Train Strike 23 24 31 December

sweepy

oh well done lads, I’m all for the right to Strike but this has really pissed in my Cornflakes for running ragged before Christmas

randella

I'm with you - strike, withdraw your labour, make a point.  Use it as a tool to fight whatever the fight is.

Strinking on key dates with the intention of causing as much disruption as humanly possible like this just looks cynical, and could be interpreted as a punishment.  I think it actually weakens the case.

Nitefly

It certainly doesn't garner much sympathy to their cause.

Deadman

I won't give my thoughts as the thread will automatically default to BCD.

boogieman

randella said:

I'm with you - strike, withdraw your labour, make a point.  Use it as a tool to fight whatever the fight is.

Strinking on key dates with the intention of causing as much disruption as humanly possible like this just looks cynical, and could be interpreted as a punishment.  I think it actually weakens the case.

Definitely a double edged sword. It’s causes major hassle to their employers, which I guess is their intention. It also majorly pisses off the public and doesn’t promote any sympathy for their cause. 

joeyowen

Sorry, really shitty of them.

I understand that they are not happy, but there is no need to make Christmas difficult for people 

HAL9000

Surely the way to make their employers sit up and take notice but without upsetting the public is to come into work and drive trains but don't bother collecting fares.

Deadman

I don't understand why Sky are only reporting the post Christmas strikes.

Edit: and not NYE either.

prowla

They should strike during business time, not when folks are trying to get around in their free time.

randella

boogieman said:

randella said:

I'm with you - strike, withdraw your labour, make a point.  Use it as a tool to fight whatever the fight is.

Strinking on key dates with the intention of causing as much disruption as humanly possible like this just looks cynical, and could be interpreted as a punishment.  I think it actually weakens the case.

Definitely a double edged sword. It’s causes major hassle to their employers, which I guess is their intention. It also majorly pisses off the public and doesn’t promote any sympathy for their cause. 

@boogieman for sure. But unfortunately the users of trains are used as cannon fodder - it would cause major hassle on *any* given day. 

You would think they want public support for the strike and they're not going to get it if rail users who are already being hit with obnoxious fare rises are now being hamstrung at one of the busiest times of the year. 

I think what I'm getting at is that I'd like to see strike action to be successful - punishing train users like this gives a cynical, hard-bitten impression that they don't give a fuck. I'd hate to see this sort of thing jeapordise strike action as a legitimate tool in negotiation. 

scrumhalf

Since when have the RMT given a fuck about commuters?

chillidoggy

I can't remember the last time I was forced to take a train, so they can strike all they want.

usedtobe

joeyowen said:

Sorry, really shitty of them.

I understand that they are not happy, but there is no need to make Christmas difficult for people 

Whereas the bosses and the government want to make every day difficult..?

FX_Munkee

TBH if I worked on the trains I'd probably hate the public that used them.

fields5069

boogieman said:

randella said:

I'm with you - strike, withdraw your labour, make a point.  Use it as a tool to fight whatever the fight is.

Strinking on key dates with the intention of causing as much disruption as humanly possible like this just looks cynical, and could be interpreted as a punishment.  I think it actually weakens the case.

Definitely a double edged sword. It’s causes major hassle to their employers, which I guess is their intention. It also majorly pisses off the public and doesn’t promote any sympathy for their cause. 

You could argue that there is little sympathy for their cause because, in most industries, unions are extremely weak and for most people this is an affront, not a basic right. The fight was lost a long time ago for most. It'll be interesting to see how much the strikers are demonised in the media.

siremoon

fields5069 said:

boogieman said:

randella said:

I'm with you - strike, withdraw your labour, make a point.  Use it as a tool to fight whatever the fight is.

Strinking on key dates with the intention of causing as much disruption as humanly possible like this just looks cynical, and could be interpreted as a punishment.  I think it actually weakens the case.

Definitely a double edged sword. It’s causes major hassle to their employers, which I guess is their intention. It also majorly pisses off the public and doesn’t promote any sympathy for their cause. 

You could argue that there is little sympathy for their cause because, in most industries, unions are extremely weak and for most people this is an affront, not a basic right. The fight was lost a long time ago for most. It'll be interesting to see how much the strikers are demonised in the media.

One reason there is little sympathy for the cause is that the RMT has an appalling PR operation.  It just can't help itself with the "fat cat private owner, renationalise" rhetoric. 

Take Merseyside where they are in dispute over DOO.  DOO is being introduced by Mersey Travel which is the Labour controlled Local Transport authority.  Merseyrail is not a franchise it is a concession which basically means that Mersey Travel dictates how the service will be run, pays the costs for it to be run that way together with an operators fee and gets all the fare revenue.  The concessionaire gets no benefit at all from removing guards from trains and is only doing so because Mersey Travel is telling them to.  Not a fat cat in sight and yet the RMT still churn that out.  A public body (and a Labour controlled one to boot) making the decision and yet the RMT still churn out "renationalise". 

The other reason there is little sympathy is that these disputes are not about pay, redundancies or job security (as the TOCs concerned have made long term guarantees on all of those), they are about the RMT trying to retain the power to disrupt with the associated leverage that brings. 

FelineGuitars

I've lost any sympathy for Southern Rail since they stopped the all night service from Victoria via East Croydon after 11.30 at night. Now I can't get back from gigs in London easily, unless I leave before the end sometimes. I certainly cant go for a quick beer after a gig with friends.

I also agree with keeping guards on trains, but I am so tired of this dispute.

Take away Southern's franchise!

sweepy

I was made aware of it by my Daughter who 
lives in Southampton, the strike means that I have a 200 mile round trip to collect her on Xmas eve, not ideal, especially as I am working all over the Xmas break

ourmaninthenorth

Buy a car. 

TommyVercetti

FX_Munkee said:

TBH if I worked on the trains I'd probably hate the public that used them.

If i had to commte by train i'd probably hate everyone who worked on them 

munckee

They do not have any need for support of the public, they want to make it as awful as possible at the worst times possible so the public moan about the service and then the govt and train companies feel pressured to do something.  As the comment above says its frequently not about job security its about them hanging onto their power.