smithy, thanks for your comments.
I (indeed, the whole moderation team) was sorry to see this particular discussion getting quite personal: your opinions are perfectly valid, and I'd really like to encourage further positive debate on this subject.
So, to everyone out there: do you have any ideas on how to address this problem of staff shortages, low morale, and lack of team spirit (all of which will affect how
FGW▸ are perceived by their customers)?
Chris
As most posters on this forum know, I am ex Wessex now working for FGW. I agree with smithy that pay and conditions have not improved for ex wessex staff of ALL grades, as there has been no harmonisation of pay or conditions. We do get benefits such as free travel, share scheme etc., but all that was available under Wessex(NX). Staff shortages have been part of the low morale, but that does seem to be being addressed currently with the extensive recruitment programme, to such extent that there will soon be low morale due to lack of available overtime.
Overall I think I was happier working for Wessex, mainly due to the fact that they didn't run the
HST▸ services and were obviously more interested, and took more pride in being a 'local' service. This is not an attack on HST crews, but just statement of fact from an ex Wessex point of view!
All that said, things do seem to be slowly improving from an employee (and passenger) point of view, and long may that continue.
