Who's Been Shafted by the Torie's

[Talbot]

Throughout my working life I have been made redundant three times due to them, not a nice situation when you have a young family to bring up.
First time was 1989 when our last deep mining pit closed in Ayrshire ( the Barony ), then three years later the young persons training scheme I worked with was given the boot as well (community industry), finally, in January of this year my last post was also affected due to them re-emerging. Times were difficult during all three times, but I was resilient in my efforts to regain employment, and have now become one of the many rail workers out there, and am so thankful I have been given the opportunity.
So, to all you out there who think the gardens rosy, sit back and reflect what you have at the moment and be grateful for what you have, give the internal bickering a bye and savour what is there for you, it's sorely missed when it ain't there.

 

[SS4]

No major politician knows what it's like to do an honest day's work nowadays. They don't know what these schemes mean to people and it doesn't matter that they're giving intangible benefits.

The trouble is that politicians of all colours are only in it for themselves and will gladly shaft the UK to serve their own interests. Gerrymandering is the most obvious example of this IMO. The Coalition (ie: the Tories) want to move part of Sutton Coldfield (safe Tory) into Erdington (safe Labour) - I wonder why? Reduction in the number of MPs is coming from urban centres which usually vote labour

 

[table38]

Let's see... 1989 - that was five years after Scargill's pointless strike when he said he would "bring down the government". Two years after Thatcher got re-elected for an unprescedented third term, and ten years after a severe global economic recession affecting much of the developed world in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Why wasn't public opinion on your side? Maybe people just wondered why it had become cheaper to import foreign coal rather than mine our own, and why unelected Scargill thought he was running the country.

Or maybe people wonder why that recession was all Thatcher's fault, but it's OK for Labour to blame the UK's current financial dire straits on a global economic recession.

 

[Talbot]

Let's see... 1989 - that was five years after Scargill's pointless strike when he said he would "bring down the government". Two years after Thatcher got re-elected for an unprescedented third term, and ten years after a severe global economic recession affecting much of the developed world in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Why wasn't public opinion on your side? Maybe people just wondered why it had become cheaper to import foreign coal rather than mine our own, and why unelected Scargill thought he was running the country.

Or maybe people wonder why that recession was all Thatcher's fault, but it's OK for Labour to blame the UK's current financial dire straits on a global economic recession.

He could have and would have if our other allies had joined us, which was asked for, but to no avail, the railmen and steelmen were fine, no worries. Ravensgraig steelworks closed not long after our deep mining empire was shafted, and that my friend was the day trade unionism died. You are an absolutely perfect example of what they bred into our once proud brotherhood, I'm alright Jack, eff you, sad times.

 

[table38]

You are an absolutely perfect example of what they bred into our once proud brotherhood, I'm alright Jack, eff you, sad times.

Really? I was just pointing out some facts. Of course, it's always easier to make personal attacks rather than come up with a coherent counter-argument

 

[AlterEgo]

I've been shafted by the Tories. My local Tory MP has, since I was 18, sent me a (generic) Christmas card every year, as I'm sure he does to everyone on the local electoral roll...

I didn't get one this year.

In all seriousness, I do get fed up with the constant bleating about "the Tories screwed me over" by some people.

I am not a Tory voter, but I don't find it necessary to whinge constantly about their policies. Don't like it - vote against them. I'm afraid quite a few people did vote Tory in the last election, so against my wishes we have David Cameron in office. But that's democracy for you! We can always try to vote him out if we don't like him.

 

[route:oxford]

Throughout my working life I have been made redundant three times due to them, not a nice situation when you have a young family to bring up.
First time was 1989 when our last deep mining pit closed in Ayrshire ( the Barony ), then three years later the young persons training scheme I worked with was given the boot as well (community industry), finally, in January of this year my last post was also affected due to them re-emerging. Times were difficult during all three times, but I was resilient in my efforts to regain employment, and have now become one of the many rail workers out there, and am so thankful I have been given the opportunity.
So, to all you out there who think the gardens rosy, sit back and reflect what you have at the moment and be grateful for what you have, give the internal bickering a bye and savour what is there for you, it's sorely missed when it ain't there.

So really, you've found yourself 4 jobs whilst under a Conservative led government?

If you had the choice, would you have preferred to have worked the last 22+ years in a deep level coal mine in Ayrshire - or has any part of your life turned out better as a consequence of one of the redundancies?

As far as I can see, the working consumers of this country, no matter what their political persuasion, are smelling blood on the high street and are prepared to hold-off spending until they get the discounts they deserve.

It's no longer a "real" recession, it's a consumer-driven recession that'll have to burn out when it's ready - no political party is capable of stopping it.

 

[Talbot]

Really? I was just pointing out some facts. Of course, it's always easier to make personal attacks rather than come up with a coherent counter-argument

No-one was looking for any form of argument, I posted this to give a reflection of how my life was affected ( and those of my community), thinking that possibly most of the rail workers were like minded in their support for trade unions and how even the mighty can fall. But I'll stick my neck out here and perhaps prejudge you.

 

[table38]

But I'll stick my neck out here and perhaps prejudge you.

Fine by me! I rest my case

 

[route:oxford]

No-one was looking for any form of argument, I posted this to give a reflection of how my life was affected ( and those of my community), thinking that possibly most of the rail workers were like minded in their support for trade unions and how even the mighty can fall. But I'll stick my neck out here and perhaps prejudge you.

Making assumptions about "most people" is a regular failing for many people who post on the internet.

 

[Talbot]

So really, you've found yourself 4 jobs whilst under a Conservative led government?

If you had the choice, would you have preferred to have worked the last 22+ years in a deep level coal mine in Ayrshire - or has any part of your life turned out better as a consequence of one of the redundancies?

As far as I can see, the working consumers of this country, no matter what their political persuasion, are smelling blood on the high street and are prepared to hold-off spending until they get the discounts they deserve.

It's no longer a "real" recession, it's a consumer-driven recession that'll have to burn out when it's ready - no political party is capable of stopping it.

You bet your boots on it, best workmates in the world, not that you would know anything about it. I would gladly go back down that shaft tomorrow knowing that everyone of us were in the same plain and looking out for each other, no distinction of who did what or get paid most.

 

[ainsworth74]

He could have and would have if our other allies had joined us, which was asked for, but to no avail, the railmen and steelmen were fine, no worries. Ravensgraig steelworks closed not long after our deep mining empire was shafted, and that my friend was the day trade unionism died.

If he had brought down the government then that would have been a usurping of democracy. The trade union movement had no right and still has no right to try and bring down a government that was democratically elected by the people (most of whom are not trade union members) three times and each time returning large majorities for her party.

 

[AlterEgo]

No-one was looking for any form of argument

This is a discussion forum...

thinking that possibly most of the rail workers were like minded in their support for trade unions and how even the mighty can fall.

Yes, but do we have to blame The Bloody Tories for everything? Perhaps coal mining is no longer relevant, nor an important industry for us? Granted the Tories played their part, but it is not fair (nor intelligent) to say you keep getting shafted.

But I'll stick my neck out here and perhaps prejudge you.

:roll:

 

[Talbot]

Making assumptions about "most people" is a regular failing for many people who post on the internet.

Wow, you're some kid, eh ? so where is the ( failings) ?
The most people I was expecting to read my post were " most people from a national rail forum ", therefore one would perhaps think we were all on the same wavelength, obviously not.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

This is a discussion forum...



Yes, but do we have to blame The Bloody Tories for everything? Perhaps coal mining is no longer relevant, nor an important industry for us? Granted the Tories played their part, but it is not fair (nor intelligent) to say you keep getting shafted.



:roll:

Your username says it all.

 

[AlterEgo]

Your username says it all.

Thank you. I quite like it myself, although I'll admit I'm not sure what it says to you.

Care to counter some of the points made by both myself and other posters, instead of ignoring them? Or are we going to throw faeces at each other like primates?

 

[route:oxford]

You bet your boots on it, best workmates in the world, not that you would know anything about it. I would gladly go back down that shaft tomorrow knowing that everyone of us were in the same plain and looking out for each other, no distinction of who did what or get paid most.

If you're spending your day yearning for the past rather than concentrating on the present, you're unlikely to be putting your full effort into the role.

We all yearn for moments of our careers when colleagues worked pretty well together in a close knit team. It's only when you take a virtual step-back from it that you realise that the reason why things were so close knit is because the role or the circumstances were in reality dreadful.

 

[ainsworth74]

The most people I was expecting to read my post were " most people from a national rail forum ", therefore one would perhaps think we were all on the same wavelength, obviously not.

Why would we be? The membership of this forum is as diverse as you could like we don't all work on the railway as guards, drivers and ticket clerks. Most of us don't work on the railway at all! And to be honest wouldn't be a bit boring if we all agreed on everything

 

[route:oxford]

Wow, you're some kid, eh ? so where is the ( failings) ?
The most people I was expecting to read my post were " most people from a national rail forum ", therefore one would perhaps think we were all on the same wavelength, obviously not..

"Kid" Well, I'm not a goat...

The rail industry is made up of all kinds of people. Some will vote Tory, some will vote for socialists, others will vote SNP, BNP, Green or even Liberal Democrat.

Not everyone is a member of a Union (It's usually a better result to take advantage of the Human Rights Act and hire a lawyer yourself these days - scare the hell out of management).

If you're expecting everyone to be on the right wavelength - then you're sadly mistaken. If that were the case we'd all agree on the best DMU, loco and whether or not Voyagers are right for the network.

Your username says it all.

Talbot - well my Aunt had one of those in the 80s... I think it was a "Samba" - I do know it was a rust-bucket.

 

[table38]

Actually my last boyfriend used to read The Times, so I suppose you could say...

Nope, I'll never get that past the mods

 

[ANorthernGuard]

"Kid" Well, I'm not a goat...

The rail industry is made up of all kinds of people. Some will vote Tory, some will vote for socialists, others will vote SNP, BNP, Green or even Liberal Democrat.

Not everyone is a member of a Union (It's usually a better result to take advantage of the Human Rights Act and hire a lawyer yourself these days - scare the hell out of management).

If you're expecting everyone to be on the right wavelength - then you're sadly mistaken. If that were the case we'd all agree on the best DMU, loco and whether or not Voyagers are right for the network.




Talbot - well my Aunt had one of those in the 80s... I think it was a "Samba" - I do know it was a rust-bucket.

Nothing wrong with the Talbot Samba I had one as my first car lol

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Why would we be? The membership of this forum is as diverse as you could like we don't all work on the railway as guards, drivers and ticket clerks. Most of us don't work on the railway at all! And to be honest wouldn't be a bit boring if we all agreed on everything

A well written posting from a thoughtful forum member.

 

[edinight]

Nothing wrong with the Talbot Samba I had one as my first car lol

As much as your car stories are interesting....
I think you'll find the A.T.F.C. in Talbot's signature stands for Auchinleck. Hope that illuminates the conversation there!

 

[Lampshade]

Nothing wrong with the Talbot Samba I had one as my first car lol

Prefer the Sunbeam myself

 

[Schnellzug]

So really, you've found yourself 4 jobs whilst under a Conservative led government?

If you had the choice, would you have preferred to have worked the last 22+ years in a deep level coal mine in Ayrshire - or has any part of your life turned out better as a consequence of one of the redundancies?

But on the other side of the coin, is coal still an essential commodity for the functioning of the country? Yes it is, more and more in fact since electricity consumption continues to rise inexorably, and "green" energy could never possibly come anywhere near to meeting demand. Is continuing to rely on Russia, China etc for supply of this commodity really a sensible thing in the long term? I'd venture to suggest that it isn't. So I'm afraid that it was one very very foolish mistake to destroy, out of sheer political "Free Market" dogma and bloody-mindedness, this essential industry; and exactly the same could be said for shipbuilding, since how do we import everything we need? That's right. We have to rely on international conglomerates using ships built in (mostly) Far eastern shipbuilders. Again, we have to rely on others, which is, ironically, one of the things that Conservatives claim to disapprove of and insist that everyone should stand on their own two feet. Foolish.

 

[ACE1888]

Well not exactly shafted, but when I left school in '84 there were NO apprenticeships going only 'YTS' (cheap labour), the railways (BREL) as it was, was contracting bigtime, so in the Far South West there wasn't much, if anything, in the way of vacancies at the time. I would have loved to have done an appenticeship, but have worked for Tesco all my working life (in various roles), just leaves you with the thought of 'what could have been' if the Government at the time had put the effort in at the time as a whole generation weren't properly trained which later lead to a skills shortage when tradesmen retired a few years later:roll: You got the impression that the Thatcher administration was based on 'self, self self and f*** everybody else', unsurprisingly I've never voted Tory
Oh well....

 

[ralphchadkirk]

But on the other side of the coin, is coal still an essential commodity for the functioning of the country? Yes it is, more and more in fact since electricity consumption continues to rise

No it isn't. Vast numbers of coal powered power stations have closed. In fact there are only 14 nationally compared to 45 gas fired power stations. In terms of power production, Dungeness B, the lowest power generating nuclear power station creates more electricity than 4 of those 14 coal power stations.

In short, coal is becoming less and less needed.

 

[Schnellzug]

And where does the Gas come from? Russia, mostly! really sensible idea. let's rely on Vladimir Putin. :roll:

 

[ralphchadkirk]

And where does the Gas come from? Russia, mostly! really sensible idea. let's rely on Vladimir Putin. :roll:

Actually it mostly comes from the UK. We don't just import from Russia, we also use the Netherlands and a few other gas-producing countries.

 

[Hydro]

In terms of power production, Dungeness B, the lowest power generating nuclear power station creates more electricity than 4 of those 14 coal power stations.

I've been there, when you were able to get guided tours of such places. Kindled my fascination with nuclear energy.

 

[ralphchadkirk]

I've been there, when you were able to get guided tours of such places. Kindled my fascination with nuclear energy.

I was going to visit there on my holiday to Kent this summer, but unfortunately the visitor centre had closed (in about 2004!). It's fascinating stuff, nuclear energy. The potential it has to change energy production in this country is massive - as long as we can work out how to solve this irritating spent fuel problem!