Boxing day tube strikes

alastairq

i don't want to 'dismiss' the job of a tube driver but i would like to see a little more appreciation from them about what other people's jobs involve

Why should everybody else expect this if a train driver?

Especially when the comments concerning the train driver's actual work, as seen on this thread, doubtless reflect the attitudes of the 'travelling' public?

Surely your comments should be aimed at the Management as well...after all, they constitute the other side of the argument.

alastairq

Cruise ship captains carry thousands also.. Big deal.. Your not giving them a big hug to keep them safe are you. No they sit.. you lever push.. they depart.. It's figures nothing more

you may be right there.....cruise ship CAptains probably even have someone else to pull the lever.

but they get paid an awful lot more.

alastairq

I think one of the issues quietly being forgotten is that this is happening in London.

Historically, jobs in London [and that includes bus drivers] have attracted enhanced pay rates for two reasons....one, the so-called London loading....a reflection of the apparently higher cost of living within the capital area.
Two....there is, always has been, and doubtless always will be, a recruitment problem with transport jobs in London.

When I left LT many years ago, I was staggered at the pay differentials between London bus drivers and those in the provinces.

I bet many provincial bus drivers would give their

legs for a pay scale even remotely close to that of a London bus driver.

When the job itself, is actually so very, very similar.

The downside of the tube drivers' strike ...if it proves inconclusive, may well result in tube drivers voting with their feet, and leaving!

Without being replaced, as it isn't that easy to get a tube drivers' job.


And if a tube driver's job is really so easy...what about a [modern] bus driver's job?

a stop pedal, a go pedal.

even interaction with passengers is now incredibly limited and distanced.

No drivers PSV badges any more, to make the driver visibly accountable....

bus-only lanes, not a lot of stress.....

radios for assistance......warm, cosy cabs....comfy driving seats.....


and why was it that every snowy picture I've seen recently had a London bus stuck up on the railings?

Maybe the quality of driver has had to be lowered...simply to put a backside behind the wheel???


And why take a pop at tube drivers for trying to get what they can out of the system?

Surely that's exactly what folk within the finance industry [bankers] have been doing for ages???

melancholly

richardvc wrote: »

I see your point but what other jobs require consistent concentration ? That is a sincere question as I have never done one where you have to be on the game as much as this.

Secondly, why do they need to appreciate other people's jobs ? What difference would that make ? No-one appreciates them and even if they did, it doesn't pay the bills.

sorry, now you've lost me again! jobs that require concentration that is consistent... you can't think of any because tube drivers are just that special?

apart from other driving jobs and surgeons, there are some pretty obvious candidates like air traffic control (who really do need to have great attention skills - and their skills can't be discounted by anyone!).

attitudes like 'why should tube drivers appreciate other people's jobs' just sums up why they have no public support. we have to hear on and on about how hard the job is.... because somehow it's the hardest thing in the world. show some semblance of appeciation that other people's jobs are difficult and see the light; a very nice salary package with great holidays and free travel, i.e. stop drawing attention to how good you've got it by striking about apparent hardship!

i genuine try to see the point and i don't want to dismiss the job of a tube driver, but seriously, it isn't brain surgery! get over yourselves!

melancholly

alastairq wrote: »

And why take a pop at tube drivers for trying to get what they can out of the system?

Surely that's exactly what folk within the finance industry [bankers] have been doing for ages???

in case you hadn't noticed, they aren't so popular either!

alastairq

attitudes like 'why should tube drivers appreciate other people's jobs' just sums up why they have no public support

this is a 'chicken-and-egg' argument.

Public support is lost instantly the public are inconvenienced...for that is what the strike amounts to...in terms of 'effect'.

A huge number of posts on this thread centre on exactly what the value or worth of a tube driving job actually is.

A huge number of people on this thread have an opinion...based on nothing more than perception, concerning what a particular job entails.

I suspect that opinion is accurately reflected amongst the travelling public-at-large.

Given that opinion, is it fair to expect a tube driver to not exercise a similar opinion concerning the importance, or degree of difficulty, needed for other jobs?

To be fair....the reason why people defend the tube driver, their job issues, and their strike action, on here is simply because others have that same attitude, of 'how hard can the job be?'

A defensive response.....which for some can only be met by justification.

Rossy.

So anyway.........

Lets take one Tube driver cab



Vs

A Boeing 747 cockpit



wonder who's job is harder

Hammyman

Tube drivers cab.



vs...Lorry drivers cab (bearing in mind this is the automatic gearbox and not a 16 speed manual with range change and splitter and there's three buttons to the right of the steering wheel that are hidden as well as a control down the side of the drivers seat for adjusting rear axle ride height and lifting up the tag axle)



For the tube drivers who may be confused about what the big round thing is, its a steering wheel which you use to control the direction of travel as opposed to having someone do that for you.

Rossy.

^^ oh i know mate

Notice in the tube driver cab they've centred the picture on the go-go handle..

Least they get a telephone

Hammyman

Rossy. wrote: »

Least they get a telephone

They'd be stuffed if they had to use the HGV ISOTRAK system.