Quote Durham Giant="Durham Giant"[iFrom someone who works on the railways...
Three years ago we accepted a 0% pay rise, two years ago we accepted a 0% pay rise. But this year they came to us with a 0% pay rise plus over 2500 redundancies, changes to terms and conditions. An increase from 28 weeks of nights to 39 weeks of nights. An increase from 32 weekends worked to 39 weekends worked.
Currently for a night shift we get time and a quarter, for a weekend turn we get time and a half. They wish to cut both of these to time and a tenth. So that’s a 15% pay cut on every night shift and a 40% pay cut on every weekend turn. But they want us to work more of them. This is their modernisation they talk about. Not technology, we embrace technology and have seen more and more of it in recent years. They also wish to fire and re-hire the operative grades and bring them back under a new job title but on £9000 a year less. They also want them to use their own vehicles to get to work sites, this when fuel is at its highest. They will also be pooled when currently they are part of the team. The press are painting this to be about pay above all else. It is not. But now we’ve said sod them we are going to demand better. I wish everyone could see past the government controlled media smear[/i
So we have an effectively privatised rail system atm with the government giving railways £16 billion. Rather than running the railways for a non profit format they are reducing wages and terms of employment so they can increase shareholders bonuses.
Last year £800 million pound of shareholders profits was paid out effectively the tax payer putting £800 million into the pension pots of hedge fund managers'"
From my mate Dave who's a train driver
I think Mick Lynch is proper bo ,I earn over £60000 driving trains and good old comrade Lynch thinks I should get payed loads more,I think he's ace
Oh BTW I've had an inflation busting salary rise of sh*t loads over inflation levels over the last 10 years
