Current Affairs Rail strikes

[peteblue]

Travelling fans.

Coach firms will make a fortune…..

 

[ArtetaMoney]

Coach firms will make a fortune…..

They’re short of drivers I believe. A lot of them moved to new roles during covid and haven’t gone back in to the industry.

 

[bigjonny]

I see the railways are on strike for another 5 days. Will this inconvenience anyone on here? I’ve not even heard it mentioned in the pub tbh……

Makes it difficult for me to get home after the match tonight and on Friday when I get back from Man U.

 

[edge]

What's the alternative? Accept the pay demands, pass those onto consumers, who then vote with their wallets and decide the huge fares are not worth it. It's perhaps worth noting that the CEO of Network Rail painted a very different picture of the negotiations than those presented by the unions. His version of the story was that the unions were deliberately shielding details of the proposed reforms to ensure continued support for the strikes. It's all a complete mess, and as I have said previously, it's hard to fathom how this is in anyway a good working relationship even if these negotiations are concluded. The two parties are clearly not working well together.

It's a pay cut for the staff, so how the fk can they pass that onto the passengers?
I would lose £600 plus a month if they got that deal in.
They will not lower the prices no matter what to many shareholders to pay off, like the dutch/German national rail companies .

 

[roydo]

It's a pay cut for the staff, so how the fk can they pass that onto the passengers?
I would lose £600 plus a Mt if they got that deal in.
They will not lower the prices no matter what to many shareholders to pay off, like the dutch/German national rail companies .

You never got back to me if freight was included in the strikes mate.

 

[edge]

Have the government engaged with the unions yet over pay, or are they still holding out awaiting for the public to turn?

I don't think it's too far off before public support will diminish.

No havnt had a meeting, since December, when they put a spanner in the works by adding driver only into the deal.
There was a deal to be done, TOC went back and they put that in knowing that it was unacceptable.
They want it to continue, want to break the union. And make the Rail like everywhere else, loa ,wage,flexibility, hours , ect.
One of are directors said the other week, we havnt got a clue what's on the table because when are representatives go there , the government constantly move the goal posts.
We are in thr datk as much as you.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

It's a pay cut for the staff, so how the fk can they pass that onto the passengers?
I would lose £600 plus a month if they got that deal in.
They will not lower the prices no matter what to many shareholders to pay off, like the dutch/German national rail companies .

You may have noticed that the government has capped fare increases at 5.9% this year, which is considerably below inflation as well. I believe Lynch has rejected pay increases at about that level.

Network Rail makes new pay offer to workers after strikes but RMT union calls it a 'real-terms pay cut'

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch responded to the offer by saying: "We will not hesitate to call further strike action and co-ordinate this with other trade unions if the industry continues to fob us off with unacceptable offers."

news.sky.com

According to Network Rail, the two-year deal includes:

• Over 5% rise for all RMT members and more for those paid under £30,000 - sources close to the employers told Sky News the Network Rail offer was worth up to 10% for the lowest-paid
• A 4% rise on basic pay would be paid in year one, backdated to January, with 2% in year two and a further 2% if modernisation reform milestones are met
• 75% discounted travel for employees and family from January 2023
• Some £650 for each worker as a cash "bonus"
• A further £250 lump sum for those paid under £24,000
• A guarantee of no compulsory redundancies for the two years

 

[edge]

You never got back to me if freight was included in the strikes mate.

No mate they aren't, they don't work for network rail or the TOCs but they get effected by the signal ,track staff being out, they tend to run them even when we are on strike , with the managers and none union staff running a basic service.
They tend to be well paid over there, Northernrail put a two year golden handcuffs on new drivers because absolutely loads where jumping ship to that side of things.

 

[edge]

You may have noticed that the government has capped fare increases at 5.9% this year, which is considerably below inflation as well. I believe Lynch has rejected pay increases at about that level.

Network Rail makes new pay offer to workers after strikes but RMT union calls it a 'real-terms pay cut'

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch responded to the offer by saying: "We will not hesitate to call further strike action and co-ordinate this with other trade unions if the industry continues to fob us off with unacceptable offers."

news.sky.com

They have capped the standard fares at that , the companies can charge higher fares for the ones they sell, local travel cards ect.
They have done already by the way, up this way.
The deal isn't a 8% no strings attached, and thats for newtwork rail staff, the rest have been offerd nothing, station staff, cleaners guards all the rest absolutely nothing.
there isn't any gain for us at all.
Terms conditions, pensions rise for us, less for the companies, flex time, part time staff,
Loads of other stuff as well I will not bore you with.
And no compulsory redundancy till April 24 just over a year.
Take it from me its a massive pay cut.
Terms and conditions much worse.
To be honest, I just want to see the details of the voluntary redundancy scheme, and then make a move out of the industry.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

They have capped the standard fares at that , the companies can charge higher fares for the ones they sell, local travel cards ect.
They have done already by the way, up this way.
The deal isn't a 8% no strings attached, and thats for newtwork rail staff, the rest have been offerd nothing, station staff, cleaners guards all the rest absolutely nothing.
there isn't any gain for us at all.
Terms conditions, pensions rise for us, less for the companies, flex time, part time staff,
Loads of other stuff as well I will not bore you with.
And no compulsory redundancy till April 24 just over a year.
Take it from me its a massive pay cut.
Terms and conditions much worse.
To be honest, I just want to see the details of the voluntary redundancy scheme, and then make a move out of the industry.

That's not what they say here (sorry it's in the Express, but it's written by their boss so is presumably free from editorial interference)

We are working tirelessly to reach a deal with the rail unions

This was the first post-Covid festive season many were able to enjoy with their family and friends.

www.express.co.uk

A month ago, we offered the RMT and TSSA an eight percent two year pay deal over 2022 and 2023.

I'm curious though. Given that revenues and passenger numbers have fallen dramatically since 2019 and the taxpayer is currently picking up the bill. Do you think the taxpayer should pay even more for that?

 

[grandjoeblue]

The government should stop subsidising the rail operating group losses during the strikes so that they go to the table and agree a fair deal.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

The government should stop subsidising the rail operating group losses during the strikes so that they go to the table and agree a fair deal.

What is a fair deal?

 

[edge]

That's not what they say here (sorry it's in the Express, but it's written by their boss so is presumably free from editorial interference)

We are working tirelessly to reach a deal with the rail unions

This was the first post-Covid festive season many were able to enjoy with their family and friends.

www.express.co.uk

I'm curious though. Given that revenues and passenger numbers have fallen dramatically since 2019 and the taxpayer is currently picking up the bill. Do you think the taxpayer should pay even more for that?

We havnt had a deal mate,
Network rail staff have had a 4% over two year deal.
With strings . And redundancy on there side.
The last meeting in December , they had an outline of a deal, with the train companies, they went to the government, who put a further 9 points ,driver only ect onto the table, the companies came back and knew what the union would do.
Take no notice to the rubbish the government come out with,
50% of trains are driver only its 17%.
Are the tax payers happy to pay 320 million to make sure the companies still make a profit while the strikes are on?
Not counting the cost to the country in lost business.
All of which would have well settled the dispute of it wasn't for the government playing politics.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

We havnt had a deal mate,
Network rail staff have had a 4% over two year deal.
With strings . And redundancy on there side.
The last meeting in December , they had an outline of a deal, with the train companies, they went to the government, who put a further 9 points ,driver only ect onto the table, the companies came back and knew what the union would do.
Take no notice to the rubbish the government come out with,
50% of trains are driver only its 17%.
Are the tax payers happy to pay 320 million to make sure the companies still make a profit while the strikes are on?
Not counting the cost to the country in lost business.
All of which would have well settled the dispute of it wasn't for the government playing politics.

I didn't think the Rail Delivery Group were anything to do with the government?

 

[edge]

I didn't think the Rail Delivery Group were anything to do with the government?

They aren't directly, but the government hold the purse strings, and as such there pay masters.
They set the parameters of any deals.
Like I said in an earlier post the had a deal in principle in December, went to the government ,and we'll you know the result
For instance northernrail haven't got a direct imput at the table, they have representatives of there group doing the talking.
Every other rail company not under the government's umbrella, Scotland, Wales merseyrail, few others under local control, have done a deal last year, and they have had talks about changes ect as part of the deals.
I honestly don't think we can come to a deal with this government.
They will move the goal posts no matter what we agree.
They are misreading the situation if they think we will crack,
More than likely I am hearing it's going to get a lot worse , and in unison with other unions.
If we were offerd 8% and had to have further talks about changes as part of the deal, plus a decent voluntary redundancy package , I am sure the members would go for it
It's all the rest they will never agree to.
Who would agree , to near third pay cut , worse pension, worse terms ect., shifts less days off.
Would you expect you wife for instance to do it if they tried it with the NHS?