And I know plenty of people who also don't work inside the railway industry, none of whom seem to know or care who he is. Methinks you may have a slight, albeit indirect bias in his favour, based on the work that you do...
Perhaps the people you know aren’t well informed, or don’t follow current affairs? For anyone who has taken a even a passing interest in recent political events over the past few weeks it would be difficult not to know who Mick Lynch is.
You’ll find many people in London (even right wing Tory voting middle class professional types) also know who Bob Crow was, even though he died years ago.
I’ve regularly criticised the RMT’s messaging on here. It’s not my union and very few of my immediate colleagues in the job I do belong to it. I certainly admire the RMT’s approach more than I admire “unions” which are chocolate tea pot talking shops, yes. I also happen to agree with their current approach to this dispute which has clearly impressed people well beyond their usual “fan base”.
You might not like that, but it’s obvious.
So the war in Ukraine and the covid spending is just spin from the Tories? Because forgive me for saying this, but these things are having an impact on us all.
Those are temporary factors contributing to a temporary spike in inflation. Real terms pay cuts are permanent.
No, who gets the pay rises paid for from the Treasury is about what is available. That is how it works, and always has done in the public sector. Welcome aboard.
No, what’s available is down to what the treasury decides is available. That has been well demonstrated over the past two years. Surely you aren’t naive enough to think that public spending (both its quantum and its direction) isn’t primarily dictated by the politics of the government of the day?
So what else do you propose, more strikes, more loss of income? As I have said all along, you pick your fights. Right now the railway unions are going head on with a government desperate for a cuts and a scapegoat. If you can't figure out what that could lead to then good luck to you.
Personally I’d always rather fight than simply roll over and do nothing. Doing nothing doesn’t tend to lead to favourable results, as your industry demonstrates.
Given the fact that so many companies seem to have failed to be able to self-sustain I'd say don't hold your breath.
The railway isn’t expected to be self sustaining, it wont be allowed to go bust, yet it isn’t exclusively funded by the public sector. That’s privatisation for you.
It’s not going anywhere…
I'm telling you this because this is what is happening in the public sector. Long story short, this government is going to swing the axe and until we get the chance to vote them out they will continue to do so. We are being told to cut back to 2016 staffing levels, even though workloads are still way higher. That should ring alarm bells even amongst the most militant. It isn't the 1980s anymore, unions have to be way smarter than just shouting "everybody out".
More fear mongering. The railway unions aren’t just shouting “everybody out” - the RMT has mounted a successful PR campaign and negotiations are progressing. You roll out the stuff about the government “swinging the axe” in every exchange on this subject. What will *actually* happen is that a deal will eventually be thrashed out, most likely not involving compulsory redundancies.
I have no doubt you will be disappointed with that outcome!
Incorrect, most of my colleagues like me aren't prepared for a fight that we won't win right now. Perhaps we aren't militant enough, but having a job is far more preferable than not. Maybe in a year or two when a certain election starts to loom....
I think you just need to accept other unions in other industries are different.
Ultimately If you’re going to get sacked it’ll happen anyway. I think you’ll find it’s rare for employers to say “we were going to make you redundant but, since you didn’t go on strike, we will reward you by keeping you on”.
You are quite wrong, if anything the bitterness comes from yourself. I seem to recall it was you that made a comment about making furloughed staff pay extra taxes, people who potentially lost 20% of their income? And just because your nasty employer (funded by extra taxpayer money) made you carry on going to work while they were forced to stay at home. Now that's what I call bitterness.
That was in the context of people saying low paid rail staff such as cleaners should suck it up and take a pay cut when others have been paid by the government to do nothing. I maintain that position.
As for bitter, it’s not me that’s engaging in online ranting about the actions of a union in an industry I don’t even work in!
I'm not looking for your respect. All I have tried to argue in this conversation is that now is not the time to go chasing after the kind of pay claims that the rail, and other sector unions are after, especially when those claims will be funded fully or partially by public funds. I would love an inflation busting pay rise, but I am also aware that there are a lot of people who would have to pay more for it, many of whom don't have the benefit of a union or the luxury of a pay decent enough to allow them to strike.
Sorry but who on Earth are you to tell other employees in another industry when they should deign to ask for a pay rise?! Please spare me the holier than thou “someone has to pay your wages” sanctimony. Someone has to pay everyone’s wages. Perhaps you should write to Mick Lynch and give him your thoughts directly!
It’s very clear to me what’s motivating your postings on this subject - such visceral anger at a union in an industry you don’t even work in doesn’t happen by accident - and that is indeed something I cannot respect at all.
There’s probably little to discuss further, so I will leave this particular exchange there.
