RMT down the Tubes
I'm on annual leave today as I didn't want to take the risk of having to walk to or from work during today's Tube strike by the RMT and the wildcat strike on the Northen Line. It looks like I needn't have worried.
Now, I'm a union member and I'm all for strong unions. Generally I support the Tube unions when they strike, whether it be over safety issues or getting a better deal, but today's strikes are pathetic and give the trade unions movement a bad name.
The RMT are striking over a disagreement on rosters, or that is what the union leadership would like us to believe. The fact is 40 out of 44 station groups have agreed the new rosters. The RMT is concerned that there will be not enough staff on duty at the stations. Perhaps this is because last year they went on strike to get a 35 hour working week? At the time Bob Crow and his dummy Bobby Law (you can get his phone number on the internet as some idiot released it to the press) celebrated the successful negotiation of the deal by telling his members that they now had 43% of the working year off (they get 52 days a year off now). Maybe they should come and work for the NHS where everyone is being moved onto a 37.5 hour working week and 27 days annual leave. Don't forget the RMT guys don't actually drive trains. The RMT guys are the ones who are "responsible" for looking after the stations. These are the guys who let you wait 1/2 hour before giving you incorrect information, or, in the case of Shepherds Bush H&C line station are responsible for standing around outside smoking and turning a blind eye to fare dodgers.
Meanwhile te ASLEF drivers on the Northern Line are holding a wildcat strike in support of a sacked driver and seem to be doing a better job than Bob Crow's lot (maybe because he was sunning himself in Egypt when he should have been organising the strike or negotiating a deal). A comment on the Going Underground blog sheds a little light on the situation. It seems that the sacked driver went through a closed station at 29mph, 24mph faster than he should have done, then failed to stop at the next station, then lied about the whole incident.
And the Tube unions are always telling us they have our safety in mind?
The only good thing to come out of this is that the RMT strike seems to be a bigger failure than the New Year's Eve strike. Bob Crow has shot himself in his suntanned foot and RMT members aren't supporting him. It wasn't that long ago you needed lines of police and baton charges to break a union, now you can just leave it to the idiots in charge.
Now, I'm a union member and I'm all for strong unions. Generally I support the Tube unions when they strike, whether it be over safety issues or getting a better deal, but today's strikes are pathetic and give the trade unions movement a bad name.
The RMT are striking over a disagreement on rosters, or that is what the union leadership would like us to believe. The fact is 40 out of 44 station groups have agreed the new rosters. The RMT is concerned that there will be not enough staff on duty at the stations. Perhaps this is because last year they went on strike to get a 35 hour working week? At the time Bob Crow and his dummy Bobby Law (you can get his phone number on the internet as some idiot released it to the press) celebrated the successful negotiation of the deal by telling his members that they now had 43% of the working year off (they get 52 days a year off now). Maybe they should come and work for the NHS where everyone is being moved onto a 37.5 hour working week and 27 days annual leave. Don't forget the RMT guys don't actually drive trains. The RMT guys are the ones who are "responsible" for looking after the stations. These are the guys who let you wait 1/2 hour before giving you incorrect information, or, in the case of Shepherds Bush H&C line station are responsible for standing around outside smoking and turning a blind eye to fare dodgers.
Meanwhile te ASLEF drivers on the Northern Line are holding a wildcat strike in support of a sacked driver and seem to be doing a better job than Bob Crow's lot (maybe because he was sunning himself in Egypt when he should have been organising the strike or negotiating a deal). A comment on the Going Underground blog sheds a little light on the situation. It seems that the sacked driver went through a closed station at 29mph, 24mph faster than he should have done, then failed to stop at the next station, then lied about the whole incident.
And the Tube unions are always telling us they have our safety in mind?
The only good thing to come out of this is that the RMT strike seems to be a bigger failure than the New Year's Eve strike. Bob Crow has shot himself in his suntanned foot and RMT members aren't supporting him. It wasn't that long ago you needed lines of police and baton charges to break a union, now you can just leave it to the idiots in charge.
1 Comments:
Excellent post and many thanks for linking to my blog and the comments there too.
Post a Comment
<< Home