Mick Lynch

Steve Bee said:
How the hell does a train network function without ticket offices or conductors. How do we ensure the trains are safe if we reduce maintenance?
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If you're disabled you won't be able to get on or off a train at many stations as they'll be no help, if you need help with a pushchair or you have mobility problems then you won't get help unless it comes from another passenger.

If you are on a train where someone is drunk/abusive/violent they'll be no one to help you or to call the police.

If there's a medical emergency they'll be no one to help you or call for help unless it comes from a passenger and then you've got to hope they can get phone signal on a moving train.

If there's an emergency situation no one will be able to help you evacuate a train safely.

If the ticket machine isn't working at the station you'll have to board a train without a ticket which could lead to a fine.

If there are disruptions and delays there'll be no one to help you find alternative trains or routes.

If there is a situation where you feel vulnerable at a station then you'll be less likely to find a member of staff to help you.

I know station staff and guards that help disabled people and people with mobility issues every day, I know staff that have dealt with emergency situations such as violent passengers and treated people who've had heart attacks and strokes. I know station staff that have stopped members of the public jumping in front of trains. I've known station staff and guards help passengers make connecting trains so they can get flights from airports that they would have missed without help.

The number of assaults and sexual assaults will sky rocket on trains and at stations especially at night time. Theyll be more suicides and more incidents on trains and at stations. There will be more delays and a less efficient service.

This is the modernisation that they talk about.
 
Uwefuchs said:
If the ticket machine isn't working at the station you'll have to board a train without a ticket which could lead to a fine.
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It's not just about whether ticket machines are working. Ticket office staff can advise on which ticket is most appropriate. Without them, passengers are likely to pay more for their ticket than they need to, or less than they should leading to a fine if caught. My trip to a Boro home match involves a split which I simply ask for at the ticket office. In fact on Saturday when I asked for a split the person in the ticket office found an even better one which saved me an extra couple of quid. You wouldn't get that if there were no ticket offices. The train companies would love it, of course, because they would make more money if people were buying the wrong tickets.
 
Steve Bee said:
How the hell does a train network function without ticket offices or conductors. How do we ensure the trains are safe if we reduce maintenance?
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And the maintenance that is going to be compromised is on the infrastructure rather than on trains.

For example, Network Rail want to reduce track inspection by 50% on the majority of lines to save on staff costs. Its common for maintenance staff to spot faults on the track while doing track inspections and they can call the signaller immediately to stop trains run or to run at reduced speeds. Obviously by cutting these inspections in half then you're increasing the chances of a rail disaster, even more worrying is a proposal to have yearly track inspections in some areas which is negligent.
 
Capybara said:
It's not just about whether ticket machines are working. Ticket office staff can advise on which ticket is most appropriate. Without them, passengers are likely to pay more for their ticket than they need to, or less than they should leading to a fine if caught. My trip to a Boro home match involves a split which I simply ask for at the ticket office. In fact on Saturday when I asked for a split the person in the ticket office found an even better one which saved me an extra couple of quid. You wouldn't get that if there were no ticket offices. The train companies would love it, of course, because they would make more money if people were buying the wrong tickets.
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I've known Station staff and guards to literally organise for trains to be held at stations while another gets into a station (so passengers can transfer from one train to another), this has been for important connections like getting to an airport or a hospital. They absolutely go above and beyond and they are being asked to accept a deal which puts many of them out of work.
 
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Clearly: the issues effecting track safety and reduced maintenance contributed to the Potters Bar and Hatfield train crashes.
Railtrack was a disaster - hence Network Rail.
Are we leaving ourselves open to that again? We have a railway which is over 150 years old in many places, with infrastructure, such as viaducts, embankments and tunnels which require constant monitoring and maintenace. Profit has no morals or compassion.
It just wants more profit.
At our expense.
And the Dutch, French and German State Railways who own large swaithes of our railways - are taking that profit back home to subsidise their own systems.
And Mick Lynch and all the railway workers are being unreasonable and "militant".
Oh yeah?!
 
Last week I lost my bank card and realised I hadn’t seen it since 7 in the morning and it was now 5pm. As I had just changed banks, I had no idea how to cancel it as I only had the details on my iPad at home. I only had a fiver on me and the train ticket was £6.50. I spoke to one of the staff about my situation and I was very stressed, wondering if some scrote had been busy emptying my account. He took me to the ticket machine and selected a child ticket and then got me through the barrier. He then explained that I would need to speak to a staff member about why I had a child ticket When I reached my home station. Got to my station and was about to explain myself and the guy informed me that the person who had helped me at Stratford had already called and told him about my situation. I was let through and very much appreciated the help and understanding I received from rail staff that day. I dont think they are being unreasonable and think the majority of people feel the same way.
 
breakthewallsdown said:
But it's not a daft answer.

Madeley said the strikes are ruining xmas then 15secs later asked why are they striking on the run up to xmas.. It's one or the other
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Firstly, we are on the same side.
The reason I and others thought it was daft because it was unnecessary and provocative. He played the man not the ball.

We can’t hide from the fact strikes are making life very difficult for hospitality at a busy xmas time (in London in particular) and fir some wanting to travel.
That’s what strikes do.

A good response is to stick to the script which has worked well so far.

‘Members are making sacrifices, passengers and some businesses will be inconvenienced but, because of the way this government have treated passengers for years and the fact they refuse to come to the table the public still support us‘
 
1finny said:
Firstly, we are on the same side.
The reason I and others thought it was daft because it was unnecessary and provocative. He played the man not the ball.

We can’t hide from the fact strikes are making life very difficult for hospitality at a busy xmas time (in London in particular) and fir some wanting to travel.
That’s what strikes do.

A good response is to stick to the script which has worked well so far.

‘Members are making sacrifices, passengers and some businesses will be inconvenienced but, because of the way this government have treated passengers for years and the fact they refuse to come to the table the public still support us‘
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I asked above isn't Lynch allowed to get angry after 7 months of this? And no one answered me.

We've had public support for 7 months and where has it got us? Maybe Lynch needs to start being a bit more Bob Crow.

If anyone watches that interview and takes Madeley's side then that tells me more about them than it does Lynch.

I know people are getting massively disrupted over Xmas but this is no picnic for railway workers either, people are literally fighting to save their jobs.
 
Uwefuchs said:
I asked above isn't Lynch allowed to get angry after 7 months of this? And no one answered me.

We've had public support for 7 months and where has it got us? Maybe Lynch needs to start being a bit more Bob Crow.

If anyone watches that interview and takes Madeley's side then that tells me more about them than it does Lynch.

I know people are getting massively disrupted over Xmas but this is no picnic for railway workers either, people are literally fighting to save their jobs.
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For goodness sake - why does it always get binary?
Mick can do what he wants incl losing his temper.
I can also point out that behaviour is risky and it is better he sticks to the good discussion that has worked so far.

That has firk all to do with Madeley and does not mean I’m taking his side.

He needs to keep the public on side and win the PR war. My view - playing the man/woman and losing his rag will do damage in the long run.
Since the interview all the right wing rubbish have focussed on is him losing his temper.
These things matter
I hope it was a one off.
 
1finny said:
For goodness sake - why does it always get binary?
Mick can do what he wants incl losing his temper.
I can also point out that behaviour is risky and it is better he sticks to the good discussion that has worked so far.

That has firk all to do with Madeley and does not mean I’m taking his side.

He needs to keep the public on side and win the PR war. My view - playing the man/woman and losing his rag will do damage in the long run.
Since the interview all the right wing rubbish have focussed on is him losing his temper.
These things matter
I hope it was a one off.
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I guess the thing is, many don’t think he lost his temper. To me, he batted away a stupid inflammatory comment with the disdain it deserved and then went on to destroy Madley’s comment, explaining why the last couple of days strikes were called, that three weeks notice was given for them (two is the requirement) so people had as much time as possible to make alternative arrangements, and also how the Xmas strikes were deliberately called to hurt engineering work with minimum disruption to passenger services, as there are none Xmas day and massively reduced or none the day either side anyway.

It’s a bit of non-argument really, because as you say, the majority seem to be on his side.
I agree with you that unfortunately the media government propaganda machine will jump on anything they can, to feed the narrative fed to the Sun and Mail reading numpties, so he needs to be careful, but on this occasion they are truly clutching at straws.
 
FabioPorkpie said:
I guess the thing is, many don’t think he lost his temper. To me, he batted away a stupid inflammatory comment with the disdain it deserved and then went on to destroy Madley’s comment, explaining why the last couple of days strikes were called, that three weeks notice was given for them (two is the requirement) so people had as much time as possible to make alternative arrangements, and also how the Xmas strikes were deliberately called to hurt engineering work with minimum disruption to passenger services, as there are none Xmas day and massively reduced or none the day either side anyway.

It’s a bit of non-argument really, because as you say, the majority seem to be on his side.
I agree with you that unfortunately the media government propaganda machine will jump on anything they can, to feed the narrative fed to the Sun and Mail reading numpties, so he needs to be careful, but on this occasion they are truly clutching at straws.
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I don’t think he lost his temper either.

He has been brilliant so far - calmly destroying the lies and misinformation In interview after interview.
 
1finny said:
For goodness sake - why does it always get binary?
Mick can do what he wants incl losing his temper.
I can also point out that behaviour is risky and it is better he sticks to the good discussion that has worked so far.

That has firk all to do with Madeley and does not mean I’m taking his side.

He needs to keep the public on side and win the PR war. My view - playing the man/woman and losing his rag will do damage in the long run.
Since the interview all the right wing rubbish have focussed on is him losing his temper.
These things matter
I hope it was a one off.
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Let's be honest Lynch isn't being attacked for how he presents himself in interviews, he's been attacked for what he represents. He's talked about rebalancing the distribution of wealth and thats a threat to the elite.

The right wing press have ramped up their campaign against him because the industrial action has escalated. He's getting the Corbyn treatment now and the press won't stop until they've destroyed him.

As I said we've had public support and its helped us to achieve very little anyway.
 
exiledinboro said:
It feels like the whole country is on its knees, largely due to the Tories which is why the following are striking:

Paramedics 🚑
Teachers 👩‍🏫
The Fire Brigade 👩‍🚒
Drivers 🚛
Eurostar workers 🚄
Bus Drivers 🚍
BinMen 🗑
National Highway staff 👷‍♂️
Baggage Handlers 🎒
The Border Force 👮‍♀️
Royal Mail staff ✉️
Nurses👩‍⚕️
NHS staff in Northern Ireland
Junior doctors 👨‍⚕️
Physiotherapists in Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿
Civil servants 👩‍💻
Driving examiners 👨🏻‍💼
DWP staff 👩‍💼
Beer-makers 🍻
Coffin makers ⚰️
And even charity staff

🤦‍♂️

I’m genuinely amazed the Tories have allowed any strikes to happen because people like Lynch are exposing exactly what is wrong and how unfair the system is. Pretending there’s no money for workers after all the Tory billions lost

Or the line there’s no money whilst profits increase
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Unfortunately the Tories have the "government versus striking workers" playbook down to a T.

Already some swing in the polls which must be attributable to the strikes (as they've delivered absolutely nothing else).

As I've mentioned previously, this is purely ideological for the Tories now, the only way they gain from this is by Labour losing - of course, that's the point.

There's a small chance they buckle closer to an election and swoop in to "fix" the issue (and gain credit for doing so) but I think that might be underestimating the strength of feeling of the workers.

The minimum service piece they've concocted is a hint at their long term strategy - I think they are in this for long run.
 
Uwefuchs said:
And the maintenance that is going to be compromised is on the infrastructure rather than on trains.

For example, Network Rail want to reduce track inspection by 50% on the majority of lines to save on staff costs. Its common for maintenance staff to spot faults on the track while doing track inspections and they can call the signaller immediately to stop trains run or to run at reduced speeds. Obviously by cutting these inspections in half then you're increasing the chances of a rail disaster, even more worrying is a proposal to have yearly track inspections in some areas which is negligent.
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You get a Hatfield if you do this, as Railtrack realised.

The track inspection gangs fix a lot of issues they find there and then (eg loose points stretcher bolts). When they're not inspecting, things don't get found and fixed.
 
Government Health Minister - pedling a similar "cant afford it" line, concerning Nurses....but. Actions speak louder than words(y)

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Says someone (Maria Caulfield) on around £100k a year and tens of thousand in expenses and maybe some work on the side.

To me some extra money has to be found to give some sort of fair settlement, that reflects the work nurses do, their training required, their shifts, the things they have to deal with, and just to cope with some of the shortgages and reduce the use of expensive agency nurses.

I believe a new qualified nurse with a degree starts on around £27k - someone working at LIDL gets £21k as a new recruit and works 40 hours a week with no £27k student loan to pay back. That can't be right.

Scottish nurses have been offered 7.5% why can't English nurses be offered the same? Its not ideal, but to me it would be sensible all round.
 
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