rail unions

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Hi Marian.
I remember while I was waiting to emigrate to NZ. I had just paid off a small coaster and didn't want another ship in case I missed my passage on the Southern Cross, I had never been unemployed, but went into the labour exchange in Middlesbrough there was a bloke there who was about 40, he said he had never had a job, was married four kids, been on the dole all his life HOW? When I went to the counter the bloke said you are not entitled to any dole money, I said ok I'll get a job, he said it will have to be through me. My brother-in-law got me a job in the ICI painting, I had to get a card or something from the labour exchange, when i went in to see the bloke he was ropeable but he had no option but to give me a card.
Cheers Des

[j.sabourn]

#113 Des a bit similar to me, I was working for Vector offshore at the time as were a new company just starting up. If you haven't already noticed I tend to advice new comers on wanting to go to sea in a market where there are few ships, to apply to them. They were at the time 1991 paying more than some of the cowboys in the North Sea. With them you got if remember then 2 weeks off with pay for every 4 weeks on, the cowboys were given about 4 days off after 4 weeks at sea. We were very close to leaving the UK and had to be out and in Australia before a certain date, or had to restart the process all over again. My wife thought she was doing me a good turn by phoning the company and telling them she wouldn't be at home and I could do another 4 weeks staring at a blank canvas. I was fuming as 4 weeks was enough in winter time for anyone. Any how got home and was home for about 2 days and got a call to join a small survey vessel for a short period of time, off the books and records and offered 95 pounds a day in hand which I took, and this paid all our expenses when we came to fly out shortly after. I was 4 weeks without work out here as had to get clearance via the union or Guild as described out here, before going back to work on the 1st December. So can say I was never off pay really. I was lucky as have heard stories of others who were stopped in various trades by unions. On arriving Australia our total cash was about 3000 dollars nobody would give you credit as didn't have a credit rating. 6 months later they were offering it on a silver platter. Cheers JS

[j.sabourn]

Marian re #112, have just made up a good repartee or saying to, although sounds familiar so maybe someone else made up... "If we look to the past, there will always be a future". Or in other words the past always catches up with you. Cheers JS

[john sutton]

Brian this is the real world.A person is told by the Job Centre to go to one of these places to work,no I am not going to work in a place like that.!!!which you say they should do, Fine says the Job Centre you are sanctioned for three months,no benefits of any kind for three months so it's the Food Bank for you.
Regards.
Jim.B.

jim.dont people know that it,s easier to get a job if you have one already.When I returned to the UK I went from a salesmans job to filling oil cans at esso in barton while looking for another sales job which I got on half the income of my previous sales job but it was a step up the ladder.I wouldn't have got that job if I,d been unemployed.
The secret is,take a crap job until something better comes along.Both my kids had the attitude.My son started aas apicker in a kitchen company then progessed on and then took a job as a salesman selling insurance(I wouldn't let him work for me until he,d learned the hard way)He started working for me on commission until he took over the business.The business is 10 times bigger than it was when he took over and he now has a million pound home and a weekend cottage on Anglesey and a 35ft sailing yacht on the menia straights.
He,s worked hard and taken chances by borrowing money to do deals and he is one of the people that the unions and corbyns lot want to pull down.My daughter is in a similar stuation as she got a law degree in her spare time and company secretary,s degree also in her spare time and now has a job that gives her a very nice lifestyle for which she puts in 10 to 14 hours a day.She is one of the people that the rail unions would like to screw up as she commutes into London.

[Captain Kong]

I see that the Union Bosses are threatening a winter of Strikes to bring down our Democratically Elected Government.

So far I think there are rail strikes, Post Office strikes, Airport workers strikes, B,A. Cabin crew strikes and so on.

Is Len McCluskey. of UNITE so stupid???? We are in Brexit, we need International Companies to Invest in Britain so that will bring more jobs to Britain, They will not Invest knowing they will lose their investment by employees Striking. He looks a Stupid man, now I know he is a Stupid man,
He has just taken £400,000 out of UNITE`S `Funds to buy £700,000 apartment for him and his new partner in London,. Those Funds are payments to the Union from Low Paid Workers. Good Socialist is Len.
And the daft thing is, so many people still think he is Mr Wonderful.
Can anyone here tell me why they want to support someone who is threatening to close down Industry, lose jobs for his political ends??
B.A. is not British anymore, it is part of IAG based in Spain. and includes several international airlines, So they could easily close down B.A. and everyone there, Thousands Redundant. I am a Shareholder in B.A. so I know how a strike could easily lose the Company, Its Headquarters are in Spain so it would not take long for them to close down B.A.
The Cabin crew don't mind being on Strike over Christmas as the ones who would be away, will be Home for Christmas and the ones who are away will spend Christmas in hotels in Barbados, Hawaii, Sydney, so they are happy. But Not Happy when The Spanish close down B..A.

As Shakespear once said,....... "What Fools These Mortals Be"
Brian

[j.sabourn]

That John is very similar to the British Merchant Navy. I did the best part of five years in supply and anchor handling ships in the North Sea and was well paid, and got home frequently. Come the crash and ships laid up was able to get a job on a stand by boat eventually on about one third of the conditions. In fact regular deep sea people would be loathe to accept such conditions, I was lucky and had a few deep sea ex engineers. However it was that or the dole, which was almost as good as what the pay was on these ships. They were non union vessels and union reps were sometime physically removed by the owners i.e. the shore people representing the NUS. I have as said have an open mind about unions, and can see and have been on both sides of the fence. Ideally the union belongs to the workers, unfortuanetly there is a certain type of person(s) who see it as a better way to higher things. In fact most unions are corrupt but there again so are most of the employers. It all comes back to morals or the lack of them. JS

[Jim Brady]

John #116 my reply was to Brian who said people should refuse to work in JD Sports and Sports Direct I was explaining the situation what would happen to them if they refused to take a job,I did not advocate that they should not take the job.I believe things are so bad in both companies that Job Centres are refusing to recruit for them until conditions improve.
Regards.
Jim.B.

Sorry John just realised maybe you were referring to me packing in Courtaulds,no problem packing that place in dept I was in had a turnover of 75%.We worked continuous shifts as it happened our shift was on nights right over the Xmas and New Year holiday 10pm till 7am Christmas Eve, Christmas night, Boxing Night and New Years Eve and night.I fell through I think it was Boxing Night shift so was before management,told if I was as much as three minutes late in future I would be up the road.Never been late since I started there,whats to say the car breaks down or I'm stuck in traffic one morning so I am late,I would not give them the pleasure of giving me the sack.Anyway maybe courtaulds could damage my chance of a job in the business I was in,office manager and he is working in a factory,better off saying I was out of work.Was'nt out long before I was back behind a desk running an office.
Regards.
Jim.B.

[cappy]

I see that the Union Bosses are threatening a winter of Strikes to bring down our Democratically Elected Government.

So far I think there are rail strikes, Post Office strikes, Airport workers strikes, B,A. Cabin crew strikes and so on.

Is Len McClusckie of UNITE so stupid???? We are in Brexit, we need International Companies to Invest in Britain so that will bring more jobs to Britain, They will not Invest knowing they will lose their investment by employees Striking. He looks a Stupid man, now I know he is a Stupid man,
He has just taken £400,000 out of UNITE`S `Funds to buy £700,000 apartment for him and his new partner in London,. Those Funds are payments to the Union from Low Paid Workers. Good Socialist is Len.
And the daft thing is, so many people still think he is Mr Wonderful.
Can anyone here tell me why they want to support someone who is threatening to close down Industry, lose jobs for his political ends??
B.A. is not British anymore, it is part of IAG based in Spain. and includes several airlines, So they could easily close down B.A. and everyone there Redundant.
As Shakespear once said,....... "What Fools These Mortals Be"
Brian

donkeys following the carrot on a stick brian ......holding peoples lives to ransom .....now ruining peoples holidays .......bringing the country down for the krauts and frogs ........cappy

[Captain Kong]

a B.A. Strike in 1978 nearly destroyed my marriage,........
I had paid off the Esso Hibernia in Slagen Norway after a Five month trip to the Gulf, round the Cape etc.. Agent got me a taxi to Oslo, I had a plane ticket for a BA Flight to Manchester, a 90 minute flight, This was WEDNESDAY.
Just got in the airport and B.A. closed their desk and announced a strike. The Agent had gone. I had no money as I declined a Sub as I would be home in a couple of hours.
I tried several other airlines to see if they had flights to Manchester. I got one to Copenhagen as they said they may have one to Manchester from there, Got to Copenhagen, None, so I saw SAS they said could be one from Stockholme so they flew me to Stockholme, None there to MAN, so Sabena said try Brussels, they flew me to Brussels, None there it was Thursday after 24 hours of flying around, Then Lufthansa said try Frankfurt, so I flew there, Friday, I thought I was slowly making my way back to the Gulf.
I had been sleeping rough in airports and was completely knackered and Hungry.
In Frankfurt Lufthansa had a flight to Stanstead late that night Friday. I took that one as at least would be in England.
In Stanstead Airport I found a BA desk with a lady inside. this was around midnight. I showed her my tickets and told her what I had been through, she took me to the Airport Hotel and booked me in there, I had my first meal in three days and then to bed. Next day I got a lift on a DAN Air Flight to Manchester. I phone the wife to pick me up, she slammed down the phone. I phoned a mate to come and take me home.
When I got home, SHE is waiting, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?? ESSO SAID YOU WOULD BE HOME WEDNESDAY, NOW SATURDAY.
I started to say, "I went from Oslo to Copenhagen......." COPENHAGEN,? THE PORNO CAPITAL OF THE WORLD, DONT COME NEAR ME, YOU CAN SLEEP ON THE SOFA AND THEN GET OUT.
She would not listen to me, I had two months leave, after two weeks of Misery, I phoned the Office, Get me out of here, so I got another ship.

SO I HATE B.A. GOING ON STRIKE, It causes many problems for many people who are trying to get home, There must be many Seafaring men booked on B.A. around the world trying to be home for Christmas leave and be unable to do it.
So how can anyone support these strikes that cause misery for so many innocent people.?
Brian.

[gray_marian]

#119, 'whats to say the car breaks down or I'm stuck in traffic one morning so I am late,'

When I worked for the GPO I was well aware getting to work on time was MY problem not their's! I find it incredulous Jim that you think any employer should cut you some slack on that account. Work can't start cause so & so's bus broke down......Then catch the earlier bus, train, or lift...thought that was given.