[superchris]

Sorry to ruin your ridiculous caricature of business travellers ‘plutocrats who think business travel is only done on jets, with lots of free booze ‘.

I run a small business, travelling to different parts of the world in economy class generating tax revenue for the British Economy. I use public transport to get to the airport where possible, travel in economy, havent had alcohol on a plane for years, stay in budget hotels, go straight into meetings from the airport (even on long haul flights) in order to spend the minimum amount of time in destinations so I can get home to my young family,

Your posts have not been to inform, but to stir up a politically led debate on the rights and wrongs of strike action.

[ArthurDimlock]

my comment was not aimed at you, superchris, it was a general remark, meaning I’d be okay with you bemoaning the price of petrol, but some others may not. No offence meant and any taken regretted.

Strike action should never be viewed as anything other than a last resort, as it is effectively a punishment to hurt the employer (directly or indirectly) and stop them doing something. There are rarely clear winners afterwards and it damages the employer and usually the employees, as well. Reasonable negotiation, based on mutual respect is the way to go. BA is a good example, the concessions gained by the pilots, versus the outcomes gained by BASSA tells a story.

[MartynSinclair]

“Strike action should never be viewed as anything other than a last resort, as it is effectively a punishment to hurt the employer (directly or indirectly) and stop them doing something”.

ArthurDimlock – perhaps the strikers had absolutely no idea how much they were hurting non employers… It is unacceptable for any employee or group of employees to stop businesses being able to open with a full compliment of staff.

[ArthurDimlock]

By the time you get to strike action, emotions are often as much as a driver as logic and the interested parties have tunnel vision. In the case of TFL/RMT, I don’t see that anyone stopped anyone opening with a full compliment, there was no secondary picketing of buses, cars, bikes, etc, no intimidation of other workers, was their? The right to industrial action is protected under law and you won’t find me knocking that though I’ve made my beliefs clear in my last post.

[BigDog.]

New dates announced.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-27069391

…The row is about the closure of all 260 Tube ticket offices and 960 job cuts.

Members will walk out from 21:00 BST on 28 April for two days and again from the same time on 5 May for three days….

[SergeantMajor]

No they won’t.

Certain to be abandoned or at least reduced. Was in London on the last strike and perfectly able to get around; the rain caused more disruption that day.

Sad that they have to associate this with a day of remembrance for Tony Benn, or former Viscount, as well as schedule the strikes over a bank Holiday, to shore up their dwindling support.

Over 1000 ticket agents have applied for voluntary redundancy – so the suggestion jobs will be lost against the workers’ wishes is false.

Usual scaremongering from a dinosaur union.

Bring on driverless trains; the more they threaten strike action, the more they underline the need for so called union “power” to be curtailed.

[MartynSinclair]

I hope this does not happen….

In response to plans to modernise and improve your Tube service, and despite us offering significant changes, the RMT union has called a further five days of strike action.

Travel advice

If the strikes go ahead, Tube services will be affected from:

• Around 21:00 on Monday 28 April until the morning of Thursday 1 May

• Around 21:00 on Monday 5 May until the morning of Friday 9 May

We will do everything we can to run as many trains as possible, but there will be significant disruption. Our Travel Ambassadors will be on hand to offer help. The DLR, London Overground, and other rail services will operate normally and we will enhance bus services on key routes. Please also consider cycling or walking if possible.

For the latest updates, please visit tfl.gov.uk

[BigDog.]

Agreed Martyn.

The DT has outlined various alternatives for getting from/to the main 4 Airports around London.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travel-advice/10780147/Getting-to-Londons-airports-the-best-options-for-Heathrow-Gatwick-Stansted-and-Luton.html

[MartynSinclair]

I am more concerned about a central London road show for clients May 6 and 7. No public service should be able to bring town/city to a stand still…

Whilst I accept some tube lines will be running, its an absolute disgrace any union is able to cause firms to suffer like this. It is not as if these guys are not being paid well either……

[1nfrequent]

So hacked off about this. It’s deliberately timed to cause maximum disruption to commuters and then they actually dare lecture us that it’s for our benefit. (And for the record, I don’t like the ticket office closures as I live in a remote station but I like having my already ridiculously expensive commute disrupted even less).

1F

[KarlMarx]

Whilst I have sympathy for those affected, why would a union plan industrial action at anytime other than that which causes maximum pain to the employer?

Of course they tell you it’s for your benefit, as it is spin to reinforce their position, just as the employers pass off cost savings intended to boost executives bonuses as being in the public interest. Welcome to the world of vested interests.

If this is unacceptable to posters, have you lobbied your MP about the need to impose proper competition on the transport infrastructure of London?

[MartynSinclair]

The problem here KarlMarx is the strike will be more of a pain to the people of London, trying to do ordinary things, like getting to work, than the employer.

It seems every single year the Tube drivers go on strike for more pay… thank goodness the Dr’s and Nurses don’t do the same or perhaps better still, let Dr’s and Nurses withdraw their labour from the very people who stop them getting to work!

[KarlMarx]

The striker’s plan to exert maximum political pressure on the employer, by disrupting the ordinary citizens, who are let down by the lack of a credible alternative to get to work, due to capacity issues that have not been addressed by generations of politicos. Medical professionals conduct is non-sequitur to train drivers, due to ethical codes and industrial agreements.

[canucklad]

I’m a firm believer that competition is indeed the answer; it gives us, the consumer the right to withdraw our most fundamental right.

The right to reach into our wallets and purses!!

Disputes normally disintegrate themselves into strikes because both parties have lost grip on reality, with both sides citing doom and gloom, when in reality the truth is somewhere in the middle..

Unfortunately for us, if the RMT decide to strike, the best way to demonstrate their worth to TFL is for them to cause the maximum amount of disruption. I’m not a believer in strike action, excepting for the nurses, I wish they would flex their muscles to show their true value to our society, alas all other strikes normally have minor significance or total insignificance to us the general public.

And yes, the topic is relevant to business travel as I for one will avoid London in the weeks that correspond to the proposed dates.

[MartynSinclair]

“……citizens, who are let down by the lack of a credible alternative to get to work…..”

Don’t know which part of the London transport system you use KM, but I find it absolutely perfect, for getting around London, to the airports. Yes it can get full in rush hour… never seen or heard anyone complain about the lack of direction in terms of destinations offered by the London transport infrastructure.

Is it more about the union wanting more money…..

[Author]

Posts