(29 Aug 2022, 9:30 pm)Drifter60 wrote I’m sorry this may be controversial but this is where certain workers get things wrong in my opinion. Unions fighting for better pay and conditions yes I’m all for that and I do happen to think bus drivers deserve more than what is seemingly the average hourly rate looking at the information out there. But if you accept a job as a bus driver in my opinion you sign up to out of hours working, complaining you had to do a late shift, a Saturday shift or bank holiday is like someone working a bar job complaining they finished late or an paramedic not liking shift work. Bars tend to attract more people in the evening just as paramedics and ambulance are need 24/7 (including Christmas Day believe it or not) and to me it’s the same way buses operate 7 days a week. There’s need a whole mindset change on the issue. Where is the outcry about the waitress and chef serving Christmas Day lunch at a restaurant, or the checkout operator working a 12 hour shift on bank holidays, including Boxing Day.

It’s a complete sense of entitlement with some people, where they want the job to change for them, and that’s shouldn’t always be the case. If a load of bus drivers doesn’t want to do anything but a Monday-Friday 9 to 5, what’s the a solution? Cancel bus post 5pm Friday until Monday morning? It’s crazy. I have a friend a few years got a call centre job at Doxford in Sunderland, shifts were 8 hours long but could be Monday to Sunday 7am to 11pm. He hated it, he was in his early 20s, enjoyed going out at weekend, played football for a Sunday pub team etc. the job interfered with his social life too much, he didn’t demand the job changed for him. He quit. And got a job elsewhere, now does a more suited to him office based 9 to 5 Monday to Friday. He didn’t expect the company to change just for him.

Now I appreciate in the current driver shortage, losing any more drivers may not the way to go but this isn’t a new problem. There’s been a lack of decent evening and weekend services for years and mindset on this should have changed a few years back. Demand has increased in recent years for more ‘off peak’ services, I liken it to supermarkets, twenty years ago a checkout operator job at Asda may have only been shifts between 8am and 8pm at most. But now most are 24 hours or at least 6am til 12am, the business model changed and the staff shifts presumably had too also. No doubt some people left but any new starters would know the requirements and shift patterns in advance, you can’t then complain when the store is still open past 10pm or at weekends!

I appreciate this is a bus forum with many current and force employees from various companies who obviously have a vested interest, but I’ve done weekend working myself, which has included Bank Holidays, Easter, Boxing Day, New Years Day etc. and I don’t see anyone outraged for me… 

(28 Aug 2022, 10:32 pm)Ambassador wrote then their tiny provincial minds would be blown

(29 Aug 2022, 9:18 am)tcts24 wrote We get higher pay for working bank holidays at Stagecoach   Wish someone would tell my boss. I get the leiu day but that's it.

(31 Aug 2022, 10:39 am)F114TML wrote Yep - asked around. You're right I'm wrong. Apologies.

(10 Sep 2022, 6:01 pm)Rob44 wrote I know its just been announced but will the 3 major companies up here be running a Sunday service on Monday 19th September.  Unfortunately where i work never close and I need to be at work for 8 but first bus on  a Sunday is 920 i believe?

(10 Sep 2022, 7:40 pm)Rapidsnap wrote All the major Betting Shops (Ladbrokes, Coral, William Hills, Betfred, Paddy Power) are closing for the day (for the second time, as we closed on Friday due to the passing of the Queen)

(13 Sep 2022, 2:02 am)streetdeckfan wrote I used to like bank holidays because we got a day off school, now they piss me off because I can't get 30% off Lidl bakery after 7pm and it costs me twice as much to get the bus!

What's even worse, is places are deciding to shut altogether because we're told we have to be sad for a few days! Don't get me wrong, I'm not calling to #abolishthemonarchy or owt, but I do think it's a bit over the top

(13 Sep 2022, 9:33 am)tcts24 wrote It's pissed me off because I have to drive a route I hate on Monday, on a shift thats 67 minutes longer than the one I usually do.

(10 Sep 2022, 8:22 pm)Storx wrote That's only because there was nothing to bet on as all the sports were cancelled pretty much :p

(13 Sep 2022, 6:18 am)Michael wrote That's a first world problem, not getting your 30% off at Lidl after 7pm 

Its also called "respect", she was on the throne for 70 years, she was part of some of the biggest events in history... so that's why its a bank holiday.

(14 Sep 2022, 3:22 am)omnicity4659 wrote There's nothing "respectful" about essential shops closing willy-nilly to apparently allow their staff to watch the funeral, for someone they didn't actually care about until the prospect of a day off!

Asda posted a press release, only accessible via "Corporate and Press" on their website, stating they'll be closed from midnight to 5pm on Monday and will suspend home deliveries for the day. There is absolutely no public-facing communications of this closure. The number of people this will negatively affect will be significantly greater than those mourning the late Queen.

Reducing the customer offering or outright closing was unheard of before Covid for any reason bar Christmas. Since when did it become normal or a "mark of respect" to do that?

(14 Sep 2022, 3:22 am)omnicity4659 wrote There's nothing "respectful" about essential shops closing willy-nilly to apparently allow their staff to watch the funeral, for someone they didn't actually care about until the prospect of a day off!

Asda posted a press release, only accessible via "Corporate and Press" on their website, stating they'll be closed from midnight to 5pm on Monday and will suspend home deliveries for the day. There is absolutely no public-facing communications of this closure. The number of people this will negatively affect will be significantly greater than those mourning the late Queen.

Reducing the customer offering or outright closing was unheard of before Covid for any reason bar Christmas. Since when did it become normal or a "mark of respect" to do that?

(14 Sep 2022, 6:04 am)streetdeckfan wrote It's for the same reason that GNE have a Pride, Poppy and even the Jubilee bus, it's just marketing! They can say what they want, but they aren't doing it out of the goodness of their heart!

If they didn't close then there'd be news articles and Twitter posts about workers being 'forced' to go in, and that would make them look bad.


Maybe it's just me, but I was pretty much over the Queen's death after a few hours, I don't need 2+ weeks to 'mourn'. I didn't even take the full day off to go to my grandparent's funerals! No use crying over spilled milk and all that. 

I'll refrain from giving my opinions on the people crying on TV 'out of respect' (but it's not far off my opinion on people going on strike!)

(14 Sep 2022, 7:20 am)Storx wrote The reason they will be shutting is because a lot of people will be watching the Queen's funeral especially pensioners who is usually all that shops on a Monday anyway. 

There's no demand to be open so why bother wasting money for the 15 people who will come in all day.

(14 Sep 2022, 8:13 am)Andreos1 wrote I agree, a lot of it will be PR spin. 
But in the case of Centre Parcs, it has backfired big style!

Both my employer and Mrs Constantopolous employers are open on Monday. Because of the services provided, they have no choice.

However, I find it strange to see the likes of Costco shutting their stores and petrol stations.
Particularly when smaller businesses who rely on them, won't be closing for the day.

(14 Sep 2022, 8:13 am)Andreos1 wrote I agree, a lot of it will be PR spin. 
But in the case of Centre Parcs, it has backfired big style!

Both my employer and Mrs Constantopolous employers are open on Monday. Because of the services provided, they have no choice.

However, I find it strange to see the likes of Costco shutting their stores and petrol stations.
Particularly when smaller businesses who rely on them, won't be closing for the day.

(13 Sep 2022, 3:59 pm)nova347 wrote What route do you hate?

(14 Sep 2022, 3:22 am)omnicity4659 wrote There's nothing "respectful" about essential shops closing willy-nilly to apparently allow their staff to watch the funeral, for someone they didn't actually care about until the prospect of a day off!

Asda posted a press release, only accessible via "Corporate and Press" on their website, stating they'll be closed from midnight to 5pm on Monday and will suspend home deliveries for the day. There is absolutely no public-facing communications of this closure. The number of people this will negatively affect will be significantly greater than those mourning the late Queen.

Reducing the customer offering or outright closing was unheard of before Covid for any reason bar Christmas. Since when did it become normal or a "mark of respect" to do that?

(14 Sep 2022, 10:41 am)Rob44 wrote i work all bank holidays, including Christmas  this year!.. But i think its a good idea the more shops that close.  My favourite day of the year for a pint is easter sunday when newcastle is SOOOOO peaceful.  If people can get there shopping in on the 363 days the shops are open then there is something wrong somewhere.... plus you can always give the low paying tax companies your hard earned cash and shop online to save pennys!

(14 Sep 2022, 4:56 pm)Adrian wrote I've seen some foodbanks are also opting to close, which is absolutely bonkers given the reasons why they exist in the first place.

Some businesses seem to have gone mad over this. The Center Parcs fiasco is a prime example of it and has ultimately ended up being a PR disaster for them as a company. I wonder who ever thought it'd be a good idea to ask guests to leave mid-break for 24 hours, find somewhere else to sleep, then come back and 'enjoy' the rest of their holiday. 

People already being force-fed coverage of this around the clock and now they're being pushed into spending their day in a sombre fashion, because at this rate they'll not be able to do anything else. Add people being arrested for protesting to the list, and it's becoming more-and-more authoritarian by the day.

(14 Sep 2022, 4:56 pm)Adrian wrote People already being force-fed coverage of this around the clock and now they're being pushed into spending their day in a sombre fashion, because at this rate they'll not be able to do anything else. Add people being arrested for protesting to the list, and it's becoming more-and-more authoritarian by the day.

(14 Sep 2022, 5:00 pm)Adrian wrote More shops to close, but pubs to stay open?

The shops that are closing sell essentials. I'd argue for Christmas Day and Easter Sunday, you already know well in advance that they're going to be closed. You've got less than a weeks notice with this, and many families live day-by-day in terms of budgeting and putting food on the table.

(14 Sep 2022, 5:26 pm)streetdeckfan wrote I go on Twitter and literally everything is about the bloody Queen, it's taking the piss at this point! I don't need live updates about where, for lack of a better phrase, a rotting corpse is! Why people are queuing up for 5 miles is beyond me, you might as well go to a butchers! I'm glad I'm not paying for a TV license because I'd want a refund, all they've been doing is regurgitating the same crap for the last week.

I've got my 93rd COVID booster booked in for Monday and I hope to god they don't have a TV on in the waiting area! Actually, I'm half expecting to get a phone call saying they've cancelled it out of respect!

(14 Sep 2022, 6:05 pm)F114TML wrote Maybe... people are a bit saddened by the news, and not everyone feels the same as everyone else.