The Labour Government

[bluenova]

I hope Labour don’t think being tough on immigration will win them votes…

Labour ideally have to make it a non-story, rather than doing anything draconian.

The Tories let net migration rise so far above the average that bringing it down was always going to happen, and is a very easy thing to do, even without any actual tough actions.

They also tried to make asylum the issue, slowing down the claims, and towards the end pretty much stopped making decisions at all. If claims are dealt with quickly, the overall costs come down dramatically, and it becomes much less of a political issue.

 

[hampshireblue]

If working conditions are bad surely they’d want to organise? But I do take your point. Part of the issue might be you walk in to an already unionised organisation it’s easier to join and organise versus trying to set one up from scratch.

Assuming your son-in-laws approach of voting with his feet was more likely than striking in the private sector I did a little check to see what turnover rates were like between the two - you’re almost twice as likely to leave a public sector job than private sector which may suggest employees are happier in the private sector.

Strike less,
Less likely to leave.

Yes there are shit managers as well.

Well the stats I saw showed it to be around 11% churn for private sector against 15% for public sector. I think it goes to show that the "social contract" that public employees have traditionally enjoyed eg. good pension for a reduced salary, has diminished somewhat. Also a more fluid labour market where a job for life is a thing of the past.

 

[BayernMan]

Labour ideally have to make it a non-story, rather than doing anything draconian.

The Tories let net migration rise so far above the average that bringing it down was always going to happen, and is a very easy thing to do, even without any actual tough actions.

They also tried to make asylum the issue, slowing down the claims, and towards the end pretty much stopped making decisions at all. If claims are dealt with quickly, the overall costs come down dramatically, and it becomes much less of a political issue.

The tough talk and saber rattling about immigration only benefits the right wing. They want immigrants to be seen as a zero sum game that requires draconian actions. Yet I’ve yet to hear an alternative from Labour that isn’t essentially reform/tory lite. Unfortunately this isn’t a weakness Labour has but exists across many parts of the world rn.

 

[Vic]

Surely platforms are a standard height? Or are we simply talking millimetres? And they can be adjusted to all be the same?

if that is really a thing, and I’ve no reason to doubt you as you know your stuff on railways, then I’m am stunned. Surprised? No, stunned? yes.

Platforms? Different heights goes back before 1948 nationalisation. This is trains that can't rescue another because couplers are at different heights.

https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/why-do-so-many-trains-have-incompatible-coupling-systems.218102/

I'll check the new one I heard about, but companies have had to have "Thunderbird" locos stationed at various places to rescue failed trains, with adaptable couplers.

BR "standard" locos were designed by R A Riddles, largely based on LMS designs, but using standard components so you didn't need separate stock for each design.

The main deviation came with diesels, when every region went for diesel-electric, except the Western Region which went for diesels with hydraulic transmission. But you could still couple them together. This "AI generated" story must have been written by a Western Region AI system: "The mechanical skills required for maintaining hydraulic transmission are more similar to those available in the mechanical sector. This made diesel-hydraulics more appealing than diesel-electrics in Britain, which would have required a new discipline of electrical engineering."

 

[BlueHammer85]

It’s impossible. You can’t outdo Reform on immigration. Given the choice between the diet version and the real version people will always choose the latter.

Bring small boat crossing down on numbers each year and that’s a huge win.

 

[Vic]

UK fishing boats short of crews since Brexit and need for visas. Self-harm again.

 

[metalblue]

Platforms? Different heights goes back before 1948 nationalisation. This is trains that can't rescue another because couplers are at different heights.

https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/why-do-so-many-trains-have-incompatible-coupling-systems.218102/

I'll check the new one I heard about, but companies have had to have "Thunderbird" locos stationed at various places to rescue failed trains, with adaptable couplers.

BR "standard" locos were designed by R A Riddles, largely based on LMS designs, but using standard components so you didn't need separate stock for each design.

The main deviation came with diesels, when every region went for diesel-electric, except the Western Region which went for diesels with hydraulic transmission. But you could still couple them together. This "AI generated" story must have been written by a Western Region AI system: "The mechanical skills required for maintaining hydraulic transmission are more similar to those available in the mechanical sector. This made diesel-hydraulics more appealing than diesel-electrics in Britain, which would have required a new discipline of electrical engineering."

Cheers, very interesting read that

 

[Kompany Car]

Well the stats I saw showed it to be around 11% churn for private sector against 15% for public sector. I think it goes to show that the "social contract" that public employees have traditionally enjoyed eg. good pension for a reduced salary, has diminished somewhat. Also a more fluid labour market where a job for life is a thing of the past.

Some of this will inevitably be due to people struggling to get on the housing ladder.

The public sector does offer good training and security, better than the private sector but if you can’t afford to put a deposit down or pay the rent on a house what’s the point of having a good pension when you’re 67 (or older if they keep raising the bar), might as well leave and get a pay rise.

On the other side of the coin I know a number of people in their early 50s who have left the private sector and are now enjoying their time in the public sector as it’s less stressful and a bit (often frustratingly) slower paced.

 

[metalblue]

Well the stats I saw showed it to be around 11% churn for private sector against 15% for public sector. I think it goes to show that the "social contract" that public employees have traditionally enjoyed eg. good pension for a reduced salary, has diminished somewhat. Also a more fluid labour market where a job for life is a thing of the past.

I thought a bit more about this and my thoughts are if a nurse leaves one role and joins another role at a different trust that would be seen in the stats so I’m not entirely sure how useful a metric it is or isn’t and it’s too late in the day for my brain to work on it anymore!!

 

[metalblue]

Careful with those stats.

Is an internal transfer within the public sector counted as turnover?

And if turnover in the public sector is so high, those gold-plated pensions can't be that good.

Ah yes just seen this, my thoughts as per my post above. Particularly in things like nursing and teaching type roles where you still work for the same employer