Northern Rail 48 hour strike called

[Mojo]

My Dad's working tomorrow. It's in the contract that the company provides an all year round service, so staff are expected to work when scheduled to. The "reward" is normal pay and a day off in lieu. As is usual for bank holidays the company runs 15% of its usual staff (rostered so everyone works their fair share of bank holidays) so going on strike will achieve nothing - they'll just ask someone else to do the work.

 

[Clip]

I would love to be on 42k a year However I must factor in cost of living etc.42k seems to be pretty similar cost of living wise to the 35k a yr driver up here are on

Though a lot of tube drivers live well outside of london because they get generous travel allowances.

Though on the flip to that when they have to start dirt early/finish very late when theres not much to get them home then this may cause them hardship

 

[313103]

Post Deleted.

See below!

 

[Clip]

I am also working and so is the majority of the workforce on London Overground because London Overground (despite the fact there is no NLL work) are treating today and tomorrow as an ordinary bank holiday (flat pay no enhanced rate). I am a Conductor of which there will be no work for, so i will sit around for a shift twidling my thumbs. Some of you may think thats great, but they havent been in the messroom at Willesden for 8 hours 46 minutes! The only Conductors that will be off are those that are rostered Annual Leave (about 15 out of 114) and those that are sick.

As there is no trains for to get to work i have to leave an hour earlier then normal and catch three different buses. But eh whose grumbling. By the way are the banks, council offices, doctors surgeries, schools and government offices open today? ...............
hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm i thought not. That is why its called a bank holiday.

Ive been working yesterday and today... thank god not tomorrow cos the cricket is on.

But there are some people working for the banks - the ones that fill the cash machines. Doctors still have to work in hospitals. Locally i know of no government offices open but there will be people in them - security and such like


so what is your point again?

 

[313103]

I am also working and so is the majority of the workforce on London Overground because London Overground (despite the fact there is no NLL work) are treating today and tomorrow as an ordinary bank holiday (flat pay no enhanced rate). I am a Conductor of which there will be no work for, so i will sit around for a shift twiddling my thumbs. Some of you may think that's great, but they haven't been in the messroom at Willesden for 8 hours 46 minutes! The only Conductors that will be off are those that are rostered Annual Leave (about 15 out of 114) and those that are sick.

As there is no trains for to get to work i have to leave an hour earlier then normal and catch three different buses. But eh whose grumbling. By the way are the banks, council offices, doctors surgeries, schools and government offices not open today? ...............
hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm i thought not. That is why its called a bank holiday.

Strangely no seems to have mentioned in great detail that Aslef were on strike today in London. Perhaps that is because Bob Crow and the RMT were not involved.
With you in spirit my fellow Northern Rail colleagues
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Ive been working yesterday and today... thank god not tomorrow cos the cricket is on.

Rather strange that you were working today and yesterday, i dont recall any trains running! I do recall that you work on the railways because in a previous thread you said 'That is what i tell my staff from the Cleaners to the RPIs, to do'. However i am glad that you have put RPIs ahead of drivers, that makes a pleasent and very nice surprise.

 

[ANorthernGuard]

I saw this on the other forum and it sums how guards feel perfectly (ex FNW side) I didnt post a link before so it got deleted so here we go again

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Re: Northern Rail Strike

Postby lancastrian » Sun Dec 26, 2010 10:27 am
Mm - for those on here wishing to find out more about this dispute (& the particular reason as to why a strike has been called), I would suggest looking in on Northern Railways forum, where the subject matter has been dissected in the minutest detail.
However, in so much as Northern Rail would have the world see this otherwise, this culmination in a YES vote for strike action has been brewing up for a VERY long time - industrial relations are totally & utterly abysmal - in particular, in the completely forgotten ex FNW bits of Northern Rail (have they forgotten that we do actually exist, I really do wonder).
Whilst drawing a discreet veil over the not-inconsiderable (& ever widening) pay gap between guards & drivers, our terms & conditions of employment have taken a battering with this management - hardly surprising, since the dear departed Heidi Mottram's opening gambit was "Why do we have guards " (Heidi, of course, now having jumped ship, along with a good number of her cronies).
For the record, guards at Northern are NOT allowed to fail units for any reason - that is down to the driver. We are not entitled to heating, either in the cab, or throughout the passenger accommodation - if Control decree that a unit enters/remains in service, it does precisely that, no matter what mechanical or inernal decrepitude it might be in.
We are not entitled to ticketing machinery that is fit for purpose - matters on Advantix/Dione equipment have been very well known to Northern mamagement for a very long time, now - when a recently retired Sportis point operator was striving to get spare parts for these techno monstrosities nearly FIVE years ago, he was pointedly refused, due to "financial cost to the company" - ticket machine failures are now reaching crisis levels in many areas (&, of course, guards have been losing hefty sums of commission in the process - we do NOT get anything from the company when the machine decided to have a hissy fit within minutes of being switched on, & on-train ticket sales are nil).
When peaktime services are constantly being short-formed, we are simply told to do our best - quite what that means when up to 500+ passengers are striving to board a single class 142, I just give up, quite honestly. We are NOT allowed "not to stop" orders at Sal Central & the like, due to "financial cost to the company" - we just have to tough it out, & take all of the passenger frustration, anger & abuse, on behalf of Northern management.
We also now have 9-10 hour dockets in abundance, with the absolute bare minimum break - we have delivered massive savings (ie profit) to Northern in this one respect alone, but there is NO recognition whatsoever for this.
In conclusion, guards at Northern Rail have been made to look like complete buffoons, & are very much seen as the village idiot by many passengers (which is why verbal & physical assaults are rocketing), given that we are the public face of Northern Rail - indeed, the ONLY face, as senior management is in perpetual hiding.
So, we had a ballot for strike action, & 361 of us decided to call time on this bunch of dodgy fairground operators - personally, I do not care for strikes, & I have never been on strike in my life (despite all the ills that we hear of British Rail, true or otherwise), but there does come a point in one's life when one has no other option but to stand up & be counted for what is right.

Here is the link

http://www.railchat.co.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=23869

I hope it explains a few things, I know I couldnt put it any better than this colleague

 

[YorkshireRider]

Ive been working yesterday and today... thank god not tomorrow cos the cricket is on.

But there are some people working for the banks - the ones that fill the cash machines. Doctors still have to work in hospitals. Locally i know of no government offices open but there will be people in them - security and such like


so what is your point again?

Monday and Tuesday are weekdays, are the banks open to the public?? If the answer is no surely by definition its a bank holiday

 

[Tom B]

Monday and Tuesday are weekdays, are the banks open to the public?? If the answer is no surely by definition its a bank holiday

Not necessarily - there are days in Scotland where it can be a perfectly normal working day, but the banks are shut because it's a bank holiday in England!

Though a lot of tube drivers live well outside of london because they get generous travel allowances.

Though on the flip to that when they have to start dirt early/finish very late when theres not much to get them home then this may cause them hardship

Quite - however, I understand that some staff (even those who by choice live miles away) are provided with taxis to get them to/from extreme shifts. I'm not au-fait on the rules surrounding these, though.

 

[185]

Transpennine Express are changing their services today to help out the passengers stranded by the strike.

Instead of 4 trains an hour between Manchester and Leeds, err... theres now 3.

Each train is leaving large numbers behind so far.

Transforming travel (

 

[142094]

Transpennine Express are changing their services today to help out the passengers stranded by the strike.

Instead of 4 trains an hour between Manchester and Leeds, err... theres now 3.

Each train is leaving large numbers behind so far.

Transforming travel (

Wonder how many of those are 170s instead of 185s?

 

[YorkshireRider]

Transpennine Express are changing their services today to help out the passengers stranded by the strike.

Instead of 4 trains an hour between Manchester and Leeds, err... theres now 3.

Each train is leaving large numbers behind so far.

Transforming travel (

Think this might have more to do with the high volumes of intercity passengers you get on the 27th every year than the northern strike.Apart from a few extra Dewsbury passengers it wont have made a massive difference to there loadings. Not many Huddusfield passengers use the hourly stopper and even less if any at all will go to Manchester on the Victoria services

 

[313103]

Rather strange that you were working today and yesterday, i dont recall any trains running! I do recall that you work on the railways because in a previous thread you said 'That is what i tell my staff from the Cleaners to the RPIs, to do'. However i am glad that you have put RPIs ahead of drivers, that makes a pleasent and very nice surprise.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm............ Still Waiting! Despite asking another question where you wasnt sure about warning horns. Perhaps you dont work on the railways then!

 

[notadriver]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm............ Still Waiting! Despite asking another question where you wasnt sure about warning horns. Perhaps you dont work on the railways then!

Did you not get a day in lieu for working 27/28 313103?

 

[313103]

Did you not get a day in lieu for working 27/28 313103?

No!

The agreement for Bank Holidays on London Overground for Conductors is, Flat rate for all bank and Public holidays with the Exception of Christmas Day and Boxing day which is paid at Time + Time (Double Time) and Good Friday which is paid at Time plus Three quarters. Annual Leave is given at the beginning of the year. If you are not required on a bank holiday it will be taken from your Annual Leave count.

So as i worked on both the 27th and 28th i get paid flat rate for both days but no additional days in lieu. So all in all its an ordinary day for us.

Hope that is of help.

 

[Mvann]

What's your holiday entitlement. We are changing ours at work so that the bank holidays are added to our ordinary holiday entitlements to save working out lieu days for those of us that work bank holidays.

 

[313103]

What's your holiday entitlement. We are changing ours at work so that the bank holidays are added to our ordinary holiday entitlements to save working out lieu days for those of us that work bank holidays.

Currently it is a total of 33 days. Reality is a little different as two of the days are normally used on Christams and Boxing days (no trains)
To get all the days you also need to work all your bank holidays.

 

[The Barlow Boy]

Currently it is a total of 33 days. Reality is a little different as two of the days are normally used on Christams and Boxing days (no trains)
To get all the days you also need to work all your bank holidays.

Unless of course you are rest day(s) on that/those days.