Northern Rail Strikes Off

[Deleted member 875]

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...l-action-called-off-after-conductor-guarantee

Safety 1, Profit 0

 

[Wapping Blade]

Thank fuck for that - I can get to/from BDTBL (and the boozer) a lot easier

 

[Bladesthorpe]

Conductors Conductors top of the league, Conductors top of the league.

 

[sitwell]

Yay freedom at last.

 

[SW12 to S12 to S18]

It’s taken them long enough to see some common sense though, Northern monkeys!

 

[Numpty's Dusty Ruts.]

Great news! I support the action but getting to the game (and home again!) had started to be something of a ballache. With the ancient trains and facilities we have on the Huddersfield line it was a totally impractical and stupid idea anyway, even without any safety considerations.

 

[South Bucks]

Glad to hear its off, been a headache getting to/from matches sometimes.
We've not had guards on trains for decades down here, its no problem, better and safer to have someone at each station imo.

 

[stringer]

Glad to hear its off, been a headache getting to/from matches sometimes.
We've not had guards on trains for decades down here, its no problem, better and safer to have someone at each station imo.

The men and women at risk of losing their jobs would have been delighted to hear you tell them ‘it’s no problem’, maybe the strike would have ended far quicker that way

 

[jt64]

It is no problem. It's no problem in many areas where the RMT have agreed to the exact terms Northern were offering, they just decided to kick up a fuss here for fear of no longer being relevant and because nobody pays attention to strike action outside the home counties.

Also nobody was at risk of losing jobs

 

[Bladesthorpe]

It is no problem. It's no problem in many areas where the RMT have agreed to the exact terms Northern were offering, they just decided to kick up a fuss here for fear of no longer being relevant and because nobody pays attention to strike action outside the home counties.

Also nobody was at risk of losing jobs

You were involved in the negotiations then ? Perhaps you read it in the Daily Mail.

 

[stringer]

Also nobody was at risk of losing jobs

Wrong

 

[Maidenhead]

raul with a bit of luck PNE may be back on.

Look out Calderdale, here we come

 

[Harry's Game]

Notice they are going to be called ‘conductors’ not ‘guards’

Would not be surprised when the experienced guards retire they are going to be replaced by minimum wage ‘conductors’

 

[COME BACK CHED]

Soon no Drivers or conductors ,what will we fight back with then ? its only a matter of time .

 

[Trigger Blade]

Thank fuck for that - I can get to/from BDTBL (and the boozer) a lot easier

It certainly became a challenge getting across the Pennines past Manchester, needing to arrive in Sheffield before midnight on Friday and leave early Monday morning.

 

[3-GBlade]

Notice they are going to be called ‘conductors’ not ‘guards’

Would not be surprised when the experienced guards retire they are going to be replaced by minimum wage ‘conductors’

They have been called Conductors (or Senior Conductors) on former RR services at least since the implementation of the 1988 Traincrew Agreement - Not exactly news there
Guard is a grade, Conductor (or Train Manager) is a job title.

Still, it is a good thing to have Guards (call em what you will) on all services, and to maintain the remaining safety aspects of the job.
Remember the Guard is in charge of the train, the Driver only moves it to his instructions

 

[cahill]

Great news! I support the action but getting to the game (and home again!) had started to be something of a ballache. With the ancient trains and facilities we have on the Huddersfield line it was a totally impractical and stupid idea anyway, even without any safety considerations.

My feelings as well, support the action etc. I was just about getting used to the inconvenience. We must catch the same train but i depart at Elsecar.

 

[Cassius Kray]

The men and women at risk of losing their jobs would have been delighted to hear you tell them ‘it’s no problem’, maybe the strike would have ended far quicker that way

I thought the strike was about passenger safety, not jobs?

 

[stringer]

I thought the strike was about passenger safety, not jobs?

Who said it wasn’t?

 

[alcoblade]

The men and women at risk of losing their jobs would have been delighted to hear you tell them ‘it’s no problem’, maybe the strike would have ended far quicker that way

It’s still a problem for the unfortunate souls that still have to pay for our outrageously expensive rail network - so that will be all of us.

It’s all well and good protecting jobs under the illusion of safety, but in reality in the rail system unionisation has led to vastly inflated salaries that we all have to subsidise, from generally far lower salaries,

 

[SW12 to S12 to S18]

It’s still a problem for the unfortunate souls that still have to pay for our outrageously expensive rail network - so that will be all of us.

It’s all well and good protecting jobs under the illusion of safety, but in reality in the rail system unionisation has led to vastly inflated salaries that we all have to subsidise, from generally far lower salaries,

Join a union.

 

[alcoblade]

Join a union.

That’s fine. It’s still the case that everyone else (generally poorer people) fund the exuberance.

Let’s not pretend there’s any socialism involved here. It’s self preservation at its’ finest.

 

[SW12 to S12 to S18]

That’s fine. It’s still the case that everyone else (generally poorer people) fund the exuberance.

Let’s not pretend there’s any socialism involved here. It’s self preservation at its’ finest.

It’s also lead to the safest railway in Europe.

 

[3-GBlade]

That’s fine. It’s still the case that everyone else (generally poorer people) fund the exuberance.

Let’s not pretend there’s any socialism involved here. It’s self preservation at its’ finest.

First of all learn what it is that you are actually talking about before you talk such shit..... I doubt anyone on here would accuse me of being even "a bit to the Left"

No really its not self preservation.....Its preservation of the travelling public.
Take the Guard off the train and you will have a free for all...It will be like Lord of the Flies, but with an environment full of potentially violent adults instead of kids on a desert island.

I was a Guard for the best part of fifteen years, and trust me on this one, I took a lot of shit to save other people from it....
Not the stuff laid down in the "Rule Book" as the "role of the guard" so much as dealing with wankers who are totally unable to accept that any society has rules, and they are there for a reason.

Being a Guard is a mix of social worker/bouncer/travel guide all at the same time as making sure everything is running as good as it can be....

Its not the worst paid job in the world, but nor should it be.......

 

[alcoblade]

on here would accuse me of being even "a bit to the Left"

No really its not self preservation.....Its preservation of the travelling public.

If you say so, I'm convinced, really.

I take it where it works elsewhere they must just be happy with the appalling safety consequences.

 

[Sabella's Socks]

It’s still a problem for the unfortunate souls that still have to pay for our outrageously expensive rail network - so that will be all of us.

It’s all well and good protecting jobs under the illusion of safety, but in reality in the rail system unionisation has led to vastly inflated salaries that we all have to subsidise, from generally far lower salaries,

In reality enough of us have bought into a brand of Darwinian divide-and-rule capitalism which prioritises the individual (Freeeeeeedom) at the expense of community, society, and the collective good. But the Wi-Fi is good.

If someone (with good Wi-Fi) working a *free* from a pension, *free* from holiday pay, *free* from sick pay job (or jobs) is looking on enviously or resentfully at the Guards, maybe they should consider their (a) life, (b) voting, and (c) reading choices - and perhaps take a looks their boss's accounts, because he's likely to be free from the "burden" of taxation.

Looks to me a lot like rail unions *and their members* have kept the idea of strength in numbers alive. You could say they are united.

The unions horribly abused their power in the 70s. And some of them at least really did need taking down. But let's not pretend what's replaced them is any better.

 

[Sikkim]

This is an interesting read on Driver only trains and what could potentially go wrong.

https://www.londonreconnections.com/2018/thirty-centimetres-of-safety-an-incident-at-peckham-rye/

 

[Maidenhead]

First of all learn what it is that you are actually talking about before you talk such shit..... I doubt anyone on here would accuse me of being even "a bit to the Left"

No really its not self preservation.....Its preservation of the travelling public.
Take the Guard off the train and you will have a free for all...It will be like Lord of the Flies, but with an environment full of potentially violent adults instead of kids on a desert island.

I was a Guard for the best part of fifteen years, and trust me on this one, I took a lot of shit to save other people from it....
Not the stuff laid down in the "Rule Book" as the "role of the guard" so much as dealing with wankers who are totally unable to accept that any society has rules, and they are there for a reason.

Being a Guard is a mix of social worker/bouncer/travel guide all at the same time as making sure everything is running as good as it can be....

Its not the worst paid job in the world, but nor should it be.......

Peak time trains from Morley to Leeds would be carnage were it not for the guards organising the passengers to get as many people as possible on to the totally inadequate trains, and even then they don't always manage to get everybody on.

I know this from personal experience and I dread to think what the scenes on the train and the platform would be like if it wasn't for the work of the guards, and the passengers were left to have a free for all.

Until the trains are large enough and frequent enough to handle all the passengers in comfort, and passengers agree to stop falling ill and behave themselves on trains then a guard is essential and I can't thank them enough for the work that they do.

I think that always having their strikes on Saturday was totally unfair as it only hit the same passengers week after week, two of them being me and my son which made getting to games an absolute ball ache, and at times almost impossible for my son to get from Hull to Sheffield without him paying a fortune and having to travel via Leeds.

The dispute could have been much shorter if the strike days had disrupted the working week and therefore affected much greater passenger numbers but it's done now, just as I was beginning to think that the guards were only actually after enjoying their long weekends, and our Saturdays can get back to normal.

 

[alcoblade]

In reality enough of us have bought into a brand of Darwinian divide-and-rule capitalism which prioritises the individual (Freeeeeeedom) at the expense of community, society, and the collective good. But the Wi-Fi is good.

If someone (with good Wi-Fi) working a *free* from a pension, *free* from holiday pay, *free* from sick pay job (or jobs) is looking on enviously or resentfully at the Guards, maybe they should consider their (a) life, (b) voting, and (c) reading choices - and perhaps take a looks their boss's accounts, because he's likely to be free from the "burden" of taxation.

Looks to me a lot like rail unions *and their members* have kept the idea of strength in numbers alive. You could say they are united.

The unions horribly abused their power in the 70s. And some of them at least really did need taking down. But let's not pretend what's replaced them is any better.

I don't blame the unions, or the people that are in them, one bit.

I just don't for a second buy that this isn't really job protectionism (Which I'd expect them to do) under a popular veil of other people's safety.

Some of the salaries involved are ludicrous for the job (not especially guards), and it's poorer people who end up funding it however unpalatable that sounds. This level of self preservation by the unions is exactly what they seem to hate the Tories for.

 

[Maidenhead]

I don't blame the unions, or the people that are in them, one bit.

I just don't for a second buy that this isn't really job protectionism (Which I'd expect them to do) under a popular veil of other people's safety.

Some of the salaries involved are ludicrous for the job (not especially guards), and it's poorer people who end up funding it however unpalatable that sounds. This level of self preservation by the unions is exactly what they seem to hate the Tories for.

The poorer people could always get a job as a guard (whilst they still have them)

I understand where you're coming from but the whole corporate world these days seems to involve a race to the bottom as far as employees are concerned.

Maybe we should be looking at improving the lot of the poor rather than trying to drag the better paid down to their level.