The operational state of the railway and then the strikes on top has made getting back to Liverpool pretty much impossible, so I've noticed it a lot.
There have been bus and tube strikes in London but I just work from home.
Current Affairs Rail strikes
- Thread starter Diogenes the Cynic
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The operational state of the railway and then the strikes on top has made getting back to Liverpool pretty much impossible, so I've noticed it a lot.
There have been bus and tube strikes in London but I just work from home.
gonetomorrow
Player Valuation: £80m
There will be a lot of agency staff involved as there are in local government and health service - contracts extended or curtailed at the drop of a hat.
"Not proper jobs" as my old man would say.
Apart from executive level, does the civil service take on any permanent staff these days?
I never really like using averages without knowing a full breakdown because significant high or low ends can skew the results.
I'm led to believe from the media that train drivers are paid anywhere between 65-80 thousand a year, but a quick browse on First suggests the starting salary for a qualified train driver is £50k.
Looking at the entry requirements you need GCSEs and around 12-24 months driving experience to be a qualified driver (which is a low threshold for the salary package).
Rail traffic is 75% what it was pre-Covid. That's a fall of around 100 million journeys in a 3 month period. That has resulted in a decline in passenger revenue of around £1 billion for that period. Deserving of a payrise that.
Apologies mate, the brandy brings out the 20 year old in me and that was a lifetime ago
Might have something to do with passengers not getting on trains that are not running anymore, although they are on the timetable
Half the manchester to London for instance.
Try that on a Sunday will be even worse.
The. Number of trains cancelled every day is shocking .
Getting to Liverpool most days from or to London is a nightmare.
They have been taking at least 4 trains a day off, planned every morning on certain lines same trains every day.
Can't sell tickets if the soft arse companies don't run trains.
Funny enough the bosses responsible for this all got a rise.
Last few weekends they have been rammed , people literally can't get on because there are not enough stock to make the trains longer
Nothing to do with far more people working remotely? The train companies are leaving money on the table by not running trains
God knows why.Nothing to do with far more people working remotely? The train companies are leaving money on the table by not running trains
Try to run everything on a shoestring.
Don't have enough rolling stock, it's all hired out.
Don't have enough drivers.
Don't invest in the staff.
And don't get punishment when it goes wrong
You are aware Bruce, that it's not ordinary employees who control that. That's on the management of these companies, and their corporate strategy.
The fact that their failure in strategy and performance is being outsourced to ticket inspectors, or train cleaners shows the complete failure of adequate governance from them. It's exactly the same things that motivate their inability to resolve an industrial dispute, and motivate their staff, which is quite a core component to a successful organisation.
Do tell me though, why is it the poorest and those in least powerful positions within those orgs should take a real terms pay cut, for a mess not caused by them?
Governmental inefficiency perhaps?
Ans honestly, does that not make you ask questions of the employer of all these employees who are going on strike?
It's not automatic, and people in general dont want to go on strike and lose money. They dont do so in good businesses, with good cultures and clear sighted managements.
Just saying it's rare that a sector sheds £900 million in revenue and the staff get a big pay rise. The last few years have shown many people that spending a king's ransom to commute in when you can work pretty well from home might not be a great deal.
I'm afraid this is a completely apples and pears comparison.
I am a private sector worker. My partner is a public sector worker. In terms of culture, expectations, going over and above, as well as upside potential is vastly different. It wont be reflected in the raw numbers, but there are expectations that go far beyond anything anyone would do in the private sector from public sector employees.
There has been a huge, huge cut in real terms wages. At the same time, the richests wealth has grown enormously. At some point, as a society we have to ask ourselves, would we rather the richest continue to get richer (and buy more assets thus further spiralling inflation) or have better schools, hospitals, transport, police etc. I know which one I would want, and a part of that, is paying the public service fairly and making some effort to correct the imbalance of the last 12 years.
That's fine. I commute and have to use the trains. I have said previously, southern Rail has to be one of the most inept services I have ever had the misfortune of using. Like honestly, how anyone could ever even start to make the case they have improved the service in any way post privatisation would be utterly bewildering to any service user.
So we are in agreement on that. My contention with you was it is the fault of rank and file employees. It's not. The performance of a company is dictated by the management of that business. People checking tickets have no impact. And from what I can see, there seems to be no comeback against those management teams. Indeed, its by understanding that shareholders recieved a dividend out of the business, at the same time of the service level being delivered. Why has that been a priority? Could that money have been better spent improving services? For me, yes.
When you look at the available data, things don't look so bad compared to the British Rail days.
Impact of the privatisation of British Rail - Wikipedia
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