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Excellent, I have four A Level exams at my school in South Kensington during the proposed strike period. :mad:
 
Is there something like New York's Taylor Law that guards against said strikes? Something in the line of £1,000,000 per day fine for the union?
 
Btw where I say "I'm sure" it applies more to University exams, which have less regulation than A-levels so make sure you check.
 
But the response deal that LU gave the union is just as piss poor crap and I think even worse than the one the union is asking for.

That increase would not even keep up with inflation and would effectively be given them a 2%+ pay cut per year.

1% probably would in the medium term keep up with inflation, given that RPI is extremely negative as mortgage costs have plummeted for most people and CPI is also coming down fast. 2% this year would be better but during a time where people are losing jobs and getting pay freezes, 1% is better than nothing.
 
I think 1% is good for this year, but I have to admit the 0.5% in years 2-5 is quite ****, especially as inflation will have gone up by then (and it might go quite high - say 5-10% so we can inflate our way out of our debt).
 
I think 1% is good for this year, but I have to admit the 0.5% in years 2-5 is quite ****, especially as inflation will have gone up by then (and it might go quite high - say 5-10% so we can inflate our way out of our debt).

I was under the impression that it was 0.5% on top of the 1%. So 1.5% year one, 2% year two etc. Although re-reading it, it does seem like 0.5% per year which would be equivalent to significant pay cuts.
 
I don't think that's legal...

What isn't legal?

I can't believe these tube workers are so selfish..

I supported the firefighters when they were striking because they were genuinely underpaid but this is a joke.

Is it illegal to take a random sample of those striking and sack them, say take 20% of the strikers and sack them.

That's what I'd do to stop them.
 
I was under the impression that it was 0.5% on top of the 1%. So 1.5% year one, 2% year two etc. Although re-reading it, it does seem like 0.5% per year which would be equivalent to significant pay cuts.

WHATTTT?!!

What are you all talking about.. its 1% in the first year, then INFLATION +0.5% for the next four years. NOT A PAYCUT IN ANY TERMS.

This is outrageous!

I'm so angry right now.
 
Is it illegal to take a random sample of those striking and sack them, say take 20% of the strikers and sack them.


Yes, it would be highly illegal. LU would face a joint employment tribunal case that would, in all likelihood, run up costs into many millions and tribunal orders for reinstatement.

Tube strikes are a hazard of living in London. No big deal. And I don't think tube drivers are overpaid considering the shifts, the hazards, the responsibilities. £38k isn't an absurd amount of money for the job, especially when I think of some of my former colleagues and middle-managers who picked up more than that while failing upwards. Anyone who thinks they're on a cushy earner is welcome to swap careers.
 
Doesn't London have buses? They work quite well up here, though it's a completely different landscape and population density entirely.
 
Doesn't London have buses? They work quite well up here, though it's a completely different landscape and population density entirely.

I know it was a rhetorical question but buses are not a viable [standard] alternative by any means whatsoever. Bus routes are often complicated/inefficient going distances and they must travel on very traffic packed roads. Same goes for driving into London. Even if you can accept the congestion charge and spend the extra hours dealing with traffic, forget parking. It just doesn't work out. The tube is the best and only real choice for millions of people.
And they think because they can make things a misery for millions that this means they are entitled to bigger pay increases in a recession? Reminds me of this image:

worth.jpg


Their incessant striking is counter-productive. It seems like they strike over any old thing they don't like, and because of that, they aren't taken as seriously. News flash, LU, lots of people are not getting pay rises and some are even getting proper pay CUTS and some have lost jobs entirely. No one is entirely exempt from troubles of a recession.

I think not having larger pay increases is better compromise than losing more jobs. I know things may be different from an inside perspective (hey, I want to work at the LU, sounds like they've got it pretty good actually) but from where I stand, sometimes I wonder if they're looking at the bigger picture.


(BTW, I am not directing this grumpy post at you, jimmi, just the situation in general but launched from a response to the bus question.)
 
Around £38,000, I agree vastly overpaid.

Whenever I hear Bob Crowe speak I wish I had gaffa tape .
£38k! I've been in IT for 10 years, I'm looking for a job as my contract ends soon and I'm looking at taking a £5k paycut just to keep myself in a job!
 
At least you don't have to work in a cave!
I have the joy of working in the basement, I only see natural light at lunchtime and when I leave. I must try and find a job where IT ARE allowed natural light :)
Hmm, maybe I should become a tube driver. I'd get a payrise and an extra 10+ days holiday a year :p
 
To be honest, I'm appalled that anyone would actually suggest this.

As am I. Personally I'd make it nearer 100%.

Ok, perhaps, I'm not totally serious about that. I can accept that the right to strike is important. But with that right comes responsibility. And the RMT prove year after year (many years more than once) that they can only act irresponsibly.

It's perfectly simple for us to make a tube that requires far fewer staff. The drivers are basically not needed now as it is. We could all pay less for our tickets, have a more reliable service and not have to endure as many strikes if we simply turned on all the automation that the system already has built in. If the workers wish to continue having jobs I suggest they consider compromise, realism and common sense to be their best options, not ridiculous demands, holding the city to ransom and complete stubbornness as the way forward.
 
It's perfectly simple for us to make a tube that requires far fewer staff. The drivers are basically not needed now as it is.


Really? The London Underground carries more passengers each day than the entire British rail network. And you think that it's a simple matter of automating it, let alone leaving many thousands of passengers underground without human overview at any given point in time?

Someone faints from the heat in the train, another decides to jump on the tracks, the train needs some basic maintenance, signals stop working and trains have to be managed across sections manually, workers on the tracks... etc.

Utterly absurd.
 
If automating the system that simple, why hasn't it been done yet? And how much would implementing and maintaining such a system actually cost? I'd wager it might be a bit more than the pay rise the workers are demanding...
 
Really? The London Underground carries more passengers each day than the entire British rail network. And you think that it's a simple matter of automating it, let alone leaving many thousands of passengers underground without human overview at any given point in time?

Someone faints from the heat in the train, another decides to jump on the tracks, the train needs some basic maintenance, signals stop working and trains have to be managed across sections manually, workers on the tracks... etc.

Utterly absurd.

In those first two situations I don't believe the driver will make any difference. I have also never seen a driver perform any sort of maintenance on a train in service; I have no idea if they are capable or even allowed to do so but I'd be very surprised if they are.

Many train systems around the world manage to operate without drivers. The Tube was, in fact, the first such system deployed anywhere in the world with the Victoria Line having ATO since 1968. These can include underground lines. Wikipedia suggests that the North East MRT Line in Singapore operates (successfully) for 20km underground with absolutely no on-board human intervention.

So, in short, it's not absurd in the slightest.

If automating the system that simple, why hasn't it been done yet? And how much would implementing and maintaining such a system actually cost? I'd wager it might be a bit more than the pay rise the workers are demanding...

Parts of the tube are already capable (ignore the DLR which already runs driverless; when I first moved to London it ran without PSAs to close the doors too). The only thing (I have been told) preventing it being fully implemented is the Union threat of strike if this modernisation is completed.
 
To be honest, I'm appalled that anyone would actually suggest this.

Why, because you think its reasonable that they demand inflation + 0.5% pay increase for the next 5 years when the country is crippled by debt and a massive blackhole in the public finances.

When unemployment is still rising, people are losing their homes, YOU think that the underground staff and unions have a right to this sort of pay increase.

They should be not allowed to strike, if they strike they should lose their jobs, and Bob Crow should shut the **** up, I wonder how much he is paid a year while he claims to be a 'werkinn clarseee meeeaaaan'.
 
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