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Tube strike

This again

They will.

I don't believe this government are great a getting things right (despite being the only ones with the right intentions) but one thing they are doing very well is playing the unions. Look at the strike the teaching unions have called - with all the 'good' news about the economy, people are likely to be sympathetic to teaching unions so the government have gone back to the table. As soon as there's a big story about net pay not improving there'll be a widely published survey about public attitudes to unions. Next thing you know the govt will walk away from talks and there'll be a strike announced.

Every strike announced by the major unions since this government's been in power has happened precisely when the govt have wanted it to and public opinion if unions is through the floor. If this govt gets another term there won't be any tube drivers.

I also hope someone is looking very carefully into Bob Crow's finances.....
 
Mate said his train has been delayed at Stratford due to people actually fighting trying to get onto trains, and they have had to shut the station

Good work, this strikes will cost the conomy £200m apparently
 
i'm always wary of those cost estimates, i'm not gonna be on time today but i'll still get the same amount of work done
 
and seriously the attitude of commuters amazes me sometimes, just wait your ****ing turn, there will be another train along in a minute
 
Mate said his train has been delayed at Stratford due to people actually fighting trying to get onto trains, and they have had to shut the station

Good work, this strikes will cost the conomy £200m apparently

Mate sent me this, this morning at Stratford

29203a1.jpg
 
and seriously the attitude of commuters amazes me sometimes, just wait your ****ing turn, there will be another train along in a minute

I get into arguments with some ****s trying to get on an already packed train when another will be arriving in a minute or two. Im not a morning person so I can get very cranky, ill have a go - theyll say that theyre running late - I tell them to ****in wake up earlier.

I tend to get on the central line at 6.45am so more often than not I dont experience that kind of trouble.
 
The best answer to this problem is to register your car as a hackney cab (outside of London so that you don't need to do the knowledge), and then drive to work in the empty bus lanes. No congestion charge either.

Problem solved.
 
They are all valid points Libero, but they are not unique to employees of TFL, i'm sure we all have friends who have been made redundant in the last year, and friends who have had to reapply for their own job who consider themselves lucky all they had to do was reduce their wage, this country is recovering from a financial mess and people up and down it are taking the brunt of it every day. Being unionised doesn't make you immune to real life.

I agree Galeforce. But the company are keeping on plenty of middle managers who earn 6 figures and have duplicate job roles so it is a bit naughty. I accept they need to modernise and that would be best served by getting rid of the drivers IMO and I fully get that we don't need to have every ticket office as before but none in central London at all? That is just mad to me given all the foreign travellers on holiday who want to deal with a human face rather than at times unreliable machines.

I also agree that being unionised doesn't make you exempt from the realities of life but if it is there then why not use it? I am sure you would if you could. Plenty of people within LU are in a bubble and don't know what it is like to work outside the company but they are entitled to strike. My own personal feeling is that talks didn't go on for long enough and strikes were called too early and the commuters are an unfortunate element of collateral damage who I feel really sorry for but it needs to be thought about longer term than one or two days. In a couple of years time when a load of outer stations have no one there after a certain time and people are potentially mugged or assaulted then we won't have anyone to assist in person or by getting the police and that will be a reality of what will happen if they manage to force all their ideas through without any revision or concessions being made.
 
They will.

I don't believe this government are great a getting things right (despite being the only ones with the right intentions) but one thing they are doing very well is playing the unions. Look at the strike the teaching unions have called - with all the 'good' news about the economy, people are likely to be sympathetic to teaching unions so the government have gone back to the table. As soon as there's a big story about net pay not improving there'll be a widely published survey about public attitudes to unions. Next thing you know the govt will walk away from talks and there'll be a strike announced.

Every strike announced by the major unions since this government's been in power has happened precisely when the govt have wanted it to and public opinion if unions is through the floor. If this govt gets another term there won't be any tube drivers.

I also hope someone is looking very carefully into Bob Crow's finances.....

It won't happen in the next term but from around 2020 ish then it will be on the cards. Not enough lines are automated as yet and the signalling and complexity involved means 5-6 years for some lines where an upgrade isn't due to begin until 2021 ish but it will happen and will be beneficial overall imo
 
It won't happen in the next term but from around 2020 ish then it will be on the cards. Not enough lines are automated as yet and the signalling and complexity involved means 5-6 years for some lines where an upgrade isn't due to begin until 2021 ish but it will happen and will be beneficial overall imo

Sorry, wasn't the technology I was talking about - just there being a union capable of opposing it.

I suspect that by the end of the next parliament (assuming the public don't brainfart Labour back in) there'll be a phasing-out agreement in place for getting rid of drivers or the union will be so weak from a complete lack of public support that it will happen anyway.
 
Sorry, wasn't the technology I was talking about - just there being a union capable of opposing it.

I suspect that by the end of the next parliament (assuming the public don't brainfart Labour back in) there'll be a phasing-out agreement in place for getting rid of drivers or the union will be so weak from a complete lack of public support that it will happen anyway.

They aren't fussed about public support Scara tbh and that is their major fault. They can't begin the process of phasing drivers out until they have a line capable of supporting driverless trains. For that happen they would need also to have a period of time where the new signalling systems bedded in so despite what the conservatives might want to do, it can't happen until other pieces fall into place but they will do eventually and when they do, the RMT will cease to exist.
 
I agree Galeforce. But the company are keeping on plenty of middle managers who earn 6 figures and have duplicate job roles so it is a bit naughty. I accept they need to modernise and that would be best served by getting rid of the drivers IMO and I fully get that we don't need to have every ticket office as before but none in central London at all? That is just mad to me given all the foreign travellers on holiday who want to deal with a human face rather than at times unreliable machines.

I also agree that being unionised doesn't make you exempt from the realities of life but if it is there then why not use it? I am sure you would if you could. Plenty of people within LU are in a bubble and don't know what it is like to work outside the company but they are entitled to strike. My own personal feeling is that talks didn't go on for long enough and strikes were called too early and the commuters are an unfortunate element of collateral damage who I feel really sorry for but it needs to be thought about longer term than one or two days. In a couple of years time when a load of outer stations have no one there after a certain time and people are potentially mugged or assaulted then we won't have anyone to assist in person or by getting the police and that will be a reality of what will happen if they manage to force all their ideas through without any revision or concessions being made.

In my experience outer stations are like that already, I commute from the end of the central line every day and there is rarely a visible presence after 10pm, they might be hiding in the office but who's to know. Also this might be getting away from the issue but is it really TFL staff's responsibility to stop people getting mugged on platforms, surely that is the responsibility of society itself and the police, and are late commuters not equally likely to get mugged round the corner from the station? On a national level many (if not most) stations on the old British rail network (other than termini) shut up shop at 6pm anyway and there hasn't been a public outcry about that as far as I know. I am a cynical old bastard but I think this has more to do with protecting their bubble rather than caring about the customers.
 
In my experience outer stations are like that already, I commute from the end of the central line every day and there is rarely a visible presence after 10pm, they might be hiding in the office but who's to know. Also this might be getting away from the issue but is it really TFL staff's responsibility to stop people getting mugged on platforms, surely that is the responsibility of society itself and the police, and are late commuters not equally likely to get mugged round the corner from the station? On a national level many (if not most) stations on the old British rail network (other than termini) shut up shop at 6pm anyway and there hasn't been a public outcry about that as far as I know. I am a cynical old bastard but I think this has more to do with protecting their bubble rather than caring about the customers.

Yeah on outer stretches it will tend to be just a supervisor and yes most likely he will be in his/her office at that time of night and quite likely dealing with contractors who are attempting to book on and start work. The likelyhood is that actually those stations won't have anyone at all. I understand the comparison with National Rail stations but they are nowhere near as busy. London Underground carries 3 times the population of Birmingham every single day. Using the Central Line as an example, Loughton to Epping sees in excess of 10 million recorded entry/exits per year and rising. That is a large stretch of line with a large number of people involved in its usage to have only one person responsible for, which is what will happen.

I think it is TfL's responsibility to make it the environment as safe as possible and assist in preventing crime on its premises, that to me seems a basic level of responsibility. Of course, differing ways of achieving that and thats why modernisation should be done on a station by station basis and what its needs are going forwards as well as the needs of its regular customer base.

As I have said before, I am not against modernisation and it has to happen in its various guises but it should be done in a manner that is fair and consistent - A core behaviour that LU/TfL promote in house and done in a way that takes into account what is best for all parties on each station going forward. To me, a blanket closure of all ticket offices doesn't seem quite the right way to go.
 
I agree, the ballot threshold is currently ridiculous and open to abuse.

I can see an argument for it being an essential service though and i'd like them to pursue that.
 
I don't think legally it can be viewed in the same manner as the police or fire phalanx. Essential Service agreements are normally implemented in an industry where a threat to life/law and order occurs so I just don't see it being something that legally would be able to be done.

Minimum ballot threshold would be a more sensible route to go down as it would be less of challenge to get through but would have a big effect on how strikes are conducted. It would force more members to vote as many don't bother as they know generally what the outcome will be regardless of their vote. In doing so, it would probably get a truer representation of members feelings across the board.
 
As it stands you are right, I'd like that mandate expanded to include anything that prevents the general public going about their normal business.
 
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