Do you support the RMT?

[MillionMilesAway]

He said it would have been hypocritical of him to accept it given how his business and staff had been so negatively impacted by it. He states he told them he supported their right to strike and wished them well in their aims.

It’s a strange hill to chose to die on of that there is no doubt.

Thanks.
That is a bit strange certainly - "I'm happy for you to strike but I'm unhappy that it's causing trouble".

The response from the unions feels a bit disproportionate, so I wonder what words he used to them!

 

[metalblue]

I’d say it is freedom of opinion, but not freedom from consequence. You can’t have it both ways.

Hmmmm… interesting point, I’ll let that sink in for a bit.

 

[Blue Maverick]

Or retrain as train crew. There's a shortage, you know.

You know what mate in the past 6/7 years loads have left to do exactly that, I believe lots leave the police as well.

 

[Blue Maverick]

I’m not really sure what your argument is here, or whether there’s an argument at all and you’re just having a pop, which is fine I suppose.

Are you suggesting that train workers shouldn’t do overtime, or shouldn’t have to do overtime, or that I’m slagging them off for doing overtime? Lots of people do overtime in all sorts of sectors, often because they want to, or more likely because they need the money. Not sure what makes the rail sector a special case, and I’m not really into telling people how to their lives. I’ll leave that bit to you but I do know that rail workers are relatively well paid because I look at the data. I also know that the recent strike action will have caused people to lose earnings, whether they could afford it or not.

The data also show that 1.25 million people in the UK have two or more jobs, up by around 90k over the past year, which is a lot and I’m probably safe in assuming that most of these people - from all parts of the economy, public and private - are doing so out of necessity rather than preference.

I’m not dismissing pressures in the public sector or disputing the fact that nurses work hard. I’m simply highlighting that the majority of workers in the private sector are facing similar difficulties at the moment, are struggling to make ends meet, having to work extra hours and many won’t be receiving any pay increases at all. So your posts this morning, which suggested that private sector workers should pay for large pay increases in the public sector (and of course RMT and ASLEF union members), is overly simplistic in my view. Believe it or not, not everybody in the private sector goes to work in a pinstripe suit and a bowler hat, so you might want to think about how the pay rises are going to be funded.

It’s not just about pay though is it, it’s an erosion of their contracts they signed upto, modernisation (cuts) you never get a better service but you do get better profits. No one batted an eye lid when billions were given away to the private sector to keep peoples jobs in lockdown, yet those public workers carried on working they didn’t get any free money. Maybe we should ask for all that to be paid back so they can have a pay rise, short memories but I suppose the hand clapping will feed them!

 

[joe123]

Hmmmm… interesting point, I’ll let that sink in for a bit.

I do get your point and I’d say I’m probably of the mindset that this episode is fine as it’s a rare occasion that the unions get a “win” as opposed to losing battles against their bosses/the govt.

In an ideal world they wouldn’t be lashing out against a small business, I think that’s fair to say. I guess industrial action is a very emotive time for those involved (he says from his cushy marketing desk job…)

 

[Brewster's millions]

It’s not just about pay though is it, it’s an erosion of their contracts they signed upto, modernisation (cuts) you never get a better service but you do get better profits. No one batted an eye lid when billions were given away to the private sector to keep peoples jobs in lockdown, yet those public workers carried on working they didn’t get any free money. Maybe we should ask for all that to be paid back so they can have a pay rise, short memories but I suppose the hand clapping will feed them!

I don’t disagree with you regarding the furlough money - it will obviously never be properly repaid but maybe recipients of furlough should have had a different tax code post-pandemic where they pay a bit more for a couple of years, and vice versa for people who kept working throughout. I think that would have been a bit fairer.

 

[Blue Maverick]

I don’t disagree with you regarding the furlough money - it will obviously never be properly repaid but maybe recipients of furlough should have had a different tax code post-pandemic where they pay a bit more for a couple of years, and vice versa for people who kept working throughout. I think that would have been a bit fairer.

At least we can agree on something although I’m not advocating those who worked should pay less, I just think that the handclap is an insult now.

 

[MillionMilesAway]

At least we can agree on something although I’m not advocating those who worked should pay less, I just think that the handclap is an insult now.

Something that is easy to spot by the number of times it is referred to in political cartoons.

 

[Mike Brock]

Does anyone know what the Strikers get paid while on Strike off the unions? I know there's a Hardship fund of some sort. I know it's not a lot and enough to cover expenses etc?

Fuck all mate

 

[Vic]

I think you’ve got completely the wrong end of the stick to be honest. I will try to explain, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to.

The post you’ve latched onto was my response to somebody talking about public and private sectors in very clear cut terms. In my post I argued that it was overly simplistic to suggest that private sector workers are currently all in a better financial situation than public sector workers. I used a hypothetical, exaggerated argument to make my point. So you quoting bits of text, all out of context, isn’t really going to work.

And ‘rising inflation’ is not a tautology. You seem to be confusing the price level and rates of change. Inflation describes a rise in the price level. But rising inflation relates to the second derivative, that is a rising rate of change in the price level. Inflation can rise or fall, but is nearly always positive. So the current problems relate to rising inflation, not inflation per se.

So essentially you were putting words in someone else's mouth.

It was stll nonsense. Public sector workers pay for private pay rises (have you seen the increase in bus driver's pay), not just vice versa.

And of course "rising inflation" is a tautology. Now if you'd said "rising rate of inflation"...