Cost of trains

Premier_2

DaveMacD wrote: »

Train fares don't affect me, I was just agreeing that wages aren't going up, but prices are, and that really sucks :mad:

Train drivers wages are ... and if they don't get more than the 2% already offered they won't work Sundays
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/road-and-rail-transport/6545289/Commuters-face-strike-threat.html

geordieracer

DaveMacD wrote: »

Dunno about that. My wages aren't scheduled to rise any time soon.

The thing about rail fares is that they generally only get reviewed at certain times of the year (in my area, there is this one coming up, and then the local authority reviews prices later on in the year) but the prices of things like diesel/electricity alter throughout the year. If you look at a TOC as a huge version of a family household, the same rules apply. Outgoings have increased, so there has to be a corresponding increase in income to cover those rises. Don't think for a second that the massive diesel price hike the other year only hurt car drivers (and boy did it hurt.... £1.30 a litre for diesel, and a 75 litre tank are not happy bedfellows:mad:), nor that the electric companies bumping their prices only affected those with massive flat screen tv's...

As premier has said the drivers wages are going up and so are a few other staff on tre railways.

I agree wiht you on the price of fuel though as the price of diesel has riocketed and most TOCs who use them buy in bulk for the year ahead so they got done in when the price dropped just after they bought their fuel last year

DaveMacD

Premier wrote: »

Train drivers wages are ... and if they don't get more than the 2% already offered they won't work Sundays

They won't work additional Sundays. Most traincrew are rostered to work a certain number of Sundays per year (unless exempt for personal/religious reasons, or through long standing agreement). For reasons no-one can seem to explain, it is often required for staff to work extra Sundays in addition to their booked shifts, but this is voluntary. And like all things voluntary, if you don't want to do it, you can't be made to do it.

In this particular instance, they feel (and I defy anyone to feel different) that since prices are rising (as are profits at the company), then it's only fair that wages should too.

It's one thing to ask folks to have a pay freeze when prices are stable. But when the cost of living is going up (and it is, even if government massaged figures claim otherwise) then it is neither right, nor fair, to expect people to not expect their wages to do the same.

KeithP

DaveMacD wrote: »

They won't work additional Sundays. Most traincrew are rostered to work a certain number of Sundays per year (unless exempt for personal/religious reasons, or through long standing agreement). For reasons no-one can seem to explain, it is often required for staff to work extra Sundays in addition to their booked shifts, but this is voluntary. And like all things voluntary, if you don't want to do it, you can't be made to do it.

Sunday is not part of the normal working week for a significant number of train drivers.
Some train operating companies rely on their driver's goodwill to run any Sunday service.

DaveMacD wrote: »

It's one thing to ask folks to have a pay freeze when prices are stable. But when the cost of living is going up (and it is, even if government massaged figures claim otherwise) then it is neither right, nor fair, to expect people to not expect their wages to do the same.

Talk to your manager about your pay.

Unless the Government are your employer, the Government does not fix your pay.

DaveMacD

KeithP wrote: »

Sunday is not part of the normal working week for a significant number of train drivers.
Some train operating companies rely on their driver's goodwill to run any Sunday service.

Yup, that's what I said. All TOC's rely on employee goodwill to run Sunday (and extra) services. Always have, and always will.

Talk to your manager about your pay.

Unless the Government are your employer, the Government does not fix your pay.

This is true, however the Government is the one banging on about pay restraint, and how it'll be bad for the economy if everyone wants a pay rise. That is a fair argument IF prices are stable. But prices aren't stable. By the governments own policy, all prices WILL rise at the end of the year, by 2.5%. And that excludes the rising cost of fuel. It is surely a sensible thing to try to make sure if you KNOW there is a price rise coming, and you KNOW how much it is then you make sure that your wages keep track.

robt_2

DaveMacD wrote: »

Yup, that's what I said. All TOC's rely on employee goodwill to run Sunday (and extra) services. Always have, and always will.

That is not what you said at all.

You said:

Most traincrew are rostered to work a certain number of Sundays per year (unless exempt for personal/religious reasons, or through long standing agreement). For reasons no-one can seem to explain, it is often required for staff to work extra Sundays in addition to their booked shifts

A big difference between the two.

kolin wrote: »

"unregulated fares (including cheap day returns) will be rising much higher, with rail unions fearing hikes of 10% on some tickets."

so i'm assuming that my day return to manchester that i bought at the ticket office, could rise from 12.20 to £13.40, for the obvious reason that we've all become suddenly richer and are secure in our jobs come january, and that an extra hike wont be noticed in our wallets?

Yes, it COULD, but it is not. Transpennine Express fares are not changing, and Northern unregulated fares are going up 0.41%. I can't remember which of the two sets the fare between Manchester and Leeds. Either way, it is best not to buy into what the unions tell the press in any industry.