First Great Western - industrial action in 2015 - merged topic

[whole diary]

[TaplowGreen]

LTV^▸ (London [and] Thames Valley) are a different union in the main?

Sorry, happy to be corrected if that's the case.......but the comment about improved customer service stands! 

[bobm]

A lot of LTV^▸ (London [and] Thames Valley) services are Driver Only Operated and as most belong to ASLEF^» (Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen - about), who are not in dispute, they ran.  LTV services which needed a guard (Marlow branch and Redhill/Gatwick) were affected.

[TheLastMinute]

Feels like games being played to be honest, with the main losers being customers.

As I understood it, no compulsory redundancies had already been guaranteed?

All the guff about "solidarity" is a bit of a joke, LTV^▸ (London [and] Thames Valley)'s service was pretty good during the recent strike, with customer service being noticeably better!

The last I heard (and that was during the last strike) was that it was guaranteed no on-train job losses. There was no such guarantee on the engineering side as Hitachi will be doing all maintenance on the IEPs^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.). This was one of the three reasons the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) sighted for the strike. Don't know if anything further has been offered in negotiations since then.

TLM

[CLPGMS]

Going to be fun getting all those in the SW back over the bank holiday - and Reading Festival might be struggling too!

Not to mention the Big Feastival at Kingham from 28th-30th August.

[John R]

I'll be interested to see what difference the now resolved dispute with the TSSA^» (Transport Salaried Staffs' Association - about) has in terms of the level of service operated. I'm assuming that only managers qualified to operate as TM^‡(resolve)'s are used. That being the case, personally I would find it very difficult to justify why, as a manager of the business, I wasn't prepared to use my skills to help my employer provide a service. Nor would I want to, as I would be keen to help keep my business running.

From my observation of the last strike, passengers appeared mostly to welcome and thank those stepping in. I'm sure there were exceptions, but most people appeared to understand the situation, and the efforts made to keep the service running.

[the void]

Clearly the position that FGW^▸ (First Great Western) has taken has shifted somewhat from the time that we started our ballot and as a result we believe that we have influenced a positive change that we need to recognise

Translation -

FGW - We need volunteers to help out during the strike.
TSSA^» (Transport Salaried Staffs' Association - about) - Managers! You are being coerced. Strike! Strike!
FGW - Nobody is being coerced, we are asking for volunteers.
TSSA - We have influenced a change to the evil corporation! Hurrah for us!
FGW - Huh?

[TaplowGreen]

Feels like games being played to be honest, with the main losers being customers.

As I understood it, no compulsory redundancies had already been guaranteed?

All the guff about "solidarity" is a bit of a joke, LTV^▸ (London [and] Thames Valley)'s service was pretty good during the recent strike, with customer service being noticeably better!

The last I heard (and that was during the last strike) was that it was guaranteed no on-train job losses. There was no such guarantee on the engineering side as Hitachi will be doing all maintenance on the IEPs^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.). This was one of the three reasons the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) sighted for the strike. Don't know if anything further has been offered in negotiations since then.

TLM

So if I understand this correctly Hitachi are doing the maintenance on the trains which they manufactured (seems logical!), so how can FGW^▸ (First Great Western) be expected to guarantee the jobs of maintenance staff who will have nothing to maintain? What a ridiculous position for the RMT to take......coupled with the farcical strike planned for the Underground this week, the action FGW RMT members are taking over the August Bank Holiday (what a cynical, selfish move) will achieve nothing other than further damaging public perception of the railway and its servants.

[ChrisB]

But as long as their members are being well-rewarded, they really couldn't give a toss!

[TaplowGreen]

But as long as their members are being well-rewarded, they really couldn't give a toss!

.....seems quite fitting that the late Bob Crow was a staunch Millwall fan.....what's that song they sing at The Den?  "......no-one likes us, we don't care!"

Must have inspired him....and his successor!

[plymothian]

Clearly the position that FGW^▸ (First Great Western) has taken has shifted somewhat from the time that we started our ballot and as a result we believe that we have influenced a positive change that we need to recognise

Translation -

FGW - We need volunteers to help out during the strike.
TSSA^» (Transport Salaried Staffs' Association - about) - Managers! You are being coerced. Strike! Strike!
FGW - Nobody is being coerced, we are asking for volunteers.
TSSA - We have influenced a change to the evil corporation! Hurrah for us!
FGW - Huh?

or, TSSA members - Bloody hell, I could lose my bonus and chance of promotion with this!

[bobm]

From the FGW^▸ (First Great Western) website

RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) Proposed Strike - 23, 29, 30, 31 August 2015

We apologise that the RMT union has announced further strike dates over the introduction of our new Super Express Trains in 2017.

We are currently finalising our plans for providing the best service to our customers that we can, should the proposed industrial action by the RMT go ahead. During the last strike in July we were able to run around 60% of our normal services across the network and a near-normal service in the London and Thames Valley area - we expect to be able to deliver the same level of service this time around.

Please keep checking our website for further details.

[Henry]

  The action by the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) is disgusting and repulsive, I made my views known at my local station.
 
  The platform person totally agreed with me, which took me by surprise.
  Quite a few staff feel the same way, resigning from the union and working normally,
  according to my informant. 

[IndustryInsider]

The action by the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) is disgusting and repulsive, I made my views known at my local station.

I can see why they are fighting hard for the skilled maintenance staff as many of them face the prospect of losing their job at several depots, and as I understand it a proper PT&R undertaking from Hitachi hasn't been forthcoming for places like Old Oak Common where staff could easily transfer.

I'm less convinced by the other arguments, station staff and TM^‡(resolve)'s will still be needed and, notwithstanding a juggling around of roles and responsibilities, I can see everyone still having a job at the end of it.  The buffet staff argument stands absolutely no chance of being won, though the AT300s may well have buffet as the longer distance nature of many of the journeys probably tips the balance in their favour over a trolley.

Perhaps the timing of this next wave of action will prompt FGW^▸ (First Great Western) to make more offers to the union as a sweetener - given that bank holiday travel will be badly affected?  If the action does go ahead I can see the 'solidarity' crumbling quite quickly and there perhaps being one more round of action before the strike is called off as more and more staff present themselves for work.

[paul7575]

I can see why they are fighting hard for the skilled maintenance staff as many of them face the prospect of losing their job at several depots, and as I understand it a proper PT&R undertaking from Hitachi hasn't been forthcoming for places like Old Oak Common where staff could easily transfer.

I can see where they're coming from, but why didn't the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) go into bat over all the earlier moves to 'train builder maintenance', with various Alstom, Bombardier or Siemens run depots?   Examples being Voyagers, Pendolinos and Desiros amongst others.

Why have they chosen the particular GW^▸ (Great Western) and Hitachi case to go to the barricades over, when they don't appear to be doing the same with VTEC/Hitachi?

Paul

[ChrisB]

And presumably Virgin East Coast have the same maintaining contract with Hitachi? So what deal have they done such that the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) aren't active there too?