Train strikes

[Ivortheengine]

I am really amazed that the heirarchy in the railway union is letting its members go without pay on days of the strike. Money they can I’ll afford to lose, when fuel , food and energy costs are rising rapidly. What’s more, whatever percentage they get, they won’t get it back.

[ninian opinian]

I am really amazed that the heirarchy in the railway union is letting its members go without pay on days of the strike. Money they can I’ll afford to lose, when fuel , food and energy costs are rising rapidly. What’s more, whatever percentage they get, they won’t get it back.

Well they shows how strongly the workers feel over this issue. No one wants to lose money.

[Eric Cartman]

Sorry, but there's a lot of populist left-wing tropes and inaccuracies here.

1 / The wrong side of history comment is a reference to the fact that train use has fallen off a cliff (due to covid) and will in all probability never be the same again. If people want to work from home more, the result is a declining public transport. It's one of the reasons I caution against WFH.

2 / Of course, inflation always occurs, normally at a far lower level than now however.

3 / The wealth gap depends on how you look at it, but the average wage and personal tax allowance has risen far quicker under the current administration than the last one. The top rate of tax is also higher (45% v 40%) which rather undermines your party political point about the Tories wanting the gap to grow etc. That said, the pandemic and WFH is exacerbating the wealth gap considerably.

4 / Pay shouldn't be in line with inflation, it should ideally be above it. But sometimes inflation spikes, typically due to wars or other 'acts of god' and when it's caused by that its sometimes the case that we need to ride it out. Countering it with 10% pay rises across the board will probably exacerbate the problem.

5 / I agree, Mick Lynch is impressive, as was Bob Crow, but he has a job to try and protect his members, the govt' has to try and protect the entire country, and the two don't always align. Re Brexit - the RMT were prominent leave campaigners.

6 / Network Rail is publicly owned - what they make in profit goes back into the railways. The dispute is with Train operators.

Happy to be corrected on any of that. The reality, unfortunately is that very very little of the current inflation rate is caused by UK based policy decisions and thus much of it cannot be solved in that way. Political opponents will exploit the situation, but if you want the problem solved, you have to diagnose it properly. Inflation is happening near everywhere, so clearly it isn't caused by the Tories.

Maybe the union will win. Maybe it won't, but giving the country a 10% pay rise to solve a temporary spike in inflation is not the answer, unfortunately. I wish it was, but it isn't.

I dont think when people talk about the gap between rich and poor they mean the difference between someone earning 20k and 80k so tax brackets and personal allowances don't really come into the conversation. People didn't mind relative I equality when the tide was rising all ships, unfortunately the big ships are still rising and the small ones are beached.

[ninian opinian]

I have a degree of sympathy for a lot of what you have written but the bit in bold is a little wide of the mark. Not everything that is triggering inflation is caused by Ukraine or the pandemic, and it is wrong to try and change the narrative to suggest that everything is down to external factors. It is not. This Tory government isn't absolved of all blame, and must take its (rather large) fair share.

No your right. The elephant in the room making all us working class worse off is Brexit https://news.sky.com/story/brexit-wi...-says-12638190.

[JamesWales]

No your right. The elephant in the room making all us working class worse off is Brexit https://news.sky.com/story/brexit-wi...-says-12638190.

Check out the wage growth levels since leaving (and since the referendum) generally and consistently higher.

The issue is inflation at the moment.

https://tradingeconomics.com/united-kingdom/wage-growth

[North Cardiff Blue]

Check out the wage growth levels since leaving (and since the referendum) generally and consistently higher.

The issue is inflation at the moment.

https://tradingeconomics.com/united-kingdom/wage-growth

Supply and demand wages were always going to go up if we can't employ cheap european labour, that was one of the main benefits, Lorry drivers are a good example.

[the other bob wilson]

Still no one is saying why they would vote for this Government I see.

[ninian opinian]

No your right. The elephant in the room making all us working class worse off is Brexit https://news.sky.com/story/brexit-wi...-says-12638190.

You’re (spelling)

[Wash DC Blue]

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-61830923

[life on mars]

I think the strikes are organised you easily see and hear that from the various Union Leaders who are not dismissing the chance of joined up strike tactics this summer .

Feeding of the world's issue and pandemic is a clever but thoughtless tactic , some folk are just about adjusting post lockdown Covid they now face more restrictions from the working forces that were paid 100% in pay during Covid many working from home ..


The Tories are attempting to link it Starmer is a tactic to expose the uneasy alliance within the Labour Party..

Labour MP's on picket lines won't help the current leadership, it will though benefit the more left leaning members waiting to ditch Sir Kier and instal a watered down Corbyn candidate..

Teachers now balloting for inflation plus rises .. one union leader mentioned 21% ??

Fill yer boots time, guess who will pay for all these rises ??

Public sector inflation plus rises will cost 20 to 25 billion pa

[North Cardiff Blue]

I think the strikes are organised you easily see and hear that from the various Union Leaders who are not dismissing the chance of joined up strike tactics this summer .

Feeding of the world's issue and pandemic is a clever but thoughtless tactic , some folk are just about adjusting post lockdown Covid they now face more restrictions from the working forces that were paid 100% in pay during Covid many working from home ..


The Tories are attempting to link it Starmer is a tactic to expose the uneasy alliance within the Labour Party..

Labour MP's on picket lines won't help the current leadership, it will though benefit the more left leaning members waiting to ditch Sir Kier and instal a watered down Corbyn candidate..

Teachers now balloting for inflation plus rises .. one union leader mentioned 21% ??

Fill yer boots time, guess who will pay for all these rises ??

Public sector inflation plus rises will cost 20 to 25 billion pa

He's between a rock and a hard place a lot of hardline lefties are reminding him of the name of the party and how it was founded, the problem is he is trying to move away from Corbyn type politics and become more electable, which will continue to split the labour supporters.

[Wash DC Blue]

Still no one is saying why they would vote for this Government I see.

Mick Lynch has I think.

https://twitter.com/jrc1921/status/1...223Kqh35g&s=19

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

Yet for around a decade, most low paid workers have never had a rise in line with inflation. Very few who work in the public sector have had rises in line with inflation. They were victims of Osborne and Cameron trying to save the public purse. Millions of people have seen costs rise while their wages haven't matched that for a decade or so. Now inflation is going through the roof while wages don't catch up. FFS, how much longer to working people have to "ride this out"?

How much longer are so many of those directly affected by the Tories prepared to not vote against them or not even vote at all ?

The electorate are stupid

If they shaped up the 35 percent who vote tory and let them run the country would be leathered

It's not helped by starmer and whoever leads the liberals being a waste of time mind but still .....

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

The thing is with the Tories is that they still blame Labour for what was a worldwide financial crisis 14 years ago?

But when they are told what about these utter feck ups on your watch .......they blame it on covid or Ukraine

They are a bunch of oily chancers

If murder was legal I would take them all out

[JamesWales]

The thing is with the Tories is that they still blame Labour for what was a worldwide financial crisis 14 years ago?

But when they are told what about these utter feck ups on your watch .......they blame it on covid or Ukraine

They are a bunch of oily chancers

If murder was legal I would take them all out

Sludge, inflation in Belgium is currently 9%. In Greece it's 11%, in Holland 8.8%. In Spain 8.7%. Germany 8%. In Poland it's 14%. Czech Republic, 16%! Nearly all of these are 40,50 year highs.
https://tradingeconomics.com/country...ntinent=europe

Is it the Tories causing this as well? Quite obviously anyone with half a brain can see it isn't. So if you genuinely care about the issue, it's worth working out whats causing it. If it's just a left-wing circle jerk people are after, then crack on, but you won't solve the problem you profess to care about whilst doing it.

Just blaming the government for inflation rising is like just thanking them when it falls again. It's not like nothing can be done about it, but it's limited what can be achieved, and what has been done (£150 payments, forthcoming £350 payments, increases in personal allowance etc) put money in peoples pockets without changing the headline inflation figure anyway - could be argued it has helped fuel it I guess, but you can't win if thats the case.

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

Sludge, inflation in Belgium is currently 9%. In Greece it's 11%, in Holland 8.8%. In Spain 8.7%. Germany 8%. In Poland it's 14%. Czech Republic, 16%! Nearly all of these are 40,50 year highs.
https://tradingeconomics.com/country...ntinent=europe

Is it the Tories causing this as well? Quite obviously anyone with half a brain can see it isn't. So if you genuinely care about the issue, it's worth working out whats causing it. If it's just a left-wing circle jerk people are after, then crack on, but you won't solve the problem you profess to care about whilst doing it.

Just blaming the government for inflation rising is like just thanking them when it falls again. It's not like nothing can be done about it, but it's limited what can be achieved, and what has been done (£150 payments, forthcoming £350 payments, increases in personal allowance etc) put money in peoples pockets without changing the headline inflation figure anyway - could be argued it has helped fuel it I guess, but you can't win if thats the case.

The crisis the Tories blamed Labour for was a worldwide crisis in the same way this current euro wide inflation hike is a country wide crisis

The Tories are in charge and if and political gain can be made by poking a stick in them , give me a stick

They don't like the boot being on the other foot

[Eric the Half a Bee]

The crisis the Tories blamed Labour for was a worldwide crisis in the same way this current euro wide inflation hike is a country wide crisis

The Tories are in charge and if and political gain can be made by poking a stick in them , give me a stick

They don't like the boot being on the other foot

You have a point here. For years lots of people believed wrongly that Labour were to blame for the crash in 2009, because that's what the media told them.

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

You have a point here. For years lots of people believed wrongly that Labour were to blame for the crash in 2009, because that's what the media told them.

I am brighter than I appear

[Eric the Half a Bee]

I am brighter than I appear

Don't peak too soon lol!

[chrisp_1927]

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/...-of-mick-lynch


Very interesting and rather unexpected article from the spectator. That Kay Burley was an absolute disgrace, trying to paint decent working people as violent thugs. Absolutely despicable woman.

[the other bob wilson]

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/...-of-mick-lynch


Very interesting and rather unexpected article from the spectator. That Kay Burley was an absolute disgrace, trying to paint decent working people as violent thugs. Absolutely despicable woman.

I watched that exchange between Mick Lynch and Piers Morgan about the Hood - surreal, cutting edge stuff, there was only one winner and it wasn’t Morgan.

[FormerlyJohnnyBreadhead]

I watched that exchange between Mick Lynch and Piers Morgan about the Hood - surreal, cutting edge stuff, there was only one winner and it wasn’t Morgan.

It was like something out of Brass Eye. I was half expecting a "breaking" news ticker to appear across the bottom of the screen; "RMT leader denies historic accusations of terrorist activities on Tracy Island."

Surely even a tosser like Piers Morgan should be aware of ridiculous that segment was.

Even his goading was cringeworthy. Repeatedly telling Lynch "you look irritated" when, if anything, he looked thoroughly bored.

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/...-of-mick-lynch


Very interesting and rather unexpected article from the spectator. That Kay Burley was an absolute disgrace, trying to paint decent working people as violent thugs. Absolutely despicable woman.

She's a tory weasel

[Wash DC Blue]

Wonderful to see Mick Lynch handle the press like he has.
He'd be a politician that I could support.

[Doucas]

Accidental double post, ignore.