Further strike action to take place across Southeastern network

21 Comments

1. And ofcourse this Saturday is Margate Pride and the Folk week visitors normally leave Broadstairs that day too !

2. We all know what these people want, fair do to them ,but all they are causing is trouble for people who use the trains ,again my son ,who lose another days pay, because of their action, maybe he should she their union for lost wages ,surely the best way for all strikes is to go to an independent panel ,and that ruling is law for both sides ,some you would win some you lose ,it has to better than any one striking ,because at the end of the day ,all these stickers in any industry get is lost wages ,maybe a pay rise ,but normally never enough to cover the loses ,and the union bosses do not care ,as they are nearly all on big wages and still get paid ,I remember my 12 years of working in the bakery industry,the union bosses never lost their pay ,when we were out on strike

3. Withdrawing labour is always a last resort – it’s going to cost the employee money.
   But workers have few levers when it comes to negotiating with management.
   When the TOCs put up the fares by inflation busting amounts year on year, there’s hardly a murmur.
   The railway employees are fighting for a payrise that means their will not be as bad as it was. But no way is it an inflation busting rise.
   And some employees are fighting for their jobs. In the interests of “modernisation” and “efficiancy”, the TOCs want to sack thousands of workers. I can understand that as working practices change, so do the requirements for particular trades. The railways no longer employ farriers, ostlers nor firemen.
   But there are ways of slimming down a workforce other than taking a hatchet to them, and condemning breadwinners to the scrap heap.

4. I agree strike action is the last resort,what I was saying ,is a independent panel free from ,government and union influence hears both sides ,and gives their answer ,legally binding on both sides,therefore ,no need for strikes because either side could then sue the other ,ACAS is beyond last resort

   • Nit another strike. For someone whose disabilities meant having to give up the car, this really takes the pee. Also, having just hiked their prices up. Its always the consumer who suffers during a time when things are crap

5. An independent panel would need guidelines, just like a judge needs the framework of the law.
   Who would set these guidelines? The government?

6. Very foolish and myopic.
   More incentives for engineers to create driverless trains, cleanersless vacuuming devices, etc. and reap the patent rewards.
   Why don’t people ever learn?

   • There is an established analysis that notes that UK industry generally is less technologically advanced than the rest of Europe because wages have been suppressed so low there is no incentive for employers to take the plunge and invest in new machinery or working methods. Why bother when workers are so cheap?
     So there MIGHT be a push towards driverless trains , for example, if the drivers gain more pay. After all, it was militancy in the dock industry that led to a brief period of decent pay, after generations of poverty , and ,then, within years, whole new work methods like RO-RO/containerisation was brought in to get rid of thousands of dockers. Miles and miles of docks in London,Liverpool etc were closed.
     But should the dockers have carried on with poverty wages for ever?
     At least they got a few years of decent pay, like the coal miners did, until the establishment struck back and closed the pits.
     Do we just put up with bad treatment out of fear that we will be punished if we resist?
     That would be the attitude of slaves. Eventually, the most servile slaves will rise up. That is what we are seeing now.

     • I’ve worked lots of very low paid jobs, including cleaning toilets in a sports centre, washing up in a hotel, labouring on building sites and sweeping up in a market. I did ALL these jobs to the very best of my ability – NOT because I was paid well (these were all in the pre-minimum wage days), but because I’ve always taken pride in my work. In other countries, people see (say) waitressing as a career, not just something to be put up with because nothing else is around.

       Today, I got a train home from Broadstairs to Birchington, and (wonders of wonders!), the very nice guard came and checked our tickets, making those without purchase one. Now HE deserves a pay rise, but not the majority of them, who can’t be bothered to try to recover potential lost revenue for their employers because they’re “not paid enough”.

       • I frequently travel on the trains between Thanet and London.
         I frequently see the train manager passing through the coaches, checking tickets.
         I frequently see said employee demanding to see railcard, and dishing out penalty fares to those travelling on HS1 between Ashford and London who shouldn’t.
         Birchington is only a couple of stops from Broadstairs, so it’s not really surprising that you didn’t see the ticket guy in the one coach (out of 12) that you went in.

         • I’ve travelled to London and back a couple of times in recent weeks, as well as often travelling to Rochester, Faversham, Deal and Dover (amongst others) – yet this is the first time my ticket has been checked in at least two months. That’s why it was an extra surprise, being on such a brief journey (oh, and it was a 6 coach train).

         • Perhaps you look a bit more dodgy than me?

       • I understand your sentiments but the guard’s primary function is train safety – ticket checking comes down the list. Amongst other duties your guard will ensure the doors are opened and closed securely without trapping anyone in the doors. They’ll check the platform is clear before allowing the train to leave. Their presence will deter petty criminality on board. Oh – and yes, they’ll check your ticket too!

         • Some of the guards’ priority seems to be reading a newspaper!

     • The only people who benefit are the senior union officials, who unlike Serwotka, think it’s ok to get paid lots for facility time.
       It also makes remote working more appealing to more employers and employees and hastens the further demise of post-Covid metropolitan centres.

   • Would YOU feel safe on a driverless train at 90-100mph? Who will look after you if the train breaks down in a tunnel? Who’s there for you on the last train back in the evening when you’re being intimidated by a group of pissed up youths?

     • There’s no one there to help you anyway. Load of selfish gits making life a misery for the rest of us for their own selfish gain

7. Isn’t it amazing how the one nation in Europe which held off Napoleon & Hitler has been reduced to a herd of quivering ovines?
   I’m pretty sure that even in my sixties I can figure out solutions to problems myself.
   And as for “pissed up youths”? If the station staff are doing the job properly, they wouldn’t have been allowed on the train to start with!

8. If no trains to margate or Broadstairs no one be here.. Yay
   Peace at last
   Traffic pollution
   Rubbish pollutuon
   People pollution.
   .

9. Railway staff now more hsted than bankers. Sack the lot of them and bring in eastern europeans

10. Back now to the 60s/70s and 80s where bully boy Union leaders pushed their members like lemmings over the cliff
    Pay rises need to be on the back of productivity agreements and this is what the Unions do not accept. Otherwise it just becomes a cost increase for fellow workers.