RMT strike action - change of date

[Rail Ranger]

The RMT are now (today) saying that they are striking on 5, 7 and 9 November.
"Having been made aware of Royal British Legion (RBL) Poppy day on November 3rd, RMT NEC has decided to re-arrange strike action for the 9th".
The 5th November strike will include TOCs as well as Network Rail. Source - RMT website. There is a link to the story below. What is our reaction?

RMT update on national rail strike days

Rail union RMT will take strike action on 5, 7 and 9 of November in a dispute over jobs, conditions and pay.

www.rmt.org.uk

 

[Snow1964]

Change from 3rd to 9th also on BBC news

A strike by Network Rail workers has been re-arranged to avoid a clash with the Royal British Legion's London Poppy Day appeal.
The Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) said its Network Rail members would strike on 5, 7 and 9 November.
The union said having been made aware of the poppy appeal on 3 November, planned strike action that day had been moved to the 9th.

Rail strike date moved over London Poppy Day clash

The RMT union says planned strike action by rail workers has been postponed for six days.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[SCDR_WMR]

Yep so TOCs are just the 5th now

 

[Thirteen]

I wonder why the London Underground and Overground strikes has moved to the 10th rather than the 9th.

Seems like poor planning on the RMT's part that they didn't realise the 3rd November was Poppy Day.

 

[The exile]

Well, considering Armistice Day is the 11th November (whatever the RBL decide to call another day) and Remembrance Sunday is the nearest Sunday, they might well be forgiven for not appreciating that a third day now appears to have been added to the mix.

 

[Rail Ranger]

Apparently 3rd November is a Poppy Day Collecting Day in London.

 

[Jan Mayen]

How much notice does a union need to give to cancel/postpone a strike?

 

[trainophile]

Apparently 3rd November is a Poppy Day Collecting Day in London.

How many people travel by train to sell poppies? Not a vast number I'd have thought, most people would do it locally to where they live.

 

[Jan Mayen]

How many people travel by train to sell poppies? Not a vast number I'd have thought, most people would do it locally to where they live.

It's the people commuting into London who buy poppies. Why they wouldn't then contribute to the local village collection, I'm not sure.

 

[Silver Cobra]

I'll admit that, when the original strike dates were announced (3rd, 5th and 7th), I made a somewhat knee-jerk reaction to amend a booking I had with a hotel in Hull for a planned trip there by train on the 3rd, anticipating that the strike action would permit travelling the day before on the same ticket. With this latest announcement, I've had to go back and adjust the booking again back to my originally-planned date. Thank goodness I booked it to allow for free amendments/cancellations up to the day of arrival, but this teaches me to be a bit more patient and wait for proper confirmation of action before making such amendments.

 

[Bald Rick]

How much notice does a union need to give to cancel/postpone a strike?

None, for now.

 

[trainophile]

I'll admit that, when the original strike dates were announced (3rd, 5th and 7th), I made a somewhat knee-jerk reaction to amend a booking I had with a hotel in Hull for a planned trip there by train on the 3rd, anticipating that the strike action would permit travelling the day before on the same ticket. With this latest announcement, I've had to go back and adjust the booking again back to my originally-planned date. Thank goodness I booked it to allow for free amendments/cancellations up to the day of arrival, but this teaches me to be a bit more patient and wait for proper confirmation of action before making such amendments.

I've given up booking anything involving leisure travel until they get this sorted out. Sadly I'm sure I'm not alone in this, and the hospitality industry must surely be suffering.

 

[Bald Rick]

Well, considering Armistice Day is the 11th November (whatever the RBL decide to call another day) and Remembrance Sunday is the nearest Sunday, they might well be forgiven for not appreciating that a third day now appears to have been added to the mix.

it has been well publicised, and participated in by railway staff (many of whom are ex services) for years. I’m a little surprised the union leadership didn’t know this.

 

[matthewjohnson]

I've given up booking anything involving leisure travel until they get this sorted out. Sadly I'm sure I'm not alone in this, and the hospitality industry must surely be suffering.

The strikes haven't yet affected any of my leisure plans. I've just used coaches instead and plan to do so again on the 5th. I don't particularly enjoy coach travel and trains are far more convenient and comfortable, but it's either that or missing out entirely

 

[Kite159]

I wonder how much money the Royal British Legion lost out on by having to cancel the events they had planned for the 3rd November, only to have to do a U-turn to try and get back on track due to the "change of heart". I.e. rebooking hotels for those who were staying overnight, rebooking travel for those planning to head to London on the day to raise funds?

I've given up booking anything involving leisure travel until they get this sorted out. Sadly I'm sure I'm not alone in this, and the hospitality industry must surely be suffering.

People are still travelling, but are simply avoiding the railways and either using private transport or coaches to reach their destinations due to the uncertainly (not just of strikes, but the general chaos on some operators) Or just booking up places with free cancellation (or at the very least free date changes)

 

[YorksLad12]

I have a conference in London on the 8th. I'd booked a refundable coach ticket for the Monday... now I'll have to the same for the Wednesday. Both just n case, I'd much rather take the train as it'll be a two hours shorter trip. Ironically, everything's running on the 8th and I can walk to the conference venue!

 

[irish_rail]

For heaven sake, people change their plans and now changed plans go up in smoke. Really not something worthy of re arranging strike dates for, id understand cancelling the day, but rearranging it really is a good way to p*ss people off (and for the record i am not personally affected, just think its a bit of a none reason for changing ).

 

[dk1]

How many people travel by train to sell poppies? Not a vast number I'd have thought, most people would do it locally to where they live.

Please tell me you where joking

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 25 Oct 2022 ==

People are still travelling, but are simply avoiding the railways and either using private transport or coaches to reach their destinations due to the uncertainly (not just of strikes, but the general chaos on some operators) Or just booking up places with free cancellation (or at the very least free date changes)

That’s not true at all on my patch of the rail network. If you could only see the numbers travelling anyway & overcrowding this half term week in particular.

 

[andythebrave]

This is beyond annoying. Rearrange a rearranged trip? Thank you RMT, I don't think.

 

[dk1]

This is beyond annoying. Rearrange a rearranged trip? Thank you RMT, I don't think.

Wear your poppy with pride

 

[MikeWM]

I've given up booking anything involving leisure travel until they get this sorted out. Sadly I'm sure I'm not alone in this, and the hospitality industry must surely be suffering.

I'd be doing a 7-day rover somewhere or other about now, but only being able to book hotels effectively a week in advance means the cost is more than I'm willing to pay. So, yes, there are hotels and restaurants, and indeed the railway, not getting my money this autumn.

I'm not offering any opinion on who is right or wrong, and all the arguments have been had on here a million times over already. All I will say is that as someone who relies on the railway both to commute and for leisure travel, it is getting extremely tedious not being able to plan anything, immediately off the back of two years of not being able to plan anything for other reasons. What with disruption from storms, heat, regular driver shortages, the 'timetable of the day' nonsense, timetables still being reduced post-covid, and now these strikes, it had been a really poor year for the railways, exactly what we didn't need after the previous two years.

 

[6Gman]

I wonder why the London Underground and Overground strikes has moved to the 10th rather than the 9th.

Seems like poor planning on the RMT's part that they didn't realise the 3rd November was Poppy Day.

Maybe because there's no such thing as "Poppy Day"?

 

[ExRes]

Well, considering Armistice Day is the 11th November (whatever the RBL decide to call another day) and Remembrance Sunday is the nearest Sunday, they might well be forgiven for not appreciating that a third day now appears to have been added to the mix.

Just having a 10 second search on google shows that the first Thursday of November has been London collection day since 2006, a bit too recent for the Unions I guess

 

[Bungle73]

I'd be doing a 7-day rover somewhere or other about now, but only being able to book hotels effectively a week in advance means the cost is more than I'm willing to pay. So, yes, there are hotels and restaurants, and indeed the railway, not getting my money this autumn.

I'm not offering any opinion on who is right or wrong, and all the arguments have been had on here a million times over already. All I will say is that as someone who relies on the railway both to commute and for leisure travel, it is getting extremely tedious not being able to plan anything, immediately off the back of two years of not being able to plan anything for other reasons. What with disruption from storms, heat, regular driver shortages, the 'timetable of the day' nonsense, timetables still being reduced post-covid, and now these strikes, it had been a really poor year for the railways, exactly what we didn't need after the previous two years.

Can't you just book cancellable dates. That's what I've done. So far I've dodged a bullet with what I've booked.....except for one trip at the end of September that I cancelled because it clashed with a strike day, only for the strike itself to be cancelled!

Just having a 10 second search on google shows that the first Thursday of November has been London collection day since 2006, a bit too recent for the Unions I guess

Well I for one had never heard of it either, until I saw the RBL tweeting about the other day.

 

[ExRes]

Well I for one had never heard of it either, until I saw the RBL tweeting about the other day.

I'm sure many people haven't heard of it either, not the case with the Unions though as RMT changed the date in 2016 when the same situation arose

 

[Gloster]

But just imagine the headlines in some of the papers (M**l, S*n, E*****s, T*******h, etc.) if they hadn’t. ‘Insult to our heroes’, ‘Union bosses want our brave boys to starve’, ‘Mick Lynch kicks VC winner in the teeth’, etc. They should have checked the date, but, like a lot of people (including me), were not aware that there is one day with a special collecting push. I reckon most people just thought it was vaguely in the fortnight or so before Remembrance Sunday or Armistice Day.

 

[Furryanimal]

I have also given booking up anything until these disputes are solved.
I usually attend several concerts during the autumn to Spring period but only have one much postponed one in January( fingers crossed it isn't a strike day).
With no trains I can't get home( usually the concerts are Cardiff).
Which would mean forking out £40+ for a taxi or an expensive hotel room.
Not taking the risk.
There are no buses after mid-evening.There were before Covid.
I have been forced onto my rugby clubs supporters bus once( no leg room.Not good for my knees!)and it's more expensive than the train.
Missed out on using my bus pass on the Heart of Wales line!

 

[Silver Cobra]

The strikes haven't yet affected any of my leisure plans. I've just used coaches instead and plan to do so again on the 5th. I don't particularly enjoy coach travel and trains are far more convenient and comfortable, but it's either that or missing out entirely

That’s what I did when I travelled to the Suffolk coast back at the end of July (Nat Ex between Cambridge and Norwich in place of using Greater Anglia). But for my planned trip to Hull it would’ve turned a 3 hour train journey into a 7 hour coach journey, so was a complete non-starter. Travelling the day before and spending an extra day in Hull was my only viable solution (though of course that’s no longer necessary).

 

[Magdalen Road]

Unfortunately I get motion sickness on coaches, so not an option (have to be careful where I sit in train carriages too).

As to the point about booking changeable dates for travel; some people can’t change their annual leave dates at short notice. I have travel planned that is now more affected by the strike date change. It means that I will be travelling by car to the destination then during the week too. Had aimed to do it all by train to be more environmentally friendly.

 

[daodao]

Changing strike dates at short notice has a massive effect on people with commitments on particular dates.

One of my colleagues chairs the national conference committee of a professional organisation that has planned its annual conference in London from 7th to 9th November, and other colleagues are attending as delegates. The activities on 7th November have just been rescheduled to 10th November because of the rail strike on 7th November, but the new strike dates of 9th (nationwide) and 10th (London only) will wreak havoc with the ability of both delegates and speakers to attend. Given that the 2020 and 2021 conferences were cancelled due to Covid, this will have a significant effect on the organisation and its finances.

I am not personally affected as I shall be "minding the shop", but my colleagues are quite irritated and inconvenienced by this disruption.