(29 Sep 2023, 10:13 pm)Ambassador wrote Yes. The union demands will be negotiated and this is clearly more about terms and conditions than basic pay, despite the latest Unite bluster.
The current management and commercial model shows no sign of returning to profit, it’s still recovering from Gilbert and his enthusiast crazed decisions. It’s clearly poorly run, whether wilfully or just a lack of people management/experience and it being on the cheap is another matter. Despite what we see from management twitter and Facebook accounts…run properly there’s hope.
There is also no chance in hell Go Ahead won’t be waiting for the golden goose of franchising coming in once the Regional Mayor gets their feet under the table.
This got me thinking.
Perhaps GNE / Go Ahead are happy to let the strike run and then hope to break it, They then will have a workforce that is cheaper with poorer conditions of service than the other two large operators, and they can underbid them for the franchises.
During the strike, they will not be paying wages of those on strike, and don’t have the running costs of providing commercial services (obviously with the exception of fixed costs)but are still receiving some income from the contracts they are running.
They will certainly be losing money, but apparently they are anyway, and does public perception of the company matter come franchising? The travelling public won’t care who is running the buses then as long as the fares are cheaper and the service is better.
Any routes won from other operators would likely lead to staff being TUPE’d over, maybe easing any staffing issues.
(29 Sep 2023, 10:13 pm)Ambassador wrote Yes. The union demands will be negotiated and this is clearly more about terms and conditions than basic pay, despite the latest Unite bluster.
The current management and commercial model shows no sign of returning to profit, it’s still recovering from Gilbert and his enthusiast crazed decisions. It’s clearly poorly run, whether wilfully or just a lack of people management/experience and it being on the cheap is another matter. Despite what we see from management twitter and Facebook accounts…run properly there’s hope.
There is also no chance in hell Go Ahead won’t be waiting for the golden goose of franchising coming in once the Regional Mayor gets their feet under the table.
This got me thinking.
Perhaps GNE / Go Ahead are happy to let the strike run and then hope to break it, They then will have a workforce that is cheaper with poorer conditions of service than the other two large operators, and they can underbid them for the franchises.
During the strike, they will not be paying wages of those on strike, and don’t have the running costs of providing commercial services (obviously with the exception of fixed costs)but are still receiving some income from the contracts they are running.
They will certainly be losing money, but apparently they are anyway, and does public perception of the company matter come franchising? The travelling public won’t care who is running the buses then as long as the fares are cheaper and the service is better.
Any routes won from other operators would likely lead to staff being TUPE’d over, maybe easing any staffing issues.