Arriva Trains Wales drivers walk out in pay dispute

[whole diary]

[chrisr_75]

RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) involved as usual, quoted text from the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-34725379

Train drivers for Arriva Trains Wales are to stage a 48-hour strike in a dispute over pay.
The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union said the walkout would be held on 12 and 13 November after talks failed to resolve the row.
RMT general secretary Mick Cash said the company remained "reluctant" to table an adequate pay offer.
Arriva Trains Wales said some progress had been made and it would continue negotiations.
The strike could lead to disruption for passengers travelling to the Wales v Netherlands friendly at Cardiff City Stadium on Friday 13 November.

[Timmer]

The RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) seem to be in dispute with a lot of rail companies at the moment for one reason or another.

[TaplowGreen]

The RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) seem to be in dispute with a lot of rail companies at the moment for one reason or another.

They don't normally bother with a reason......if it moves, they'll have a dispute with it.

[grahame]

It's a union's primary role, isn't it, to look after the interests of its members? And whist there's a huge commonality between the interests of members, of the company running the trains, of the government (central and local), or the rolling stock providers, of the infratructure folks, and of the passengers ... there's also going to be areas where those interests aren't in total alignment.

How those areas are handled, and how a position (compromise?) is reached depends on all parties - and on the union side (which is what we're discussing here) there are some who feel that the approach at (almost) all costs is to keep talking and sell the solution, where there are others who take what I would describe as a more robust approach, and feel that it's not quite "at all costs" and indeed will display a bit more muscle.

Sadly, rail travellers (who are vital for an ongoing passenger rail service) aren't at the table when these things are being worked out, even though they're effected in far greater numbers that others when services aren't running.

[JayMac]

And, sadly, the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) are the most belligerent union I know. I can think of no other union that has called so many strikes in the past few years.

Are public transport operators really terrible employers? I doubt it.

It seems that the RMT's default response is, ballot first, ask questions later.

[Red Squirrel]

Some unions feel that the best way to serve their members' interest is to try to engineer wider social and political change. Anyone remember Arthur Scargill?

[eightf48544]

Does Arriva trains have many RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers) drivers? I thought drivers were mostly ASLEF^» (Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen - about).

[TaplowGreen]

It's a union's primary role, isn't it, to look after the interests of its members? And whist there's a huge commonality between the interests of members, of the company running the trains, of the government (central and local), or the rolling stock providers, of the infratructure folks, and of the passengers ... there's also going to be areas where those interests aren't in total alignment.

How those areas are handled, and how a position (compromise?) is reached depends on all parties - and on the union side (which is what we're discussing here) there are some who feel that the approach at (almost) all costs is to keep talking and sell the solution, where there are others who take what I would describe as a more robust approach, and feel that it's not quite "at all costs" and indeed will display a bit more muscle.

Sadly, rail travellers (who are vital for an ongoing passenger rail service) aren't at the table when these things are being worked out, even though they're effected in far greater numbers that others when services aren't running.

Part of a Trade Union's role is positively managing the image of itself, its industry and its members............I'm not sure this is a strong point where the main rail unions are concerned!

[IndustryInsider]

And of its officers behaving decently in public at all times:

http://order-order.com/2015/11/05/video-boozy-rmt-big-shots-first-class-rant/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+guidofawkes+%28Guy+Fawkes%27+blog+of+parliamentary+plots%2C+rumours+and+conspiracy%29

Respect due to the perfectly polite ticket examiner 

[chrisr_75]

Back on topic, strike is still on, walk out from 00:01 Thursday to 23:59 Friday. All ATW^▸ (Arriva Trains Wales (former TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company))) services cancelled with no road bustitution:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-34780903

I guess anyone expecting to travel on FGW^▸ (First Great Western) or Cross Country along the S.Wales mainline should expect services to be very very busy!

[Rhydgaled]

Back on topic, strike is still on, walk out from 00:01 Thursday to 23:59 Friday. All ATW^▸ (Arriva Trains Wales (former TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company))) services cancelled with no road bustitution

I forget, did FirstGW bustitute during their recent strikes?

[chrisr_75]

Back on topic, strike is still on, walk out from 00:01 Thursday to 23:59 Friday. All ATW^▸ (Arriva Trains Wales (former TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company))) services cancelled with no road bustitution

I forget, did FirstGW bustitute during their recent strikes?

I don't recall, but they were able to run a significant number of services whereas ATW are cancelling everything. I guess by stating 'no buses' they are trying to reduce the likelihood of people turning up at stations in blind hope of getting somewhere, somehow! Bustitution^▸ (the practice of replacing trains with buses) is common along SWML^▸ (South Western Mail Line) during engineering outages (as you probably well know) so it's good that ATW are being clear about what's available and what's not in this instance.

[TaplowGreen]

Back on topic, strike is still on, walk out from 00:01 Thursday to 23:59 Friday. All ATW^▸ (Arriva Trains Wales (former TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company))) services cancelled with no road bustitution

I forget, did FirstGW bustitute during their recent strikes?

I don't recall, but they were able to run a significant number of services whereas ATW are cancelling everything. I guess by stating 'no buses' they are trying to reduce the likelihood of people turning up at stations in blind hope of getting somewhere, somehow! Bustitution^▸ (the practice of replacing trains with buses) is common along SWML^▸ (South Western Mail Line) during engineering outages (as you probably well know) so it's good that ATW are being clear about what's available and what's not in this instance.

If memory serves, FGW^▸ (First Great Western) didn't bustitute.

[Rhydgaled]

Back on topic, strike is still on, walk out from 00:01 Thursday to 23:59 Friday. All ATW^▸ (Arriva Trains Wales (former TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company))) services cancelled with no road bustitution

I forget, did FirstGW bustitute during their recent strikes?

I don't recall, but they were able to run a significant number of services whereas ATW are cancelling everything. I guess by stating 'no buses' they are trying to reduce the likelihood of people turning up at stations in blind hope of getting somewhere, somehow! Bustitution^▸ (the practice of replacing trains with buses) is common along SWML^▸ (South Western Mail Line) during engineering outages (as you probably well know) so it's good that ATW are being clear about what's available and what's not in this instance.

Yep, good that ATW are being clear about what's going on, I just was wondering just how much more disruptive this strike action is than the action on FirstGW was.

If memory serves, FGW^▸ (First Great Western) didn't bustitute.

Thanks, sounds like the difference in level of disruption isn't as great as I first thought then.

[chrisr_75]

If memory serves, FGW^▸ (First Great Western) didn't bustitute.

Thanks, sounds like the difference in level of disruption isn't as great as I first thought then.

Except that ATW^▸ (Arriva Trains Wales (former TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company))) will be running no services at all. Nothing in Wales/Borders at all apart from the usual GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) & Virgin services from Paddington & Euston and the XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) services as far as Cardiff. Will cause a great deal of inconvenience/overcrowding for the travelling public.

In contrast, FGW/GWR appeared to run around half (please correct me if anyone has any real figures) of their normal services, certainly those from PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) to CDF^» (Cardiff - next trains)/SWA^» (Swansea - next trains).