Christmas Strikes.

[gulliver1]

Strikes in store for us, Railways, Tube Trains, Airlines, Baggage handlers,
Post Office, Argos drivers . How can this Muppet Government of Cons,
organise Brexit when they can not sort this lot out? thank god they are not organising the xmas party at the Brewery!.

[Jackdaw33]

I remember the Winter of Discontent. I got 6 weeks' extra paid holiday as my school was closed. By the way, all this happened on Labour's watch, which paved the way for Thatcher.

[Islay]

Naomi do you give out such personal information? No yet we have to accept your points.

[weecalf]

Strike when it more noticed. no good oil delivery men striking during a heatwave or ice cream sales being disrupted during winter . I blame the BBC no sooner is the awful scd over than we have the awful black slapping I'm play and get well paid for being lucky enough to do what I'm not all that good at but was born on these shores .

[ToraToraTora]

gulliver? gulliver? where are you hiding? come out, I'll go easy! PMSL!

[ToraToraTora]

yes JD bang on, TGL was indeed a product of the unions.

[Kromovaracun]

There are families who are relying on these flights to be together over Christmas.

I am usually sympathetic to strikers and I do not share the instinctive hostility to unions which some have. But this is a particularly selfish and callous time to call a strike.

[whiskeryron]

I say thank the lord for unions,without them your masters would do what they like with you & then you would really see misery. Get the facts, the strikes are caused by businessmen who are determined to impose their will on the workers whatever the cost. So you are being inconvenienced a little at the moment, hard luck, try being in the shoes of someone whose boss wants to alter the rules to suit himself & putting your job on the line.

[Baldric]

What a load of cobblers!

[whiskeryron]

You are entitled to your opinion Balders but why involve a group of shoe repairers ?

[Jackdaw33]

Cobblers is a euphemism meaning testicles. It is rhyming slang, cobblers' awls, rhyming with balls.

[Gromit]

Why would the train operator be in a hurry to sort out the strike, when it is the taxpayer who loses the revenue. The Government pay the company whether there are passengers or not, the loss of fares due to strikes is borne by us taxpayers.

[whiskeryron]

Or even Orchestra Stalls, Jacobs Cream Crackers to name but a few.

[whiskeryron]

Are you mistakenly thinking of British Rail ?

[Gromit]

No.
The Government wrote a bonkers franchise to run the strike affected routes.

All the fares go to the Department of Transport not the train operating company. So strikes and loss of passengers does not affect the company's profits.

They are given nearly £1.9Billion of taxpayer money as a flat fee. Any loss of fares due to their appalling service, is a loss to the taxpayer.

One might conclude that such a daft contract is the work of an incompetent Government.

[New Judge]

“…misery! bit strong no one is going to die from Argos drivers not delivering a package, or the trains not running a couple of days. “

I agree with the first example. But the second needs a bit of thought. The Southern trains dispute has been ongoing for many, many months. During that time people have suffered enormous difficulties principally with getting to and from work, but also up to London for hospital appointments and other urgent affairs. Some people have had to change jobs, others have had to decline job offers. For most of them there is no realistic alternative but to travel by train. For them “misery” is a perfectly appropriate description especially when coupled with the fact that many season ticket holders pay upwards of £5k per annum for this misery to be inflicted upon them and, most importantly, the dispute is totally unnecessary. There is no reason why Southern train drivers cannot control the doors on their trains as is the case with around 40% of the network – including parts of the busy commuter network into London where circumstances are almost identical.

[Kromovaracun]

Whiskeyron

I did say I wasn't hostile to unions. I'm not. As you say, they have a valuable role in protecting workplace rights.

But I think extending this strike action over the holidays is wrong.

[ToraToraTora]

anyone seen gulliver?

[Orderlimit]

RMT president Sean Hoyle's
"He spoke after the RMT's president reportedly said his union and others were co-ordinating strikes to hurt the "working class-hating Tory government"

According to the Sunday Times, Mr Hoyle said the union's "number one rule" should be to "strike to replace the capitalist system with a socialist order".

"Mr Hoyle also reportedly referred to a previous story which suggested the RMT and other unions were "co-ordinating to bring the government down", responding: "Shock horror. Guess what? We are."

[mushroom25]

the rail unions (and others) may well be working toward the downfall of the present government, and co-ordinated strike action may well create a climate where votes of no confidence in the commons could well succeed. but it's a bit naïve of them the assume that this would naturally lead to the election of a left-wing government.

[naomi24]

Islay, // Naomi do you give out such personal information? //

Personal information? What, like the difficulties of commuting long distances during times of disruption? Get real, Islay.

//No yet we have to accept your points. //

No one has to accept my points. You are free to disagree.