No Comments about the sriking tube workers?

Graham_Devon

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

So for 24 hours, Londoners have to deal with the same costs/inconvenience of transport that the rest of the country do every day.

I'm not seeing the problem here.

I didn't know the rest of the country had parking charges in excess of £25 a day and a charge JUST for driving in to town of up to a further £25 (I think).

Maybe my area has finally got something cheaper than everywhere else!!

Or maybe you are talking nonsense again

Pete111

Generali wrote: »

And presumably your ticket includes a cost of paying a few union reps to persuade members to walk out.

Hope not - my ticket only works on Southern trains so I would feel a teeny bit fleeced if I was subsidising tube workers...

Mr_Mumble

I don't understand this dispute at all, from the BBC website:

The RMT and the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA) unions are fighting plans to cut ticket office staffing levels, claiming security could be compromised for passengers.

How do ticket office staff aid security? Even if part of their job duties in an emergency were security related wouldn't it be better to employ specific, trained, security staff to do the job rather than ticket office staff?

With the introduction of Oyster cards this all seems rather odd. Are Londoners expected to stump up around a billion for this system and then not get the advantage of lower running costs down the road? It's akin to the ice sellers union demanding their members are kept employed in case the tap water supply goes bad after the invention of the refrigerator.

olly300

Mr_Mumble wrote: »

I don't understand this dispute at all, from the BBC website:

How do ticket office staff aid security? Even if part of their job duties in an emergency were security related wouldn't it be better to employ specific, trained, security staff to do the job rather than ticket office staff?

No. The only "security" people apart from the staff are the Transport Police.

I know people who work on the underground and part of the job if you work on a station is security i.e. walking around the station and spying on people, watching CCTV footage.

In reality there should be no staff permanently stuck behind a ticket office except at peak times. They should actually all be visible on the station.

While I dislike the RMT who strike over everything, the fact that TSSA have come out means that there is something that the media aren't reporting to us. Apparently TSSA last went on strike over 10 years ago. (I've overhead values of 40 years.)

drc

I always feel like apologising profusely to tourists when these train strikes happen. How can a supposedly first world democracy have these strikes every year:eek:? London Transport is $h1t, dirty, slow and expensive at the best of times and then we have strikes to top it all off. I wonder what tourists think when they come to this country and are exposed to our outdated transport system and I weep.

chewmylegoff

olly300 wrote: »

While I dislike the RMT who strike over everything, the fact that TSSA have come out means that there is something that the media aren't reporting to us. Apparently TSSA last went on strike over 10 years ago. (I've overhead values of 40 years.)

the TSSA strike is about a separate matter, they just decided to strike on the same day because if they went on strike alone it would probably have no impact. the TSSA strike is about management pay.

hugheskevi

The RMT and the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA) unions are fighting plans to cut ticket office staffing levels, claiming security could be compromised for passengers.

It is a nice thought that there are staff ready and poised to intervene in the event of trouble.

But my thoughts are drawn to a commute a while ago at peak time in the morning. A young man sauntered into the Tube station and casually vaulted over one of the ticket barriers. This was in front of two uniformed staff. No-one batted an eye-lid, much less moved to intervene. It certainly didn't seem to be in any way an usual occurence.

I asked a staff member about why they did nothing, he said they were not allowed to intervene, only the Transport Police could do that...

olly300

hugheskevi wrote: »

It is a nice thought that there are staff ready and poised to intervene in the event of trouble.

But my thoughts are drawn to a commute a while ago at peak time in the morning. A young man sauntered into the Tube station and casually vaulted over one of the ticket barriers. This was in front of two uniformed staff. No-one batted an eye-lid, much less moved to intervene. It certainly didn't seem to be in any way an usual occurence.

I asked a staff member about why they did nothing, he said they were not allowed to intervene, only the Transport Police could do that...

Yeah as usual they don't intervene when they can't be bothered.

I've seen a tube worker intervene to stop a fight between two men that was beginning.

Though personally I wouldn't intervene if people didn't pay the correct or no fare either. I know some tube ticket inspectors are like that as well.

Damaged

ILW wrote: »

I think Aberdeen would grind to a halt if your one set of traffic lights packed up.

it actually amazes me why people want to live in dumps like Aberdeen and the like. I am surprised they are not deserted towns already

neverdespairgirl

drc wrote: »

I always feel like apologising profusely to tourists when these train strikes happen. How can a supposedly first world democracy have these strikes every year:eek:? London Transport is $h1t, dirty, slow and expensive at the best of times and then we have strikes to top it all off. I wonder what tourists think when they come to this country and are exposed to our outdated transport system and I weep.

Expensive? Certainly. I don't agree with the rest of your description, though.