Planned Industrial Action

[whole diary]

[Umberleigh]

So, it would seem that all SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) appear to have achieved to date is to create an insipid new livery, a hideous new logo and embark on this whole fiasco regarding door opening which has resulted in weeks of industrial action.

Bring back SWT^▸ (South West Trains).

[bradshaw]

I came across this link on RailUK Forums, reply#49

https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/will-a-new-md-for-swr-mean-an-end-to-the-strike-action.195946/page-2

 It references a  RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) meeting with acas

https://www.rmt.org.uk/news/publications/proposals-from-acas/proposals-from-acas.pdf

[TaplowGreen]

There are reports of at least two people passing out yesterday on severely overcrowded SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) services. Ironic that the Unions are insisting that this latest strike is about safety.

[stuving]

This morning's BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) local report has a picture of crowds waiting at Wokingham.

They are on p2, so heading to Reading, but many would be going to London (more than usually, I expect). Further down it says:

Becky Bartlett, from Wokingham in Berkshire, said she was an hour late for work in London after her regular train was cancelled.

"I have various theatre and gig plans for the month, plus Christmas parties and events, which I have either had to cancel, some at loss of the ticket price, or I'm going to have to pay for a £30+ taxi from Reading just to get home.

"This whole experience is going to be horrific. I'm one day in and I've already had enough.".

But, as I've noted before, Wokingham does a lot better under the strike timetable than most other places; the usual off-peak 2 tph runs all day so all that's lost is the step-up to nearly 4 tph in the peaks. Still bad for finding a seat, but at the outer end of the line not impossibly so. Cancelling her usual train would leave the next one still running less that 20 minutes later.

But yesterday several trains - from GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) as well as SWR^» (South Western Railway - about)'s strike timetable  - were cancelled due to a very naughty track circuit near Winnersh. It was fixed just in time for the evening peak, to be followed by a more normall degree of chaos (due in part to other issues). Nothing to do with the strike, in fact.

As to late trains, the last train from Reading is GWR's - but how well that will cope at Christmas with the last two SWR trains not running is certainly debatable. An in any case, a lot of (most?) people find trains stop too early or don't feel reliable enough to rely on them to get home from an evening out.

[grahame]

This morning's BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) local report has a picture of crowds waiting at Wokingham.

Striking similarity to the Daily Mail cartoon!

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7749355/PAUL-THOMAS-rail-strike-chaos.html

[stuving]

This morning's BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) local report has a picture of crowds waiting at Wokingham.

Striking similarity to the Daily Mail cartoon!

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7749355/PAUL-THOMAS-rail-strike-chaos.html

Now, would that be a vote for or against John Redwood? Either way, there's a problem - postal votes are only going out about now; it's surprisingly late and can deny you that option if you go away for more than a week then!

[bradshaw]

RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) calling for more talks

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-50641207

[TaplowGreen]

The shape of things to come...………….


https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/john-mcdonnell-promised-south-western-railway-strike-union-youll-be-with-us-in-government-a4303206.html

[bradshaw]

In the middle of the strike but the SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) still managed to run their ecs Salisbury to Weymouth and return today, under a Very Short Term Plan.
Only a few days until the Yeovil train crew depot opens

[rogerw]

Different union. ECS^▸ (Empty Coaching Stock) does not need a guard.  Interesting that RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) are seeking new talks. Could mean that the members are not fully in support or they are worried that the length of the strike means that they would run out of money before the end

[bradshaw]

RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) has published a six point road map towards the settlement of the industrial action

1. That there will be an active safety critical guard on every passenger train in service.
2. That guards will retain their safety critical competencies including an active role in the safe dispatch of trains.
3. That as far as practicable every station and train will be 100 per cent accessible for passengers with guards playing a role in the accessibility of services for all passengers.
4. SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) will guarantee the role of the guard until the end of the franchise and seek DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) commitment beyond the life of the current franchise.
5. That it is feasible to create an optimal method of dispatch in which the guard has an active and defined role as well as being able to provide passenger assistance.
6. RMT recognises the company’s ambition to reduce station dwell times to an appropriately efficient and safe time. The current difference between driver-only and active-guard is 3-4 seconds and RMT will work with the company on this issue. This will include implementation of driver releasing doors and future implementation of Automatic Braking-Door Open (ABDO) system.

https://www.rmt.org.uk/news/rmt-sets-out-six-point-road-map-to-a-settlement-on-swr/

[CyclingSid]

I see in today's newspaper that among other planned legislation of the new administration will

Another bans "all out" strikes on public transport so that trade unions cannot shut down a rail company's entire operations.

Not a fan of strikes myself but do wonder if this sort of legislation can be counter productive. Seem to remember that they banned all strikes/union representation at GCHQ and then had to row back a few years later.

[mjones]

I see in today's newspaper that among other planned legislation of the new administration will

Another bans "all out" strikes on public transport so that trade unions cannot shut down a rail company's entire operations.

Not a fan of strikes myself but do wonder if this sort of legislation can be counter productive. Seem to remember that they banned all strikes/union representation at GCHQ and then had to row back a few years later.

Maybe, but the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) could usefully reflect on the wisdom of reminding voters what 1970s trade unionism looks like during a general election campaign...

[TonyK]

I see in today's newspaper that among other planned legislation of the new administration will

Another bans "all out" strikes on public transport so that trade unions cannot shut down a rail company's entire operations.

Not a fan of strikes myself but do wonder if this sort of legislation can be counter productive. Seem to remember that they banned all strikes/union representation at GCHQ and then had to row back a few years later.

It wasn't so much rowing back as a change of government. It was one of the first actions of the new Labour government in 1997, and probably one of the easiest. The ban was not reimposed by the next government, who probably thought it was possible to be a union member without being a traitor.
Three of the 14 people actually sacked for refusing to give up union membership were re-employed at GCHQ, the other 11 having either retired or found new jobs - I don't know where either! The ban achieved nothing beyond making everybody in Britain aware of what goes on in Cheltenham other than the horse racing. And if you were wondering, Geoffrey Prime, the GCHQ worker who served almost 20 years of a 35-year sentence for passing GCHQ stuff to the Russians at around the same time, was not a union member.
As to banning strikes on the railway, I can't see it helping much, and it might just escalate this proxy war between the government and RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) into a national conflict.

The shape of things to come...………….

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/john-mcdonnell-promised-south-western-railway-strike-union-youll-be-with-us-in-government-a4303206.html

This is more likely to hasten the end of the dispute, one way or another. I can see that hanging on until the new Labour government arrives would be a good idea in the weeks leading up to an election, but another 10 years is a long time to wait. Time for a compromise, or failing that, something that looks enough like one to show a victory for both sides.

[johngreg]

Given that the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) are planning further SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) strikes (https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/dec/30/south-western-railway-faces-fresh-wave-of-rmt-strikes-in-new-year) can someone tell me why this dispute is ogoing when other RMT action on guards with other franchises seem to have be resolved?