[Travel] Southern Fail - Strike tomorrow and Thursday

[Bozza]

Good on ASLEF for putting the customer first and getting back to work.

You would hope the basketcases at the RMT may decide to follow suit, but past form suggests that's unlikely alas.

 

[N17]

Carnage at London Bridge. Previous service was cancelled and his one is only two carriages. But at least it is running.

 

[Papa Lazarou]

Do you work for the BBC? Just mentioning Brexit in every single context even if it has nothing to do with the issue!

But it does. The Labour Party's spending plans only stand a chance of being deliverable if we don't activate Brexit.

 

[Napper]

So going by the vote to day the action was never about safety but about the pay rise that they wanted and have got. The original suggestions of 1 man operated trains still stays.

Shame on them

Was about the £ after all

 

[Hotchilidog]

ASLEF sell out passengers and their fellow rail workers. Divide and rule has been an effective tactic for many years and continues to be so. Victory for the DfT and Southern who can happily get on with destaffing the rail industry.

 

[Insel affe]

Do you not watch the news

What the fake news ?

 

[Insel affe]

Quality

On the day before rail strike over driver-only trains, RMT boss Mick Lynch travels to work... on driver-only train

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/tra...s-mick-lynch-travels-to-work-on-a3685096.html

 

[BensGrandad]

I'm not sure anyone is questioning the weak position of the current government, and at the next election they'll probably lose... but bearing in mind Corbyn's implicit support of Brexit, how will any future Govt pay for the re-nationalisation of the railways?

Edit to add: Mentioned Brexit as this will make it hard to raise any extra tax revenue for some time.

It is to be expected that a government will be struggling mid term that is usual and no indiction of how an election would pan out if they do not call one until the very last possible date. If they can produce a succesful Brexit it will change the picture competely.

 

[Insel affe]

It is to be expected that a government will be struggling mid term that is usual and no indiction of how an election would pan out if they do not call one until the very last possible date. If they can produce a succesful Brexit it will change the picture competely.

To be devils advocate here, it is hardly mid term now is it...

 

[Deadly Danson]

I'm ashamed to be part of Aslef and ashamed to be a train driver today. I can at least say with a clear conscience that I voted against the deal but clearly a vast majority of my colleagues have had enough of the dispute and wanted it all to be over. Whilst it may not have been totally about the money, there is no denying that it now looks like we rolled over because enough dough was flashed in front of our faces. Contrary to what many on here have claimed, for me it was about safety, it was about accessibility and it was about making sure everyone got to their destination with someone guaranteed to be there if they needed them or if the driver became incapacitated. It was never ever political for me (other than it was obviously the Tory government who were pushing it through but had it been Labour I would have been equally opposed) and I took absolutely no pleasure on the very few days we did strike from inconveniencing passengers. Make no mistake, although we've been doing this for a while, from today the railway is a less safe method of travel. It may not be today, tomorrow or even this year but at some point there will be a major incident directly attributable to DOO and to all those who have delighted in this news and have been willing this "modernisation" to go through, well let's hope it's not you or a loved one who's involved and I hope it's not me driving. I'm genuinely extremely upset today and I can only apologise to anyone who is in a wheelchair or who needs help getting onboard and to my conductor colleagues and to anyone travelling alone late at night who may feel insecure because I feel we've let you down.

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

Helps when you have a few mp's on your line that southern bend backwards to please.

Hardly.

 

[Ernest]

It is to be expected that a government will be struggling mid term that is usual and no indiction of how an election would pan out if they do not call one until the very last possible date. If they can produce a succesful Brexit it will change the picture competely.

It's only 5 months since the election, hardly mid term

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Those of you who think it was about money have fallen hook line and sinker for the Tory propaganda and the press.

Look at albionite's post on this thread.

https://nortr3nixy.nimpr.uk/showt...-STRIKE-details/page169&p=8195046#post8195046

 

[Springal]

Those of you who think it was about money have fallen hook line and sinker for the Tory propaganda and the press.

Look at albionite's post on this thread.

https://nortr3nixy.nimpr.uk/showt...-STRIKE-details/page169&p=8195046#post8195046

I still don't understand when the pay thing came in ? Surely the union realise it will be used against them to agree to such a MASSIVE payrise over a short period ?

 

[dazzer6666]

I'm ashamed to be part of Aslef and ashamed to be a train driver today. I can at least say with a clear conscience that I voted against the deal but clearly a vast majority of my colleagues have had enough of the dispute and wanted it all to be over. Whilst it may not have been totally about the money, there is no denying that it now looks like we rolled over because enough dough was flashed in front of our faces. Contrary to what many on here have claimed, for me it was about safety, it was about accessibility and it was about making sure everyone got to their destination with someone guaranteed to be there if they needed them or if the driver became incapacitated. It was never ever political for me (other than it was obviously the Tory government who were pushing it through but had it been Labour I would have been equally opposed) and I took absolutely no pleasure on the very few days we did strike from inconveniencing passengers. Make no mistake, although we've been doing this for a while, from today the railway is a less safe method of travel. It may not be today, tomorrow or even this year but at some point there will be a major incident directly attributable to DOO and to all those who have delighted in this news and have been willing this "modernisation" to go through, well let's hope it's not you or a loved one who's involved and I hope it's not me driving. I'm genuinely extremely upset today and I can only apologise to anyone who is in a wheelchair or who needs help getting onboard and to my conductor colleagues and to anyone travelling alone late at night who may feel insecure because I feel we've let you down.

Thanks for posting (again) - you've been open and honest throughout all this, and I for one have appreciated your insight (as a London commuter).

 

[Chicken Run]

Those of you who think it was about money have fallen hook line and sinker for the Tory propaganda and the press.

Look at albionite's post on this thread.

https://nortr3nixy.nimpr.uk/showt...-STRIKE-details/page169&p=8195046#post8195046

Only if you look at DD’s post!

 

[Hastings gull]

I'm ashamed to be part of Aslef and ashamed to be a train driver today. I can at least say with a clear conscience that I voted against the deal but clearly a vast majority of my colleagues have had enough of the dispute and wanted it all to be over. Whilst it may not have been totally about the money, there is no denying that it now looks like we rolled over because enough dough was flashed in front of our faces. Contrary to what many on here have claimed, for me it was about safety, it was about accessibility and it was about making sure everyone got to their destination with someone guaranteed to be there if they needed them or if the driver became incapacitated. It was never ever political for me (other than it was obviously the Tory government who were pushing it through but had it been Labour I would have been equally opposed) and I took absolutely no pleasure on the very few days we did strike from inconveniencing passengers. Make no mistake, although we've been doing this for a while, from today the railway is a less safe method of travel. It may not be today, tomorrow or even this year but at some point there will be a major incident directly attributable to DOO and to all those who have delighted in this news and have been willing this "modernisation" to go through, well let's hope it's not you or a loved one who's involved and I hope it's not me driving. I'm genuinely extremely upset today and I can only apologise to anyone who is in a wheelchair or who needs help getting onboard and to my conductor colleagues and to anyone travelling alone late at night who may feel insecure because I feel we've let you down.

Throughout this whole saga you have come out with dignity, if I may say so, and I don't wish to be condescending in the slightest. I don't doubt your personal sincerity for one moment, but it is the usual way that these things go. First there are the customary claims that the union is concerned about safety and the public, and that any action is being done on their behalf. Life, however, is not like that -disputes are invariably really only about jobs and money, and any help to the public is incidental. If the cameras have not been changed for the better, which you have mentioned in the past as the very least that needs doing, then inevitably your union runs the risk of the customers claiming " Amazing how safer cameras are when you pay people 28%." For the purist such as yourself, it is understandably a very sad day, but for an old cynic like I am,. this is just what I was expecting.

 

[Deadly Danson]

Throughout this whole saga you have come out with dignity, if I may say so, and I don't wish to be condescending in the slightest. I don't doubt your personal sincerity for one moment, but it is the usual way that these things go. First there are the customary claims that the union is concerned about safety and the public, and that any action is being done on their behalf. Life, however, is not like that -disputes are invariably really only about jobs and money, and any help to the public is incidental. If the cameras have not been changed for the better, which you have mentioned in the past as the very least that needs doing, then inevitably your union runs the risk of the customers claiming " Amazing how safer cameras are when you pay people 28%." For the purist such as yourself, it is understandably a very sad day, but for an old cynic like I am,. this is just what I was expecting.

Thanks - I don't disagree with much of that. For the record, part of the agreement is that new cameras will be fitted to all old stock starting now and indeed I believe the first one has been done. I do think the deal gets us a little closer to what was needed and listening to a few colleagues who voted for it, I don't think the money played that big a part for some, especially as the last pay offer was very similar and was rejected but the guarantees of an OBS on every train are so woolly and open to abuse that they count for nothing (the proof of this is that the "turn up and go" guarantee to anyone in a wheelchair is no longer there so clearly GTR are not that confident they will always be able to provide an OBS). I do think dispute fatigue played a role in the yes vote but you are right, to most people it does look awfully like - "screw safety, I'm taking my pay rise".

 

[Hastings gull]

Thanks - I don't disagree with much of that. For the record, part of the agreement is that new cameras will be fitted to all old stock starting now and indeed I believe the first one has been done. I do think the deal gets us a little closer to what was needed and listening to a few colleagues who voted for it, I don't think the money played that big a part for some, especially as the last pay offer was very similar and was rejected but the guarantees of an OBS on every train are so woolly and open to abuse that they count for nothing (the proof of this is that the "turn up and go" guarantee to anyone in a wheelchair is no longer there so clearly GTR are not that confident they will always be able to provide an OBS). I do think dispute fatigue played a role in the yes vote but you are right, to most people it does look awfully like - "screw safety, I'm taking my pay rise".

Thanks. for the record, though I have been critical of the union stance (not saying Southern rail are whiter than white) I do see what you are saying. If there is no cast-iron guarantee that an OBS will be on the train, I can see that that might be abused, and it certainly makes sense to have a second person aboard. But I also strongly suspect that if a train is standing at, say, Brighton station, and the OBS was delayed in Worthing for an hour, for example, the vast majority of passengers would say - go anyway. But as you say in an earlier post ,if that train then crashes and the driver is incapacitated . .

 

[Sirnormangall]

If the dispute was all about safety, why were 4000 fans left stranded at Falmer station when the trains were cancelled shortly before the end of the Villa match last year?