The Tube Drivers Strike.

[cappy]

I would like to ask one question with regard to the train drivers strike, where are we all getting our information from ?, i suspect most of us from the newspapers, which is suspect, or government spokesmen, again suspect ,. I would love to hear from the train driver himself, not the Union Rep. I know from my experience no man throws wages away when he has wife, kids and mortgages etc. I suspect if we spoke to the driver himself we might gain a better insight. Just my opinion KT

####on the tyne before the unions nacked the shipyards and shipbuilding it was a frightening scene if a strike was called and your hand was not put up ....a tv series of the 40s and50s showed what power the unions had when they controlled the labour market .....WHEN THE BOAT COMES IN was the start of big union power which slowly strangled the tyne work.....and all the other yards round the country .....we had the best shipbuilders in the world and the best workers but then ....work to rule all working at the level of thev slowest or most idle worker .....but getting the wage for a good hardworking man .......the unions are there own worst enemy ...because they are run by zealots and ruled by dogma .....ie ah the poor tube worker .....lucky to have a job i say.....created by ambition not dogma......which is the reason the unions are going ....strangling themselves....regards cappy

[j.sabourn]

Remember those years, also the years of the so called Brain Drain put out by the media about our so called brains of the country being lured to America for the almighty dollar. Years later I had course to work for an American company, and they are hard task masters, the average American had to have at least two jobs to provide sufficient money for bringing up a family, the shipping side of the American pay salary was nowhere near as good as the Australian seamens take home pay, so I assume a lot of what people saw on the media at the time was taken direct from some Hollywood script. We had American skippers working in the North Sea on British salaries content just to be earning, so all the big talk about big American money is just that. I earned more US dollars working for non American companies. All swings and roundabouts. As regards unions I have always had an open mind and as far as the media goes which is in itself not renown for its infallible truth and are by nature anti-union I also have an open mind. The only people who know the full story are those striking and it is their views that count. However by all accounts of the press mainly they are suppressed from talking, I would suggest such reporters should have mingled with the same at the working mens clubs to gain the main feeling of the workers on strike. Maybe they weren't affiliated and couldnt gain admittance. Cheers John S

[vic mcclymont]

It was the same on the Clyde, Cappy, Union power ruined sped the decline of the yards.
In the fifties and sixties the shipyard workers would go at least once month to pay their dues, and listen to what most regarded as drivel from the shop stewards.
At that time the pubs closed at 10:00 o'clock in Scotland and most me would leave early in order to get a few pints.
The number of times when they have returned to work on a Monday to be informed that they were going on strike was very high.
The decision was taken after the majority of men had left the meeting leaving only the hard line shop stewards to vote.
The stewards had their heavies who helped them to rule.

[Captain Kong]

In the US the average yearly holiday is Two Weeks, When my son was a Doctor in San Diego, Cal. that is all he got.

from google..............

◾Workers in the US are given an average of nine days of paid leave and six paid public holidays (2006 figures)
.
The Average British Worker works 150 hours a year less than an American worker.

So the Brits have it a lot easier than the Americans.
Brian

[Red Lead Ted]

This is one thread I regret I missed and I would just like to throw my penny's worth in, The tube drivers may be well paid quite possibly not much in the basic pay between them and our M P s as in basic wage, But I would like to add as someone who worked on the local railway here in Liverpool as a train guard for a couple of years, Just like the tube drivers these guys are on rotating shifts early and late a week about. They are given a rest day not asked what day they want off but told as so every driver gets a weekend every few weeks with his family don't forget the trains don't stop Friday to Monday like most jobs. If you think about it lets say they start there early turns on a Monday 4 to 5 am............They will have finished there late turn the previous week 12 midnight or later on the Sunday morning, If they start there late turn Sunday evening lets say 5pm they will have finished there early turn Saturday morning maybe 1 to 4 pm. Most of them would have worked there rest day because of driver sickness or whatever so in effect they are never away from the job it was the same when my old man got me a job on the Liverpool northern line here in Liverpool when I finished working in London after the sea for a few years. I don't think you will find a job anywhere in the country with such unsociable hours the same as that. Now love them or hate them they have a strong union, They do a job that you cant just replace overnight because its a very unique position to hold and takes years to learn. And without causing a storm if our M P s can take a £6,000 + a year pay rise can you blame them, Been there and done it Terry

[Des Taff Jenkins]

HI All.
One way to get rid of all the strife is to pass a law that all wages are tied to MPs wages
Cheers Des

[happy daze john in oz]

Annual holiday in Oz 4 weeks some with leave loading still. That is an additional 17.5% on top of your pay. 11 public holidays per year and they want more. Japan one weeks leave per year.

Now to our transport threatened strike. They now want a 3% pay rise per year for the next three which is 9.27% compounded which is high with inflation at about 1.8% They also want free travel for ALL family members!

[Ivan Cloherty]

cannot stand all this bleating about workers being entitled to a 'family life', its a bluddy job for gawds sake, get on with it, you chose it, you knew the limitations when you aspired to it. Are not seamen entitled to a 'family life' they don't get one but that's the job they chose and they get on with it, so I have no sympathy for any of these bleaters, to give your family what you want to give them you have to make sacrifices, if you don't like your job or feel you are underpaid, then give it to someone who will appreciate it, stop bluddy bleating, get on with it and thank your lucky stars you've got a job. I can understand employers wanting to automate everything when humans start to think they are entitled to everything under the sun with less and less effort.

[cappy]

well ivan i couldnt agree more to much bleeding moaning if you dont like it get out .....the money i earned at sea would not have kept me in anything except a poor position in life i got out .....i loved the life and the job .......but the future for me was zilch at sea.......but i then remember and knew our wonderfull president mr slater from shields a self confessed communist.....telling me 200 pounds a week lad i can get you that ..that was in 1959 .......by 69 the fleet had halved......by 79 almost gone.....him never went further than to london and back on a collier.......unions a goood idea the the r soles that end running them a different matter......one of my mates recently passed away a burner in the shipyards .....told me when hands up to support the motion for strike action was called for ......you nearly crapped yourself if your mate held your arm down.......as everyone around you moved quickly away so the bully boys new who you were .....that was fear and intimidation the same in the miners strike in or out for ever .....ther own members who refused to strike getting filled in......well thats not my idea of a free country or a union ......cappy non union ....make my own decisions

[John Arton]

Cappy
Those bully boy tactics were the main reason why a certain M. Thatcher brought in the secret ballot law, to prevent such bullying tactics. A vote has to have a greater than 50% majority to make a strike legal these days, though I am no expert on employment law, I believe that is the case.
rgds
JA