Quote:
Originally Posted by Ignitionnet
What's unfair about (from your link)
They have every right to strike, of course, however I'd suggest their pay compares very well to their peers, they are being offered well in excess of the settlements public sector workers are receiving, and are you sure they're being 'gazumped' into working silly hours?
They get paid over half again as much as my wife, a secondary teacher with 10 years of experience, for basically pushing stop and go and hitting automated announcements to mind the doors. In some cases they aren't even driving the trains.
I very much hope the dispute is long, drawn out, and becomes a contest of attrition as a bunch of things have to be resolved here.
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Apparently, according to
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/seb-...b_7751262.html, the dispute is not so much about the money (which the Union are apparently happy with), more that TFL have provided no guarantees about how many shifts drivers will be expected to work or (I suspect, as the article does not mention this) how those shifts are organised. I've also heard that TFL tabled the offer, then two hours later left the talks, which wouldn't really give the Union time to even digest the offer, let alone ballot their members.
Why mention how the shifts are organised? Simple. The article makes a point of saying that the drivers will be fatigued and have little time with their families. This is true, if they are switching between day and night shifts with no break. But, if they are working (say) a week on/week off shift pattern, that will sort out those problems.
An ex-friend of mine is already doing this. He works on the railways in an extremely stressful job. He does signalling for various lines in the Southern area. These lines are mostly 24 hour lines, so he had to work shifts. These shifts (IIRC) were 12 hours shifts, and he worked 7 days of day shifts, then had 7 days off, then worked 7 days of night shifts, then 7 days off.
I realise that article is actually the opinion of one of the striking tube drivers, so is biased, but I personally believe that neither side is giving the complete story.