My opinion is that their union seems to be one of the very few left with any teeth at all.
More industries should have unions which can wield the power they do.
First I’ve heard of it.
lets see:
"The drivers have not had a pay increase for five years and first balloted for strike action in June 2022.
Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan said: “Since then train drivers have voted, again and again, to take action to get a pay rise.
“It is now a year since we sat in a room with the train companies – and a year since we rejected the risible offer they made which they admitted, privately, was designed to be rejected.”
Strikes will take place on Tuesday May 7 and Thursday May 9. An overtime ban runs from May 6-11.
The drivers have held 14 days of strike action since the dispute began.
The government will use taxpayers’ money to compensate operators for lost profits."
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/aslef-announce-fresh-train-strikes-pay-row
Sounds reasonable tbh.
I didnt know they havent got any pay increase for 2 years, kinda make sense now ig
It’s not two years. It’s five years and they voted on whether to strike two years ago.
Very dangerous. When a train in motion strikes an object, severe damage will occur.
The strikes hurt the wrong people. In fact, not running the trains actually saves money for the company.
So to hurt the right people, they should publicly announce that the service will run as usual but no tickets will be checked that day whatsoever.
I can’t remember the term for that type of strike but I believe it was outlawed under Thatcher.
Not running the trains should hurt the company’s reputation though. But the problem is that due to decades of propaganda, the companies have successfully managed to convince the public that train unions go on strike for frivolous reasons, or even just to get some time off. At least that’s the issue here in France.
Also idk about UK law but in France, the employees refusing to check tickets would be committing a crime, and we already have better laws regarding rights to strike than most of Europe…
I think they would do that if they could - my understanding is that kind of action is illegal. This is ultimately the result of legislating against all other forms of protest.
What…? Stinking is legal, what you say would be sabotage at least, extortion at worse.
The ticket inspectors are allowed to strike—the drivers don’t have to as well
The train guards are the ones who check the tickets, do the announcements etc. the drivers went on strike a few years ago (and maybe partially now too?) to stop them being fired. They can’t run trains without them.
If the law is anything like what we have in France, the inspectors are indeed allowed to strike. Which means, not showing up to work. If they are not striking they have to do their job.
And refusing to inspect tickets in this situation would be grounds for termination for “serious misconduct”, because it’s an explicit breach of their contract, and also a crime if the company says it has cost them more than 1000€ (not sure about the sum but you get the idea) because it would be considered as defrauding the company
It’s the drivers who are striking.
I personally don’t think anyone should hit another person with a train.
These affected my commute to work, but I support people striking as I would want the same support if I ever needed to strike.
Personal opinion:
I love trains, but not having train services every other weekend pisses me off.
“Aslef, the train drivers’ union, said it is seeking better pay for its members and claimed drivers are being asked to sacrifice working conditions in exchange for a wage increase.” Say that to a tube driver, he’ll land a really good punch on your face.
They got better pay than a tube driver, and a much more pleasant working environment (especially tne part where the background noise is less than 80dB), I don’t really see what’s their argument.
The tube drivers can go fuck themselves. Ask the child laborers who dig up sulfur with their bare hands in an active volcano!
There’s always someone worse off. That doesn’t mean the second-to-last doesn’t deserve better.
Maybe the tube drivers should strike too then?
They are, regularly. Not sure why the above guy thinks they’re happy.
There is always someone who is worse off, so never do something about you own situation. Makes sense.
We need to make a list of all the problems in the world from biggest to smallest and we’ll only work on Item 2 when Item 1 is resolved.
Say that to a tube driver, he’ll land a really good punch on your face.
The tube drivers, who famously never go on strike.
