Get on a bus and find a job

Originally Posted by TheDaddy

Daily Mail *shudders*

Graham Stevenson, national officer of Unite said: 'Iain Duncan Smith is callously telling people to get on a bus to look for a job but the Tories are actually cutting bus services. It's alarming that subsidies paid direct to bus operators have been cut by a massive 20 per cent.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti....html?ITO=1490

Granted they might be able to trim some of the backroom costs back but I cant see anything other than service cuts tbh

Which is the worst kind of obfuscation. Whatever may or may not be happening to bus services, IDS's point stands: some people seem to think that the world owes them a living, and they need do no more than sit on their behinds and wait while everything is brought to them on a plate.

Stevenson should leave the Tory-bashing to the Parliamentary Labour Party, because that's their job. He should get on with his own job, which is protecting the interests of working people who are members of Unite, not trying to make out he's some sort of champion of idle dole-bludgers.

[Hom3r]

How do we pay for these buses?

I don't own a bike.

[TheDaddy]

Originally Posted by punky

Cutting subsidies isn't the same as cutting services though.

When they are being cut by that much the only thing it can mean is a cut in services or a massive increase in fares, btw the subsidy cut in London is 40%

Jo de Bank from London Travelwatch said: “A reduction would almost certainly mean fewer buses, cuts on routes and longer waits for passengers.

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standa...idy-is-axed.do

Also the cost for Oyster is 1.20 per trip regardless of length (which can be long sometimes). The maximum daily charge for bus use is £3.90. Oyster is also free via a refundable £3 deposit.

Cheers for the info but tbh I don't think I'll be bothering with a bus again, now I have my car fixed.

---------- Post added at 17:12 ---------- Previous post was at 17:03 ----------

Originally Posted by Chris

Which is the worst kind of obfuscation. Whatever may or may not be happening to bus services, IDS's point stands: some people seem to think that the world owes them a living, and they need do no more than sit on their behinds and wait while everything is brought to them on a plate.

Yes what's wrong with them, got no legs, walk to the next town, whether IDS has a point or not he could have phrased it better imo.

Stevenson should leave the Tory-bashing to the Parliamentary Labour Party, because that's their job. He should get on with his own job, which is protecting the interests of working people who are members of Unite, not trying to make out he's some sort of champion of idle dole-bludgers.

Perhaps we should close this thread and get back to our own jobs then? It makes me feel good that people can speak out when they feel government is wrong and that there is a platform for them to do so on.

[DocDutch]

dont mind paying 23.80 a week to travel all over northants and other stagecoach busses in the uk

Originally Posted by TheDaddy

Perhaps we should close this thread and get back to our own jobs then? It makes me feel good that people can speak out when they feel government is wrong and that there is a platform for them to do so on.

The point is, various trade unions have rushed out press releases in response to this because they feel entitled to be a part of that aspect of the public debate. I don't see how they are, except possibly in the sense that everyone expects the trade unions to make North-Korean-style, knee-jerk condemnations every time a Tory opens his mouth.

None of the above has any bearing on the wider debate that goes on in forums such as this.

---------- Post added at 17:29 ---------- Previous post was at 17:23 ----------

Originally Posted by TheDaddy

Yes what's wrong with them, got no legs, walk to the next town, whether IDS has a point or not he could have phrased it better imo.

I assume, then, that you would agree that this little piece of political theatre could have been better phrased then:

"Can the ConDem coalition really believe that the unemployment being created by savage government cuts will be fixed by having people wandering across the country with their meagre possessions crammed into the luggage racks of buses." (Len McCluskey, Unite)

I have faced commutes of up to two hours each way in the past. Never did I consider myself to be wandering anywhere. I always thought I was making a worthwhile contribution to society and keeping a roof over my family's head.

[TheDaddy]

Originally Posted by Chris

The point is, various trade unions have rushed out press releases in response to this because they feel entitled to be a part of that aspect of the public debate. I don't see how they are, except possibly in the sense that everyone expects the trade unions to make North-Korean-style, knee-jerk condemnations every time a Tory opens his mouth.

They represent a large part of the public, that aside they don't force the press to print or report on their opinions and those self same North-Korean-style, knee-jerk condemnations generally happen the moment their opinions are reported on, which in most cases are either taken out of context or deliberately misinterpreted to suit the current trend of vilifying Unions.

---------- Post added at 17:33 ---------- Previous post was at 17:32 ----------

Originally Posted by Chris

I assume, then, that you would agree that this little piece of political theatre could have been better phrased then.

As a matter of fact I do, there is far to much such rhetoric floating about at the moment imo.

[Mr_love_monkey]

Shock and horror! - expecting people to actually travel more than 5 minutes down the road to find a job.

Originally Posted by TheDaddy

They represent a large part of the public, that aside they don't force the press to print or report on their opinions and those self same North-Korean-style, knee-jerk condemnations generally happen the moment their opinions are reported on, which in most cases are either taken out of context or deliberately misinterpreted to suit the current trend of vilifying Unions.

The unions might ask themselves why they have such an appalling PR problem. And in seeking an answer, perhaps try not blaming the Tories for once.

As for level of representation ... a very quick Google suggests they may represent perhaps 30% of the workforce. So, perhaps a third of those in work, and presumably very, very few of those out of work, who by definition are the ones Unite feels suddenly so entitled to champion this afternoon.

---------- Post added at 17:33 ---------- Previous post was at 17:32 ----------

As a matter of fact I do, there is far to much such rhetoric floating about at the moment imo.

[Jon T]

When public transport is running on time my journey each morning and night is 40mins, that's a bus and a train. When it's not running well my journey time risen to anything up to 2.5 hours. This doesn't happen very often and because of this I do not mind.

I know of people willing to travel to work get caught up in transport unreliability and lose out on a job interview because of it. Worse still, they had their benefits stopped.


The other main problem is when you see people that are physically capable of walking catching the bus to travel 2 or 3 stops.

[Hom3r]

Well the buses in my area run every hour, and I cannot remember the last time I was on a bus, but I guess it was over 15 years ago.

[bywater]

The bus fare and journey doesn't bother me as I get free travel due to a disability and I am unable to drive. I applied for a few jobs 10.5 miles away in a nearby town and didn't get the job as more than one employer quote said "You live too far" they did have a point as some of the shifts there finished when there would have been no bus service home most buses finish around 6 to 8pm since they were privatised and train travel costs more than I would have been earning. And if you think relocating from a poor area to a well off area on minimum wage is an option forget it I could never afford it and there is no social housing or reasonable rental costs in better off areas. I'm too old to be going back to college and find it difficult to learn new skills. I give up ! Ian Ducan Smith get real you should be creating jobs where people are so people can stay in there communities have less to spend on travel and meet Cameron's green credentials. This country is well ******* up. Next we will be hearing Ducan Smith say get on the plane and find work.

Originally Posted by bywater

The bus fare and journey doesn't bother me as I get free travel due to a disability and I am unable to drive. I applied for a few jobs 10.5 miles away in a nearby town and didn't get the job as more than one employer quote said "You live too far" they did have a point as some of the shifts there finished when there would have been no bus service home most buses finish around 6 to 8pm since they were privatised and train travel costs more than I would have been earning. And if you think relocating from a poor area to a well off area on minimum wage is an option forget it I could never afford it and there is no social housing or reasonable rental costs in better off areas. I'm too old to be going back to college and find it difficult to learn new skills. I give up ! Ian Ducan Smith get real you should be creating jobs where people are so people can stay in there communities have less to spend on travel and meet Cameron's green credentials. This country is well ******* up. Next we will be hearing Ducan Smith say get on the plane and find work.

Unless you think the country has suddenly become '*** up" in the last 6 months, I assume you lay the blame for its state at the door of the Labour Party.

[Mr Angry]

Originally Posted by Chris

Unless you think the country has suddenly become '*** up" in the last 6 months, I assume you lay the blame for its state at the door of the Labour Party.

I think bywater was using his / her life experience to point out some of the obvious, and less obvious, hurdles that people like he / she face in their endeavours to find work - not who best to point the finger of blame at.

Actually that's exactly what I was thinking. It was an interesting and informative post ... right up until the point where he made it party political by laying into IDS. "Next we will be hearing Ducan Smith say get on the plane and find work." adds about as much to the debate as idiots from Unite painting pictures of people 'wandering' around the country on buses with all their worldly goods on luggage racks.

[bywater]

Originally Posted by Chris

Unless you think the country has suddenly become '*** up" in the last 6 months, I assume you lay the blame for its state at the door of the Labour Party.

Assume nothing the truth is there's nothing between any of the rotten lot. Each government blames the one before the pantomime just gets a tad boring and I find the demonising of poorer members of society is just evil along with racism homophobia and sexism.