(15 Nov 2023, 9:56 pm)Dan wrote Oh, absolutely. Each individual has a different motivation.
Some will genuinely be on strike because they feel the pay offer isn’t acceptable, others are on strike because they have seen how ‘scabs’ have been treated by their colleagues, and however unlikely you deem the scenario to be, it is the truth that some are using this as an opportunity for ‘free holiday’.
Most of us on this forum are bus users, are directly employed by the company, or have friends/family who are employed by the company. This means that the strike is affecting almost all of us on this forum. One thing that we can all agree on is that the company and Unite need to resolve the dispute as soon as possible.
(16 Nov 2023, 8:04 am)F114TML wrote Yup. One of the drivers at our depot went in otherwise he would've defaulted on his debts. Not only is he nearly universally hated, you can get yourself on the hitlist for even talking to him.
Hell, after the first strike we did, everyone who wasn't on strike got blanked, including the engineers and the woman who runs the canteen.
Without getting into a debate of differences of opinion, I'm still surprised that those who cross picket lines, always seem to be shocked that it's not rosey in the garden for them after the action is over. I don't know whether it's down to a lack of understanding on what being in a member of a Trade Union is about, or because they see it as some kind of insurance policy, that is only there to bail them out when if they screw up?
The whole point of a Union is supposed to be a collective voice of workers that fights to improve pay and conditions for their members, amongst other things. All key decisions are that of members (via votes) fellow members, hence where the tension arises when people go against that majority decision. You're not just going against that decision by going to work, but you're always seeing as helping the employer conduct their business and generate revenue too. In GNE's case, this may be someone driving a scholars bus that wouldn't otherwise run, and therefore GNE wouldn't be paid for operating that contract. That may not even be the case, but you can't control perceptions.
I've seen similar to the examples F114TML quotes, but I don't think there's ever going to be a solution to it, unless a Government legislates that you have to smile and say hello to every colleague. In my experience, I find that the core of the issue is not always that someone has crossed the picket and 'helped the employer out', but it's that I've never known a strike-breaker to then write to HR and forfeit any gains that are won by the Union as a result of the dispute.
For those with individual circumstances, such as financial issues, most Unions are getting more organised to work against the rift of anti-strike laws in the UK. They've developed systems to overcome the 50% ballot threshold (which by Tory views, makes it more democratic!), and they're building and utilising action funds to ensure that their members aren't bankrupted for fighting back. As such, most Unions now operate hardship funds of some sort, allowing members can apply to for (further) support. Reps never want to see members cross a picket line or come out of a Union, and I know I've supported members with this in my own union during industrial action. I'm not sure what the process is in Unite, but given their size and financial power, I'd be extremely surprised if one doesn't exist.
As much as there's been jibes about the Union paying members strike pay, people using it as a free holiday etc, it's ultimately the members own money that is supporting this action, in an attempt to level the playing field. It's their National Executive's call to spend that on strike pay, just as it is GNE's to spend money on paint or stickers, as is often alleged on here! Without it strike pay, I suspect GNE would have bulldozed over the Union by now and simply imposed the offer and changes, in a similar vein that Feetham tried to get away with in Manchester.
To conclude, whilst strike action is always a last resort for Unions, employers often neglect to recognise the long-lasting damage that prolonged action does to workplace morale and relationships, not to mention industrial relations. Settling a pay claim and getting everyone back to work is only the starting point; the real work starts after that.
(16 Nov 2023, 11:15 am)xpm wrote Employment in an ideal world should be based on mutual respect - not a one way transaction where the employer throws you some bones at the end of the week grudgingly and tries its best to get out of doing so, and tries to find ways to make you work longer for the same pay, and lambast and degrade you at every possible opportunity.
An employer has a responsibility to ensure that none of it's employees are forced to work overtime just to meet their day to day needs. When overtime does dry up GNE are quite happy to cut off employees like junkies needing their fix with no thought for the help they have given the company, either at short notice, or the fact they rely on the extra to make ends meet (and any manager who says they don't know who those people are, are lying). I'm not going to even enter into the discussion about children - it's quite clear from what you've written you do not have any, or appreciate any of the ups and downs of family life in that regard.
Absolutely, and this is the real issue right across the UK. Workers, typically in low-paid or unsecure work, are made to feel like their employer is doing them a favour by working them into an early grave. It's no coincidence that pay and conditions have worsened with the decline in trade union membership over decades, nor is it a coincidence that pay has gone up in a couple of years of Unions standing strong and fighting back.
Employers in the bus industry, much like a lot of the retail sector, create an overtime culture. It's addictive and hard to unhook yourself from that, when you see a decline in take-home pay that you've since become used to, especially when you naturally end up budgeting against working that overtime. We should be looking to reduce what is seen as a normal working week in the UK, not increase it with the constant dangling of the carrot.
(16 Nov 2023, 5:16 pm)Ambassador wrote I give up....
Me too. Seems that even Lee Anderson has a pseudonym on this forum these days.