First Great Western - industrial action in 2015 - merged topic

[whole diary]

[JayMac]

 

That's because you didn't have a guard, you had a manager "guard".  And although they can be trained to work a train in 2 days, ticketing seems beyond that fast-tracking capability. 
TEs are off on strike too, which leaves RPIs^▸ (Revenue Protection Inspector (or Retail Price Index, depending on the context)) and any ticket trained managers who might be about.

... Or one of a number of TMs^‡(resolve) who have decided not to join the strike today.

[Oxman]

Just to elaborate on Plymothian's post, FGW^▸ (First Great Western) will have trained up a great many managers to do the safety critical functions of a guard, in order to maintain services during the strike. Many will have already had some safety critical training (eg Station Managers with dispatch competency). The training will have consisted of classroom sessions followed by practical training under the supervision of a competence manager. The trainee would then have to "learn the route", essentially by travelling up and down the route with a route learning guide, and observing tunnels, junctions, stations etc. Finally, the trainee would have to sit a competency exam, pass a practical test, and demonstrate in depth route knowledge. If he or she passed, they would be issued with a Scwid card which allowed them to act as a guard on the traction and routes on which they had been assessed. I went through this process a few years ago (before I retired) during another dispute which (I am glad to say) did not result in a strike.

Amongst all this (and keeping up with the day job), it would not be felt necessary to put them through the retail course that would allow them to check and issue tickets. From memory, I think this was a three week training course.

In the circumstances, I think it is churlish to complain about a lack of ticket checks. FGW are only able to operate such a good service during these strikes because there are enough managers who are prepared to step up to the plate and put the customers first. They deserve our full support. And FGW should be congratulated on having taken the steps necessary to maintain the service.

[grahame]

In the circumstances, I think it is churlish to complain about a lack of ticket checks.

Indeed. The logic of saying "there should always be ticket checks" on strike days, when taken to its logical conclusion, suggests that those services should not operate on such days if tickets aren't going to be checked.

[grahame]

All seems quiet on this thread ... the strikes at the end of August have been and gone but I don't see publicity around "what next".   Could it be that a strike - or strike publicity - over the past few weeks might have diluted attention from (and perhaps influences some voters) in the labour leadership election, and on that basis there' been some sort of unofficial purdah? 

[ChrisB]

Or else Mr Cash's crew have told him clearly that he's on something he can't win, and that they aren't interested any longer in throwing their hard-earned away in some crazy PR^▸ (Public Relations) for the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers)

[Timmer]

It's too quiet and that is concerning. Could be cooking up something with Aslef.

[JayMac]

I've read of rumours on other forums that ASLEF^» (Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen - about) may be getting involved in the dispute. No news on a ballot though.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From Charity Today:

Train strike proves profitable for charity


Rob and Alistair

When First Great Western train services ground to a halt last month due to strike action, two doctors decided to turn a negative into a positive and use the opportunity to raise money for a friend^s charity.

Rob Grounds, 28, from Malden, near Kingston and his friend, Alistair Oakes, from Angel, London, didn^t let the strike prevent a planned visit to friends in Devon. Instead they got on their bikes and cycled from London (and back again) over the course of five days, and donated their rail fares to African Promise.

Rob said: ^I had been planning for some time to travel to Devon to visit a friends but when I found out the Great First Western were planning to go on strike over the bank holiday weekend it soon became apparent that we were going to have to come to terms with a very disrupted service and expect several rail replacement buses. Frankly the journey was going to become a nightmare and we would have to take six days annual leave just to get there. That^s when we decided that cycling and donating the fares to a deserving cause was much more appropriate.

^Charles is a close family friend of my fianc^ and I have always been particularly impressed by the fact that he spends so much time actually in Kenya working at a grass roots level so that you can be sure any money donated is spent where it really counts by someone who has actual on the ground experience of where the demand for resources and support is greatest. We had originally only aimed to raise ^50 but by the end of the trip had raised an amazing ^420 thanks to our generous friends and family.^

African Promise is a small charity that works to improve the quality of education in rural Kenyan primary schools. Its holistic, whole-school development approach enhances learning environments by upgrading infrastructure, providing educational resources and opportunities, and improving pupil welfare and well-being. It currently supports six schools, encompassing 2,500 disadvantaged children.

Charles Coldman, director of African Promise added: ^This was a great idea by Rob and Alistair and is typical of their good nature, turning a negative into a positive for others. This money will provide a much needed boost to our funds as we have ambitious plans to build more than a dozen classrooms over the next year, as well as 2,500 children to feed every day.^

To donate to Rob^s efforts please visit http://www.justgiving.com/Robert-Grounds or for more information on the charity and its work please visit www.africanpromise.org.uk

[JayMac]

Every cloud...

Top work fellas!

[TaplowGreen]

http://m.plymouthherald.co.uk/Redundancies-pipeline-Laira-train-depot/story-27890789-detail/story.html

[a-driver]

http://m.plymouthherald.co.uk/Redundancies-pipeline-Laira-train-depot/story-27890789-detail/story.html

Hopefully with the West fleet increasing Laira might get a slice of that extra work.

What really annoys us is the governments attitude to the introduction of our IEPs^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.). They negiotiated the contracts with Hitachi and presumably had the opportunity to safeguard as many fleet maintenance jobs as they could.  They failed to do this and in my mind shows just what the government thinks of the working man. 

[JayMac]

and in my mind shows just what the government thinks of the working man. 

Or woman.

I agree with you wholeheartedly a-driver. But your post did rather remind me of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFBOQzSk14c

[IndustryInsider]

This probably won't surprise many people, but may well end up being quite significant in terms of the current dispute between the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) and GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway):

http://www.rmt.org.uk/news/rmt-and-aslef-executives-sign-joint-statement/

[JayMac]

This probably won't surprise many people, but may well end up being quite significant in terms of the current dispute between the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) and GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway):

http://www.rmt.org.uk/news/rmt-and-aslef-executives-sign-joint-statement/

That's a major development. Not unexpected, but it does come from two unions who haven't always seen eye to eye.