End in sight for the ASLEF dispute: Offer now made

[class ep-09]

Personally, I find some of the comments here ignorant and sickening and I speak as a pensioner. Clearly earlier commentators are still of working age with ingrained age prejudices.
To stop the winter fuel payments and then immediately yield to union pressure without a quid quo pro is frankly disgraceful. And to pay it to those who have left! The railways are not in the real world are they. Some of the working practices on the railways are still outdated and need reform but a dominant union has a monopoly holding the public to ransom. If even one of the 11 practices quoted by the Mail today is true (no doubt people will scoff because it is the Mail), then it is all a shambles. As for LNER….
We have worked hard to put aside our pension savings and to find that we lose something because we have saved is morally wrong. Others who haven’t saved but could have get it. For some it pushes those on the border of financial stability into difficulty but it is the principle (something ASLEF would recognise?). Why should I lose money because I spent less on luxuries during my working life to boost my pension only to lose out to those who have squandered it, not planned or have simply survived on benefits – noting how many people of working age are now no longer working.
The comment about the driver working to fund our triple lock pension is an affront to older people and miles away from reality. The triple lock was introduced to not only protect pensions against the effects of inflation but to increase the basic state pension which is one of the lowest in Western Europe to a level that was reasonable, to lift pensioners out of poverty. Younger people today need to note that they will benefit from this policy. If it were abandoned, it would be necessary for working people to pay more into their pension NOW to make up for what they will lose later. So the ill feeling shown by those who resent funding pensioners income need to note that if they didn’t they too would have less pension which needs to be replaced starting now. Personally, I think the state pension will be means tested which falls foul of my fundamental principle stated earlier.
Pensioners are an easy target and in many ways discriminated against in much the same way there are other discriminatory behaviours – e.g. race, sexual persuasion, ethnicity etc. I would suggest this disgraceful bias is prevalent amongst some contributors here. Often on fixed incomes, the pay tax on their pensions like working people, the freezing of tax bands effects them badly and in many ways the failed social care system (which Labour has ignored because it would cost the “working people” too much) is causing stress and misery. Some pensioners are taxed twice, once through the tax system then a further 30-40% (Yes) on top of that to fund those who cannot afford care. Another example of losing out because you have behaved responsibly to save up to fund those who couldn’t be bothered. Refer to Lord Dilnot…..
This disregard for older people came to a head when tens of thousands of pensioners died of Covid through lack of planning, indifference and frankly age bias. The effect of Covid and containment policies were such that care homes were never considered and this indifference continues.
Contributors here need to change their thinking, acknowledge their prejudices and consider other people – the ones that pay their wages.

You got your pension yes?
So why complain.

Winter fuel allowance is just that . Little sweetener that may or may not be paid.

And even if it is paid ( from my taxes and many millions of others) it should only go to the most in need .

It’s not just you, who worked hard. There are many others that are still working and can only dream about any private pension, property ownership and triple lock ( hard truth - it is not sustainable ).

If your pension ( state) is too small then have grudge with the government(s) , mainly tories because they were in power for 75% of the time.

As for train drivers - good for them for sticking together - if you fight as one you win .
If you fight among themselves and that what Daily Fail would like all us to do , we loose .

 

[jon0844]

If you believe what the Daily Fail claims, i.e. that the Government are stealing money from the pockets of pensioners and giving it to train drivers as a pay rise then I'm afraid that tells us all we need to know about your understanding of the situation and your ability to form your own opinion rather than it being given to you by the gutter press with their right-wing agenda.

Wait - the money being given to asylum seekers was the a reason for making the winter fuel allowance means tested (and as far as I'm aware zero to do with pensions). How many more people can be blamed for this benefit being restricted to only those who need it? Junior doctors were also blamed before ASLEF came along.

Maybe it would be better for energy costs to come down to the cost of gas and electricity this winter isn't as high as before, and nobody needs an extra payment to be able to pay their bills. I'm saving £700 a year having changed tariffs (Octopus Agile & Tracker) which is considerably more than £200 anyway. Everyone is able to change to a better deal if they so wish.

 

[DMckduck]

Railway pension is not final salary now. Went over to career average some years ago.

It's also done in 40ths now isn't it? And even if you do the 40 years your yearly pension won't be anything close to your salary average?

 

[FatContr0ller]

Personally, I find some of the comments here ignorant and sickening and I speak as a pensioner. Clearly earlier commentators are still of working age with ingrained age prejudices.
To stop the winter fuel payments and then immediately yield to union pressure without a quid quo pro is frankly disgraceful. And to pay it to those who have left! The railways are not in the real world are they. Some of the working practices on the railways are still outdated and need reform but a dominant union has a monopoly holding the public to ransom. If even one of the 11 practices quoted by the Mail today is true (no doubt people will scoff because it is the Mail), then it is all a shambles. As for LNER….
We have worked hard to put aside our pension savings and to find that we lose something because we have saved is morally wrong. Others who haven’t saved but could have get it. For some it pushes those on the border of financial stability into difficulty but it is the principle (something ASLEF would recognise?). Why should I lose money because I spent less on luxuries during my working life to boost my pension only to lose out to those who have squandered it, not planned or have simply survived on benefits – noting how many people of working age are now no longer working.
The comment about the driver working to fund our triple lock pension is an affront to older people and miles away from reality. The triple lock was introduced to not only protect pensions against the effects of inflation but to increase the basic state pension which is one of the lowest in Western Europe to a level that was reasonable, to lift pensioners out of poverty. Younger people today need to note that they will benefit from this policy. If it were abandoned, it would be necessary for working people to pay more into their pension NOW to make up for what they will lose later. So the ill feeling shown by those who resent funding pensioners income need to note that if they didn’t they too would have less pension which needs to be replaced starting now. Personally, I think the state pension will be means tested which falls foul of my fundamental principle stated earlier.
Pensioners are an easy target and in many ways discriminated against in much the same way there are other discriminatory behaviours – e.g. race, sexual persuasion, ethnicity etc. I would suggest this disgraceful bias is prevalent amongst some contributors here. Often on fixed incomes, the pay tax on their pensions like working people, the freezing of tax bands effects them badly and in many ways the failed social care system (which Labour has ignored because it would cost the “working people” too much) is causing stress and misery. Some pensioners are taxed twice, once through the tax system then a further 30-40% (Yes) on top of that to fund those who cannot afford care. Another example of losing out because you have behaved responsibly to save up to fund those who couldn’t be bothered. Refer to Lord Dilnot…..
This disregard for older people came to a head when tens of thousands of pensioners died of Covid through lack of planning, indifference and frankly age bias. The effect of Covid and containment policies were such that care homes were never considered and this indifference continues.
Contributors here need to change their thinking, acknowledge their prejudices and consider other people – the ones that pay their wages.

Screams of me me me doesn't it?
Means testing is the way forward& Why should I pay for you who can afford it in lieu of someone who can't?

 

[dctraindriver]

Personally, I find some of the comments here ignorant and sickening and I speak as a pensioner. Clearly earlier commentators are still of working age with ingrained age prejudices.
To stop the winter fuel payments and then immediately yield to union pressure without a quid quo pro is frankly disgraceful. And to pay it to those who have left! The railways are not in the real world are they. Some of the working practices on the railways are still outdated and need reform but a dominant union has a monopoly holding the public to ransom. If even one of the 11 practices quoted by the Mail today is true (no doubt people will scoff because it is the Mail), then it is all a shambles. As for LNER….
We have worked hard to put aside our pension savings and to find that we lose something because we have saved is morally wrong. Others who haven’t saved but could have get it. For some it pushes those on the border of financial stability into difficulty but it is the principle (something ASLEF would recognise?). Why should I lose money because I spent less on luxuries during my working life to boost my pension only to lose out to those who have squandered it, not planned or have simply survived on benefits – noting how many people of working age are now no longer working.
The comment about the driver working to fund our triple lock pension is an affront to older people and miles away from reality. The triple lock was introduced to not only protect pensions against the effects of inflation but to increase the basic state pension which is one of the lowest in Western Europe to a level that was reasonable, to lift pensioners out of poverty. Younger people today need to note that they will benefit from this policy. If it were abandoned, it would be necessary for working people to pay more into their pension NOW to make up for what they will lose later. So the ill feeling shown by those who resent funding pensioners income need to note that if they didn’t they too would have less pension which needs to be replaced starting now. Personally, I think the state pension will be means tested which falls foul of my fundamental principle stated earlier.
Pensioners are an easy target and in many ways discriminated against in much the same way there are other discriminatory behaviours – e.g. race, sexual persuasion, ethnicity etc. I would suggest this disgraceful bias is prevalent amongst some contributors here. Often on fixed incomes, the pay tax on their pensions like working people, the freezing of tax bands effects them badly and in many ways the failed social care system (which Labour has ignored because it would cost the “working people” too much) is causing stress and misery. Some pensioners are taxed twice, once through the tax system then a further 30-40% (Yes) on top of that to fund those who cannot afford care. Another example of losing out because you have behaved responsibly to save up to fund those who couldn’t be bothered. Refer to Lord Dilnot…..
This disregard for older people came to a head when tens of thousands of pensioners died of Covid through lack of planning, indifference and frankly age bias. The effect of Covid and containment policies were such that care homes were never considered and this indifference continues.
Contributors here need to change their thinking, acknowledge their prejudices and consider other people – the ones that pay their wages.

You ran a successful independent financial advisor business so hopefully you’re one of those who really doesn’t need the winter fuel allowance. My relations didn’t accept it when it was announced. Maybe the daily mail isn’t the best research tool to articulate what you want to on this forum.

 

[InkyScrolls]

@SLC001, would you like to tell us what the eleven outdated work practices quoted by the Daily Mail are?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 Aug 2024 ==

@nuneatonmark, likewise, you mentioned outdated working practices and I'm wondering what you had in mind?

 

[6Gman]

Dual manning in cabs which dated back to the need for a driver and fireman.

The only dual manning requirements I recall from that era were:

1. Where there was a train-heating boiler in use;
2. Where a driver PNB could not be fitted in;
3. Where the second man was needed for operational reasons such as coupling/uncoupling.

Which were reasonable requirements unrelated to whether the locos were steam, diesel or electric!

(And, yes, I realise No.1 wouldn't apply in the case of electric traction.)

 

[greatkingrat]

SAYING NO TO SUNDAYS
Drivers can choose whether they work on Sundays and get an overtime rate if they do. The previous government wanted Sunday to be part of the working week.
BAN ON DIGITAL DEVICES
Train drivers rely on noticeboards for notifications about speed limits and safety checks. The Tory government wanted them to start using iPad-style tablets instead. But Aslef bosses refused, saying it goes beyond members' normal working practices – and even demanded more pay.
ENDLESS MEDICAL CHECKS
A regulation in place since 1980 lets workers take paid time off for a medical check if they use a microwave on the job.
DOUBLING UP WORKERS
Menial tasks such as changing a plug socket can take nine workers because of resistance to multi-skilling staff. Different teams can't cross boundary lines to help sort a fault.
WALKING ALLOWANCES
These dictate that staff must be given extra time on breaks to cover the process of strolling to and from their mess room and a train. For example, at Birmingham New Street station a worker's half-hour tea break actually lasts 40 minutes, with five minutes for the journey there and back.
EXTENDING A BREAK
Bizarrely, some staff are allowed to restart a break if a manager simply says 'hello', because any conversation with a boss counts as 'work'.
MANUAL MAINTENANCE
Unions have resisted fitting sensors to trains that would check tracks for defects.

Bizarre 'Spanish practices' rail staff will keep on top of pay rise

Ministers said on Wednesday that they had struck a deal with union chiefs which would see the average driver's salary soar by 14.25 per cent to about £69,000.

www.dailymail.co.uk

I assume this is the article being referred to.

Not all of these are related to drivers though. And I've never heard of a rule about microwaves!

 

[LowLevel]

Bizarre 'Spanish practices' rail staff will keep on top of pay rise

Ministers said on Wednesday that they had struck a deal with union chiefs which would see the average driver's salary soar by 14.25 per cent to about £69,000.

www.dailymail.co.uk

I assume this is the article being referred to.

Not all of these are related to drivers though. And I've never heard of a rule about microwaves!

It is believed to be an old one going back to when BR first fitted them to the likes of HSTs when the long term possible effects weren't necessarily known.

 

[12LDA28C]

Bizarre 'Spanish practices' rail staff will keep on top of pay rise

Ministers said on Wednesday that they had struck a deal with union chiefs which would see the average driver's salary soar by 14.25 per cent to about £69,000.

www.dailymail.co.uk

I assume this is the article being referred to.

Not all of these are related to drivers though. And I've never heard of a rule about microwaves!

What? Drivers can 'say no' to working Sundays (presumably if it's not part of their working week)? That's outrageous. They should be forced to work every Sunday, on pain of death.

 

[InkyScrolls]

Bizarre 'Spanish practices' rail staff will keep on top of pay rise

Ministers said on Wednesday that they had struck a deal with union chiefs which would see the average driver's salary soar by 14.25 per cent to about £69,000.

www.dailymail.co.uk

I assume this is the article being referred to.

Not all of these are related to drivers though. And I've never heard of a rule about microwaves!

What a load of bullocks. No wonder the more gullible members of the public are so against drivers, if they believe that hogwash.

 

[dk1]

What a load of bullocks. No wonder the more gullible members of the public are so against drivers, if they believe that hogwash.

Gullible and public tend to go hand in hand and especially if they purchase the Daily Mail. It’s what they want to believe.

 

[InkyScrolls]

Gullible and public tend to go hand in hand and especially if the purchase the Daily Mail. It’s what they want to believe.

Indeed!

Anyone who thinks driving is an easy job I wish you could have a day in my shoes...

 

[dk1]

Anyone who thinks driving is an easy job I wish you could have a day in my shoes...

To an extent yes but it’s my choice of job. I just get on with it.

 

[InkyScrolls]

To an extent yes but it’s my choice of job. I just get on with it.

Oh of course! A choice few ever regret, I know I certainly won't. But it can in no way be considered an 'easy' job, when you think of all the training and technical knowledge required, as well as the actual act of driving.

 

[12LDA28C]

Oh of course! A choice few ever regret, I know I certainly won't. But it can in no way be considered an 'easy' job, when you think of all the training and technical knowledge required, as well as the actual act of driving.

That can't be right. There are plenty of experts commenting on the Daily Fail website today about how a driver 'just presses a button'. I even heard a caller on national Radio 2 today explain how a driver just 'pushes a lever forward to go and pulls it backwards to stop'.

 

[InkyScrolls]

That can't be right. There are plenty of experts commenting on the Daily Fail website today about how a driver 'just presses a button'. I even heard a caller on national Radio 2 today explain how a driver just 'pushes a lever forward to go and pulls it backwards to stop'.

Oh! I've been doing it wrong all this time!

People's stupidity is one of those gifts that just keeps giving.

 

[S-Car-Go]

I mean, printing "Spanish practices" sounds like racism to me. Foreigners! Lazy people! This odious expression should be retired.

How dare drivers have 5 min to walk to/from their messroom! When Daily Mail readers commute to work by train, they want their driver to be fatigued, miserable, and annoyed with the whole world, just like them!

 

[AverageJoe]

People seem to be very well aquatinted with all the perks that come with being a train driver but then completely turn a blind eye to all the negatives we have to deal with.

My friends love to make comments about my earnings and having the good life but then when I’m starting work at 1am and saying I can’t go to this party or that part they tell me they could never do my job.

Well which is it? Is it a dream job or a bad job? People can’t seem to decide but love to make out we have it made.

Everyone that has an issue with our wages and T&C’s should apply and come and join the ‘easy’ life

 

[LowLevel]

Ahh, walking time. Despite the fact I am expected to be polite and helpful when people flag me down to answer queries, the walking time at my home station is 5 minutes, 3 minutes less than that allowed for passengers to interchange. It can be several hundred metres including up and down stairs too.

I rarely leave less than 10 minutes for me to walk anywhere, funnily enough, despite the walking time being 5 minutes, because it only takes one "can you tell me..." for it to be insufficient and it's a rush anyway.

 

[newtownmgr]

Dual manning in cabs which dated back to the need for a driver and fireman.

Not quite correct.
Single manning in cabs had started to be introduced as far back as the late 50’s with DMU/EMU services. By the late 60’s loco hauled passenger operated by locos fitted with ETH and fully fitted freights had started to become single manned on the footplate.

That left mainly steam heated operated trains,partially fitted or trip freight jobs to be double manned, or jobs that the driver couldn’t get a full break in to be double manned all subject to local agreements.

HST’s operating at above 100 & then 110mph required 2 drivers not a driver & second man. Obviously many variations both local and nationally on the above, but single manning has been around for a long time.

 

[S-Car-Go]

Ahh, walking time. Despite the fact I am expected to be polite and helpful when people flag me down to answer queries, the walking time at my home station is 5 minutes, 3 minutes less than that allowed for passengers to interchange. It can be several hundred metres including up and down stairs too.

I rarely leave less than 10 minutes for me to walk anywhere, funnily enough, despite the walking time being 5 minutes, because it only takes one "can you tell me..." for it to be insufficient and it's a rush anyway.

Ohhh, I really want to start a thread on anecdotes of stupid questions that railway staff have been asked

 

[newtownmgr]

Ohhh, I really want to start a thread on anecdotes of stupid questions that railway staff have been asked

Honestly you don’t, it will never end and you won’t believe half of it!

 

[Osian85]

What the hell is this lot?!!…

SAYING NO TO SUNDAYS
Drivers can choose whether they work on Sundays and get an overtime rate if they do. The previous government wanted Sunday to be part of the working week.

- Bull! I have to work sundays as part of the week, for no extra pay.

BAN ON DIGITAL DEVICES
Train drivers rely on noticeboards for notifications about speed limits and safety checks. The Tory government wanted them to start using iPad-style tablets instead. But Aslef bosses refused, saying it goes beyond members' normal working practices – and even demanded more pay.

- Bull! at my previous TOC we had tablets and they were so locked down with company software they were useless, you couldn’t even adjust the brightness, they stayed in the box, in lockers! My current TOC is intruducing them.

ENDLESS MEDICAL CHECKS
A regulation in place since 1980 lets workers take paid time off for a medical check if they use a microwave on the job.

- Bull! I have a medical every two years, ECG, height and weight, talk about importance of rest and sleep etc, Its mandated and I attend in uniform, so it should be in works time and paid!

DOUBLING UP WORKERS
Menial tasks such as changing a plug socket can take nine workers because of resistance to multi-skilling staff. Different teams can't cross boundary lines to help sort a fault.

- Bull, we dont have menial tasks and dont share work (ie two drivers booked on one train), adding duties such as ‘clean the train as you change ends’ etc takes work away from other paid staff; the cleaning workforce who do a great job.

WALKING ALLOWANCES
These dictate that staff must be given extra time on breaks to cover the process of strolling to and from their mess room and a train. For example, at Birmingham New Street station a worker's half-hour tea break actually lasts 40 minutes, with five minutes for the journey there and back.

- Hey where I work we can get as little as a single 15min break in a six hour day, 20mins on an 8hr day, I need that walking time to extend my time away from the cab for my sanity! (I love my job but its tiring and I see rails when I close my eyes!) and during this walking time I get all manner of ‘which train’ ‘which platform’ ‘can you help with my ticket’ etc etc!

EXTENDING A BREAK
Bizarrely, some staff are allowed to restart a break if a manager simply says 'hello', because any conversation with a boss counts as 'work'.

- Bull! if I said that to my manager he would laugh! then ask me if I am really that kind of person, to which I would rightly feel very embarrassed! because im not, and this isn’t a thing…

MANUAL MAINTENANCE
Unions have resisted fitting sensors to trains that would check tracks for defects.

- Bull! my TOC has a 158 kicking about with some light and gizmos pointing down at the track doing some kind of checks whilst in passenger service, it was in the notice case and nobody cares.

 

[S-Car-Go]

Yes, but don't forget @Osian85 that it's the Daily Mail. The most expensive toilet paper in Britain. I don't know why people buy it, I like the quilted stuff

 

[Krokodil]

The only dual manning requirements I recall from that era were:

1. Where there was a train-heating boiler in use;
2. Where a driver PNB could not be fitted in;
3. Where the second man was needed for operational reasons such as coupling/uncoupling.

Which were reasonable requirements unrelated to whether the locos were steam, diesel or electric!

(And, yes, I realise No.1 wouldn't apply in the case of electric traction.)

Plus HSTs (which was definitely not a continuation of steam era practices and it's worth noting that the UK is very much an outlier in permitting 125mph trains under conventional signalling.

If even one of the 11 practices quoted by the Mail today is true (no doubt people will scoff because it is the Mail), then it is all a shambles.

You think that it is a "shambles" that staff are allocated time to reflect the time that it takes to walk somewhere? I used to work at a major theme park (us poor seasonals were not unionised). The staff at the top end of the park were allocated an extra 15 minutes to their lunch break to account for the extra distance to/from the canteen.

Sundays? The unions have wanted Sundays to form part of the contracted week for years. It's not their fault that most of the employers don't employ enough staff to run a seven day service without reliance on overtime.

The rest of the list seems to be drivel.

 

[Tezza1978]

Gullible and public tend to go hand in hand and especially if they purchase the Daily Mail. It’s what they want to believe.

I generally believe that the people who comment negatively on rail related "stories" in the Daily Heil never use railways/drive everywhere including to the end of their street rather than walk/scream that all railways should be closed and tarmaced over for "bus corridors" (another form of public transport that none of them use!!). Rank stupidity essentially.

In short - their opinions are not representative/sane and should be ignored. (not saying that roads don't need improvements /pothole fixing but that's "as well as rail investment" not "instead of" - I'm a motorist as well after all)

 

[dk1]

I generally believe that the people who comment negatively on rail related "stories" in the Daily Heil never use railways/drive everywhere including to the end of their street rather than walk/scream that all railways should be closed and tarmaced over for "bus corridors" (another form of public transport that none of them use!!). Rank stupidity essentially.

In short - their opinions are not representative/sane and should be ignored. (not saying that roads don't need improvements /pothole fixing but that's "as well as rail investment" not "instead of" - I'm a motorist as well after all)

Totally agree. It’s similar with the borderline trolls who comment often on social media proclaiming only the bad points as they witness it and then a few posts later declare that they haven’t been on a train in the best part of twenty years. Give me strength!!

 

[irish_rail]

What the hell is this lot?!!…

SAYING NO TO SUNDAYS
Drivers can choose whether they work on Sundays and get an overtime rate if they do. The previous government wanted Sunday to be part of the working week.

- Bull! I have to work sundays as part of the week, for no extra pay.

BAN ON DIGITAL DEVICES
Train drivers rely on noticeboards for notifications about speed limits and safety checks. The Tory government wanted them to start using iPad-style tablets instead. But Aslef bosses refused, saying it goes beyond members' normal working practices – and even demanded more pay.

- Bull! at my previous TOC we had tablets and they were so locked down with company software they were useless, you couldn’t even adjust the brightness, they stayed in the box, in lockers! My current TOC is intruducing them.

ENDLESS MEDICAL CHECKS
A regulation in place since 1980 lets workers take paid time off for a medical check if they use a microwave on the job.

- Bull! I have a medical every two years, ECG, height and weight, talk about importance of rest and sleep etc, Its mandated and I attend in uniform, so it should be in works time and paid!

DOUBLING UP WORKERS
Menial tasks such as changing a plug socket can take nine workers because of resistance to multi-skilling staff. Different teams can't cross boundary lines to help sort a fault.

- Bull, we dont have menial tasks and dont share work (ie two drivers booked on one train), adding duties such as ‘clean the train as you change ends’ etc takes work away from other paid staff; the cleaning workforce who do a great job.

WALKING ALLOWANCES
These dictate that staff must be given extra time on breaks to cover the process of strolling to and from their mess room and a train. For example, at Birmingham New Street station a worker's half-hour tea break actually lasts 40 minutes, with five minutes for the journey there and back.

- Hey where I work we can get as little as a single 15min break in a six hour day, 20mins on an 8hr day, I need that walking time to extend my time away from the cab for my sanity! (I love my job but its tiring and I see rails when I close my eyes!) and during this walking time I get all manner of ‘which train’ ‘which platform’ ‘can you help with my ticket’ etc etc!

EXTENDING A BREAK
Bizarrely, some staff are allowed to restart a break if a manager simply says 'hello', because any conversation with a boss counts as 'work'.

- Bull! if I said that to my manager he would laugh! then ask me if I am really that kind of person, to which I would rightly feel very embarrassed! because im not, and this isn’t a thing…

MANUAL MAINTENANCE
Unions have resisted fitting sensors to trains that would check tracks for defects.

- Bull! my TOC has a 158 kicking about with some light and gizmos pointing down at the track doing some kind of checks whilst in passenger service, it was in the notice case and nobody cares.

Having read this, I'd like to hope Aslef are going to take some kind of action against the Daily Mail. If you print lies,in the past papers had to put an apology on page 2 or whatever to explain they got it wrong. Aslef need to be pressing for this, as that list is so utterly fanciful. The only truism , is 5 minutes walking time to get around big stations, which is a perfectly reasonable requirement. The rest is all utter garbage, and it's important the Mail apologises and educates its readers accordingly.

 

[Krokodil]

We keep seeing "well they're not doctors" posted online. This BMA rep is backing the drivers:

x.com

x.com

The absolute scenes of Conservative MPs climbing out the woodwork to bleat on about train drivers getting a deal (albeit BELOW aggregate inflation of the past 3 years, I.e. another pay cut).

These people know no nuance and are ideologically hateful towards working people.