Conductor Job - What is it like?

[scott118]

Tony. I feel for you. In an industry which is now full of upstarts, boil in the bags, or even microwave employees/managers, I'm not surprised, that thankfully, you have now taken retirement. Nobody has shown your seniority, any respect have they. Even your TOC has taken away so many perks, such as your sublime safeguarded travel cards, and security, as you have previously mentioned. Not lost to you though personally. I don't doubt that, back in the day, rosters were so much better, annual leave was always granted, traction was more reliable, and it was a job for life, with a final salary pension blah blah blah. However generations, and attitudes change.

To what benefit is it to someone new to the industry, to know how good life was, in your opinion, 20 years ago? The world changes daily, as has your job role. Technology makes advances, so why not embrace them. You have a skill set, that is now, decades old. You are institutionalised. However, I respect your loyalty that you showed to your employer. It's a rare thing today, however as previously written, perhaps you didn't have a skill set or an aptitude to make a change.

Pouring scorn, on a industry, that has afforded you so many luxuries isn't viewed as bitter, no? We all come to work to earn money. Whether we choose to do that with a smile on our faces, is a personal choice obviously. I wasn't happy, so I sat interviews, and got myself another role within the rail industry. My choice. All that aside, I certainly, wouldn't berate others, who are looking to join, or move roles within that industry. Nor the TOC who previously employed me, as they were good enough to fund my lifestyle, on a monthly basis..

Sit back, relax and enjoy the fact that you don't have any other need, other than voluntary, to be starting/finishing at 3am. I will continue to work, and pay my taxes, to subsidise your new, stress free lifestyle, for sure.

 

[the sniper]

Ouch... I'm still not sure what this guy has done to attract such scorn. I've never read anything on this forum that has made me feel quite so uncomfortable as the post above.

me personally?.......it wouldn't bother me how long i'd been in the job, if i've become disillusioned with the industry or i wasn't happy going to work every day i'd be away on my toes and give the opportunity to someone who really wanted it!....but that's just me!.

That's very altruistic, but most people don't just give up their job because they don't enjoy it any more. I'd say the majority of people don't 'enjoy' their work at all and many probably never have, but go to work and stick at it because they're receiving a good wage and find their job to be tolerable. As you say, personally you'd move, that's completely fair enough, but later you've gone on to poke Tony a couple of times because he wouldn't do the same:

Why would someone spend 34 years in the job and basically tell people to steer clear of the industry??

so you spend 34 years in an industry and advise people to steer clear because you don't hate the job?

I still don't get where this idea that he HATES the job came from anyway?

we'd all like a nice 1950's "the railway children" environment where passengers pay for their tickets ALL the time and children were respectful etc etc etc but it's simply not like that anymore!

I don't think it was ever really like that, I certainly don't think it was like that in the 80s when Tony started, so it hasn't changed in that respect. Maybe what has changed now is that nowadays you have to do the job with your hands tied behind your back. Got a fare dodger? Well you better thank them and go and hide in the back cab until they get off of their own free will... I don't believe this was the recommended approach in BR days!

maybe the job isn't what it was but do you honestly think the job will be what it is now in 30 years time?

No, I don't. I don't personally think this grade will exist in 30 years, I'd love to be proven wrong though. That's partly why I agreed with Tony's assertion that there's 'not the job security there once was'.

changes will happen but that's not always a bad thing! for the larger part it's society that changes and if the industry doesn't change with it there may not be a job to go to!..........

I can't see what changes will happen that'll improve this grade. What changes are you thinking of? I can only think of T&Cs that we'll have to give up and responsibilities that'll be stripped from us courtesy of the DfTs ideology. Most of us have got a pretty cushty number at the moment, long may it last, but I don't think it will.

most of the old hands say to me that the money used to be crap but you loved coming into work etc........well once again i think society has had a big say in that changing simply because they used to be able to say what they liked when they liked in a mess room that includes racism and homophobia for example.......but in today's society you can't do that!.........and if you do whether individually or as a company/industry you are for the high jump!.......is that solely the industries fault? i don't believe so personally as most industries follow that model now anyway.

In Tony's day it was alright to be racist and homophobic... now he doesn't like it any more.... It all makes sense now.

Personally I don't think the job was better in BR days because of casual racism and homophobia! I'd say it was rather more obviously because the work was far less intensive and compared to life in many depots nowadays, far more interesting and varied. Of course there was much more of a social aspect to it in those days too, due to the lower pay and pre-Hidden many of those guys almost seemed to live at work. It seems like it was a big, very unconventional family!

why ever not? Insult? That's your interpretation surely. I'm aware of the fact that the monetary rewards driver's receive today, wasn't available in the 1980's, however, wasn't it, back in the day, one of the most sought after, respected jobs, to have gotten yourself? It wasn't long before that, that every railway worker would have hopefully progress through the ranks, like perhaps their own father had done, and their father before that..Becoming a driver was always the ultimate job on the railway, and for some, it still is, the mutt's nuts, as tradition dictates. Driving isn't for everyone though, that's a given. However at the depot I was based at, the percentage of wannabe drivers, was very high in comparison. Talking to the older generation, and you will also hear, the bitterness from those, who never made the driver grade..

I don't think getting a driving job was the be all and end all that it is today. Certainly there was a lot more pay parity between grades back then then there is now. Of course little boys dreamed of being Drivers and some carried that over into their desire for a career, rather then going down the Guard, Signaller, PWay or station staff routes, but these grades had routes of progression to 'bigger and better' things in their own right, this didn't usually mean going Driving! Guards going driving only became a 'thing' in the late 80s. If Tony is a 'failed driver', it largely due to him having 'failed' to go down the right career path in the first place. If he'd wanted to have been a driver he'd presumably have started as a second man, as in 1980 there was no concept that you'd progress from Guard to Driver.

.......anyone thinking that the conductor grade isn't a secure one is living in a dream world

Err... Ask forum member 313103 how secure the Conductor grade is, or maybe one of his 100+ former colleagues. Or find one of the former C2C Guards. The DfT are baying for our blood, this grade can't be called secure. It certainly isn't as secure as it once was, though this threat varies in severity from TOC to TOC.

The issues that you highlighted about job security , as well as the way the role is changing so you are always seen as operationally wrong are systematic of your own experiences in the role and will really depend on the TOC and the manager at the time

I am aware that in some depots in some tocs around the country there will be managers and tocs that encourage their managers to badger staff about revenue targets , and would take a more official stance on money going missing and customer complaints .

Which is essentially what Tony had said on the page previous to the one you posted on:

You forget the most important thing, everything depends on what TOC you work for and if they value the role of the Conductor or not and that would be the first thing I found out before I considered a job with them.

I think there's a fair amount of common ground here between Tony and the rest of you guys, except the insinuations that Tony was a failed driver, bad at his job, the wrong person for his job, a risk taker, someone who didn't do his job in accordance with the rules, who winged his way through the job and possibly indulged in a bit racism and homophobia in various BR messrooms...

 

[red2005]

Ouch... I'm still not sure what this guy has done to attract such scorn. I've never read anything on this forum that has made me feel quite so uncomfortable as the post above.



That's very altruistic, but most people don't just give up their job because they don't enjoy it any more. I'd say the majority of people don't 'enjoy' their work at all and many probably never have, but go to work and stick at it because they're receiving a good wage and find their job to be tolerable. As you say, personally you'd move, that's completely fair enough, but later you've gone on to poke Tony a couple of times because he wouldn't do the same:

I still don't get where this idea that he HATES the job came from anyway?



I don't think it was ever really like that, I certainly don't think it was like that in the 80s when Tony started, so it hasn't changed in that respect. Maybe what has changed now is that nowadays you have to do the job with your hands tied behind your back. Got a fare dodger? Well you better thank them and go and hide in the back cab until they get off of their own free will... I don't believe this was the recommended approach in BR days!



No, I don't. I don't personally think this grade will exist in 30 years, I'd love to be proven wrong though. That's partly why I agreed with Tony's assertion that there's 'not the job security there once was'.



I can't see what changes will happen that'll improve this grade. What changes are you thinking of? I can only think of T&Cs that we'll have to give up and responsibilities that'll be stripped from us courtesy of the DfTs ideology. Most of us have got a pretty cushty number at the moment, long may it last, but I don't think it will.



In Tony's day it was alright to be racist and homophobic... now he doesn't like it any more.... It all makes sense now.

Personally I don't think the job was better in BR days because of casual racism and homophobia! I'd say it was rather more obviously because the work was far less intensive and compared to life in many depots nowadays, far more interesting and varied. Of course there was much more of a social aspect to it in those days too, due to the lower pay and pre-Hidden many of those guys almost seemed to live at work. It seems like it was a big, very unconventional family!



I don't think getting a driving job was the be all and end all that it is today. Certainly there was a lot more pay parity between grades back then then there is now. Of course little boys dreamed of being Drivers and some carried that over into their desire for a career, rather then going down the Guard, Signaller, PWay or station staff routes, but these grades had routes of progression to 'bigger and better' things in their own right, this didn't usually mean going Driving! Guards going driving only became a 'thing' in the late 80s. If Tony is a 'failed driver', it largely due to him having 'failed' to go down the right career path in the first place. If he'd wanted to have been a driver he'd presumably have started as a second man, as in 1980 there was no concept that you'd progress from Guard to Driver.



Err... Ask forum member 313103 how secure the Conductor grade is, or maybe one of his 100+ former colleagues. Or find one of the former C2C Guards. The DfT are baying for our blood, this grade can't be called secure. It certainly isn't as secure as it once was, though this threat varies in severity from TOC to TOC.



Which is essentially what Tony had said on the page previous to the one you posted on:



I think there's a fair amount of common ground here between Tony and the rest of you guys, except the insinuations that Tony was a failed driver, bad at his job, the wrong person for his job, a risk taker, someone who didn't do his job in accordance with the rules, who winged his way through the job and possibly indulged in a bit racism and homophobia in various BR messrooms...

Let's get one thing straight first!......I've not accused anyone of anything especially racism and homophobia!! I just highlighted 2 major changes!!

In terms of security I think you'll find my very first reply stated that it was very TOC specific!

I dint know what the changes will be as my crystal ball is at home but your mad If you think the railway will still be the same in 30 years!........but you have said the grade may not exist in 30 years so there's one change!!......drivers may not be here in 30 years but would that force me to tell people not to join??........it's 30 years!!!!!!!!!!! Lol

Yes maybe your hands are tied behind your back in terms of the example you used!?? Back then you threw a fare dodger off they took it on the chin but know they either wanna punch you or stick it all over social media etc.......to me that just says that it's society that's changed!.......we're in such a claim culture companies would be mad not to protect themselves!.........back then you could chuck a drunk off at an unmanned station but now we've got a duty of care!!......not right in my eyes but does it make it a bad industry?? Na!

Listen mate personally I'd rather earn 100 quid a week and be happy than 100k and miserable!.......there's working to live and living to work......it's about finding the happy medium!..........yes I did move from my previous industry because I was unhappy but if anyone asked whether I'd recommend it I'd say yes everytime!! do I go round telling all and sundry not to join the police simply because it wasn't my cup of tea? Nope!

Life's to short to hang around in an industry you do nothing but moan over!.......If you don't like it move!.......let someone else have it who'll appreciate it!.....no one says u have to come to work with a skip and a jump every day but to try and put people off because of an issue that Is more of a personal one is quite daft!

 

[Flamingo]

Sit back, relax and enjoy the fact that you don't have any other need, other than voluntary, to be starting/finishing at 3am. I will continue to work, and pay my taxes, to subsidise your new, stress free lifestyle, for sure.

Well, fair's fair. His taxes paid for your healthcare and education that enabled you to grow up healthy and educated enough to get a job and pay taxes...