Strike action - what does it actually achieve?

[whole diary]

[BerkshireBugsy]

This thought was triggered by my need to travel into London tomorrow and I believe there is a TFL^▸ (Transport for London) strike.

In the members opinion do these strikes have the affect desired by the strikers?

Just curious

[a-driver]

Very rarely.... and I've heard many workers suggest that those higher up within the union benefit more out of any settlement! 

[Tim]

I'm not sure a strike achieves much for the drivers.  The threat of a strikes on the other hand has produced some very nice T & C's for drivers. 

They need to hold the occasional strike to make their threats in the years to come credible. 

If I were an RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) member, I would look at the day's pay lost as an investment in better pay in the future. 

[TaplowGreen]

It may achieve some financial reward & self satisfaction in the short term, but the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) can only stick two fingers up & stroke the egos of its leadership for so long.

Legislation to make strike ballots more representative is already going through, and in the case of the Tube I would imagine the push for driverless trains will be intensified.

If you want to assess the effectiveness and long terms results of repeated strike action, ask any coal miner, steelworker or shipbuilder - if you can find one.

The Government will always win in the end.

[Tim]

Legislation to make strike ballots more representative is already going through

In principle, this legislation makes sense (although I would question the need for it given that UK^▸ (United Kingdom) days lost to strikes are at a historical low), but I don't think it will curb the power of the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) because they usually DO have a strong turnout in strike ballots and often do have strong supports for strikes.  The legislation will weaken the power of unions that are already weak but do little to weaken the power of the RMT which is strong.

If you want to assess the effectiveness and long terms results of repeated strike action, ask any coal miner, steelworker or shipbuilder 

The mines have closed in the areas of strong unionism and the areas of weak unionism.  The coal industry was always on its way out.  Without the actions of the Government and/or the NUM at the time, the details of the winding down of the industry would have been different (perhaps gentler), but the pits would still have closed in the end.   

[bobm]

Remember SOGAT and NATSOPA?  The print unions in Fleet Street were always in the news when I was growing up.

[didcotdean]

Remember SOGAT and NATSOPA?  The print unions in Fleet Street were always in the news when I was growing up.

Merged into what is Unite these days, as is what was the EETPU

[grahame]

Stephen Pollard ... in the Daily Express[/quote]

Here we go again. This evening, workers from four unions on the London Underground will start their latest 24-hour walkout after a similar strike last month.

Then on Bank Holiday weekend, the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) union is planning to hold a series of strikes on First Great Western routes to Wales and the West Country - timed to cause as much inconvenience as possible.

[article continues]

[BerkshireBugsy]

I have mixed feelings about the role of unions. When I worked at an aluminium plant in South Wales I had a few run ins with the main engineering union there (can't remember which one it would have been) who thankfully didn't strike very often. I say that because the plant was already bleeding money and it takes quite a while to shut the plant down and bring it back up to operating status.

I do understand that (some) unions are concerned about job losses but sometimes I wonder if their actions are counter productive.

Anyway, here is a recollection of one of my brushes with the union rep on site who knew I wasn't a supporter of them bringing the plant to its knees. It happened when there were out on strike and in order to get the keys to the computer room (where I was a computer operator) I had to cross the picket line to get to the gate house. Having seen me cross the line the union rep was waiting in the gatehouse expecting me to be trouble.

I asked the security man for the keys to open up at which point the union rep (who was expecting trouble from me) said something like: BBB (Brother Berkshire Bugsy) Please can I ask you to show solidarity and not work today?

At which point I said (to his surprise) Yes, no problem I will leave site straight away and return when the issues are resolved.

Mr. Union Rep was obviously taken a back by this and shook my hand and said "Thank you BBB - your support, whilst unexpected, is appreciated"

My reply: No problem - just be aware that I was due to run the outstanding payroll today which will now have to wait until the strike finishes.

With a not insignificant portion of humble pie the keys were passed to me in double quick time.

I could right a book about industrial relations in South Wales in the 1980s but suffice to say the miners strike was very bitter and I believe there are still communities where rifts have not healed to this day I clearly remember striking miners and supporters dropping stones from the M4 bridges onto the cabs of lorries that were being used to ship coal whilst the rail unions were out in sympathy.

[a-driver]

Message to London from Nick Brown, Managing Director of London Underground:
https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/news-articles/tube-strike-open-letter-from-london-underground?intcmp=30273

RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers):  Why we are striking.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/270888061/London-Underground-Strike-Leaflet

Reading those and by speaking to Tube staff I totally support the reason why they are striking.  The demands being put on LU staff are ludicrous.  The letter from Nick Brown is laughable.  They talk of listening to work-life balance concerns but the offer they make does nothing to address it.... and apparently customers no longer use ticket offices despite there being daily queues at them!  

[grahame]

... but suffice to say the miners strike was very bitter and I believe there are still communities where rifts have not healed to this day ...

There are, I believe, similar legacies of bitterness on the railways from events dating back to the last millennium. That hlonstanding rift may be being born in mind by some staff deciding on their stance at the current time.

[Chris from Nailsea]

... the miners strike was very bitter and I believe there are still communities where rifts have not healed to this day I clearly remember striking miners and supporters dropping stones from the M4 bridges onto the cabs of lorries that were being used to ship coal whilst the rail unions were out in sympathy.

Yes: those lorry drivers tended to be members of the Transport & General Workers Union (TGWU), and were not in dispute. They had a rather tough time of it, in the face of some very vociferous criticism from members of the NUM and RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers).

And a taxi driver, David Wilkie, was killed, as a result of a concrete block being dropped from a bridge by two striking miners. 

[Electric train]

This thought was triggered by my need to travel into London tomorrow and I believe there is a TFL^▸ (Transport for London) strike.

In the members opinion do these strikes have the affect desired by the strikers?

Just curious

It achieves me getting some exercise walk Paddington to Waterloo although coming home I think it will be train via Windsor

There is dogma on both side now, I am not convinced about all night Tubes it is likely to see the demise of a number of night busses which are a much cheaper way to get around at night

[TaplowGreen]

Message to London from Nick Brown, Managing Director of London Underground:
https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/news-articles/tube-strike-open-letter-from-london-underground?intcmp=30273

RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers):  Why we are striking.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/270888061/London-Underground-Strike-Leaflet

Reading those and by speaking to Tube staff I totally support the reason why they are striking.  The demands being put on LU staff are ludicrous.  The letter from Nick Brown is laughable.  They talk of listening to work-life balance concerns but the offer they make does nothing to address it.... and apparently customers no longer use ticket offices despite there being daily queues at them!  

On completion of several months training Tube drivers earn just under ^50,000 a year, this is well over double the salary of a newly qualified Nurse, Police Constable or Firefighter, all of whom are obliged to work night shifts... a similarly qualified infantry soldier earns roughly a third of this figure, and all of them face considerably more challenging working conditions/environments and difficulties maintaining their work life balance..........when are the Tube Drivers Unions proposing to have a ballot on joining the real world, and how many night shifts annually would they consider feasible for their members to maintain their "work life balance", taking into account their 35 hour working week and eight weeks annual holiday?

[ChrisB]

oh, it's reward for looking after '000s of commuters and ensuring they come to no harm that they earn more than those you list. Frankly they need to get real.