduct which is generally a sackable offence in any line of work.

 

Quite.

 

Apparently he opened the doors on the wrong side of the train. Many many people on the tube stand leaning against the doors on the opposite side to the platform. If these were opened it is a miracle that nobody fell down the gap between the train and the wall onto the live track.

 

To claim that this driver should be reinstated is total B*ll**it and Bob Crow knows it. He is a c**t who gets off on the confrontation and would be a lot less well off if he didn't orchestrate conflicts.

 

As for the drivers.

£35k-£42k

45 days holiday

 

For what is a low skilled job.

 

I'm willing to bet that is a better deal than many on this site get, and all for doing a job that is done efficiently by computers on the DLR (which has driverless trains).

 

W*nkers the lot of them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...