(09 Nov 2023, 1:30 pm)streetdeckfan wrote And that leaflet posted by Unite wasn't a load of propaganda?
Both sides are as bad as each other.
As for the strike being a last resort, I'm not buying that, if Unite weren't handing out cash to the drivers do you think they'd have voted for the strike?
While the drivers are obviously suffering a financial loss going on strike, it's nowhere near as bad as they'd want you to think.
As I've said before, GNE have absolutely no incentive to give in to the demands.
They're already making a loss, they don't even have enough money to pay the drivers their current wages never mind more. Sure the group that owns them are making absolute bank, but why would they hand out cash to little GNE that's only going to go down the drain.
Surely from the group's point of view they're better off cutting their losses?
Even if GNE give in and give them whatever pay rise they want, where is that money going to come from? Seriously?
They can't increase their fares because of the £2 cap.
Day ticket prices (which I believe make up a substantial proportion of their income, although I'm happy to be corrected) are being slashed with the new TNE tickets.
Passenger numbers still aren't back to 'normal'.
They're running near end of life buses on front line services, with no funds to replace them.
So again I ask, where does the money come from?
The only answer I can think of is cuts to services. And what happens when they cut services, they don't need as many drivers.
Now, maybe my Tory brain is too smooth to understand, so I'm being genuine here when I ask, how do you envisage them getting out of this pickle they're in?
Why should going on strike be down to an affordability test? Are you suggesting that workers shouldn't go on strike, unless they financially bankrupt themselves in the process? Workers have often received solidarity for going on strike, whether that be in the form of collections, meals or whatever else. It's just a lot more organised in the digital age. It doesn't make it any less of a last resort, unless you're suggesting people don't just want to go out and earn an honest wage for an honest day's work?
You keep bringing up the 'affordability' of meeting the demands, yet you won't seem to acknowledge that it's the management of the company that set the business strategy and their plan for growth. The workforce simply deliver the plan that has been set. If they can't afford the most basic of pay rises, which isn't even 1% above what inflation was on the review date, then the failing is on them. Do you think they've been crying poverty to all the service providers they use, e.g. energy, fuel, parts, sectors we know that have raised prices way above the level of inflation?
Again, losses are being mentioned, but the bulk of the losses are from the cost of restructuring. The accounts tell you this, if you read beyond the figure that GNE management are spouting out.
Which part of the Unite leaflet (assuming you're referring to the 'Help get your buses back on the road' one) do you find biased or misleading? I've got a copy in front of me that I picked up the other day. One side appears to tell people what their priorities should be, the other explains who is out on strike?!