Not too late to call off rail strikes, Boris Johnson says, as country braces for 'very substantial disruption'

[onthedarkside]

Treasury chief secretary Simon Clarke

 

Simon Clarke, the chief secretary to the Treasury, says workers should not expect to see "inflation-busting pay increases" - and Boris Johnson described the strike as an "act of self-harm for rail workers"

 

A Cabinet minister has told Sky News he fears rail strikes will go ahead this week - and warned that workers must make sacrifices as the UK battles inflation.

 

Simon Clarke, the chief secretary to the Treasury, said that although the government was not the legal employer of union members due to walk out, they could not expect "inflation-busting pay increases".

 

"I fear it is likely that [the strikes] will go ahead," Mr Clarke said. "Clearly we will continue to support the negotiations until such time is there's no more time to discuss.

 

(more)

 

https://news.sky.com/story/strikes-likely-to-go-ahead-minister-says-as-he-warns-public-to-prepare-for-substantial-disruption-12637170

 

[Bluespunk]

16 minutes ago, onthedarkside said:

Simon Clarke, the chief secretary to the Treasury, said that although the government was not the legal employer of union members due to walk out, they could not expect "inflation-busting pay increases".

Not your decision clarke, not your decision. 

[Loiner]

So what has Starmer said about this, anything at all? All part of their plan to try and sway the public against Boris. 

[it is what it is]

28 minutes ago, Loiner said:

So what has Starmer said about this, anything at all? All part of their plan to try and sway the public against Boris. 

 

the strike is playing right into tory hands, giving a vision of industrial relations under a labour government

[ThaIrish Sean]

Boris is a lying cheating buffoon. And that's coming from a conservative voter.

Unions had their place 100 years ago and were very welcome giving workers rights.

They are an obsolete dinosaur in today's day and age. So many industries in the UK have been brought to their knees by unions and we lost those industries because of industrial action.

Market forces are the new leverage. If somebody doesn't like a job they can get another job. There are around 1.3 million vacancies in the United Kingdom at the moment.

[Chomper Higgot]

On 6/20/2022 at 7:42 PM, it is what it is said:

 

the strike is playing right into tory hands, giving a vision of industrial relations under a labour government

When in truth, the vision we are getting is labour relations under a Tory Government.

 

[Chomper Higgot]

12 minutes ago, ThaIrish Sean said:

Boris is a lying cheating buffoon. And that's coming from a conservative voter.

Unions had their place 100 years ago and were very welcome giving workers rights.

They are an obsolete dinosaur in today's day and age. So many industries in the UK have been brought to their knees by unions and we lost those industries because of industrial action.

Market forces are the new leverage. If somebody doesn't like a job they can get another job. There are around 1.3 million vacancies in the United Kingdom at the moment.

Nonsense.

 

The unions did not destroy British Industry, that was done with government policies and decades of underinvestment. You might recall Maggie’s ‘post industrial age’ speech.

 

Workers rights were indeed won by union action, and are being stripped away in the absence of Union action. Rights won can and are being removed.

 

Unionized workers and collective bargaining are a perfect example of the ‘Free Market’ in action.

 

Yes there are about 1.3million vacancies in the UK right now, there is also inflation.

 

Workers are in a very good position to bargain for better pay and workers in unions are in an even better position.

 

And for the record, inflation has arrived before pay increases, pay increases are not the cause of inflation.

 

 

[ThaIrish Sean]

22 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Nonsense.

 

The unions did not destroy British Industry, that was done with government policies and decades of underinvestment. You might recall Maggie’s ‘post industrial age’ speech.

 

Workers rights were indeed won by union action, and are being stripped away in the absence of Union action. Rights won can and are being removed.

 

Unionized workers and collective bargaining are a perfect example of the ‘Free Market’ in action.

 

Yes there are about 1.3million vacancies in the UK right now, there is also inflation.

 

Workers are in a very good position to bargain for better pay and workers in unions are in an even better position.

 

And for the record, inflation has arrived before pay increases, pay increases are not the cause of inflation.

 

 

I do not agree with all you said.

The Unions certainly helped in bringing industry to its knees although I do agree with you that under investment and bad management were key factors too.

 

There may be one or two workers rights being stripped away but equally there are other rights coming in to help them. The minimum wage being a welcome addition.

 

I am surrounded by people who do not want to work even though they could and are happy to sit on social welfare. There is no incentive for them to work as they get as much for doing nothing.

Immigrants in the UK work so much harder than the indigenous population, and yet the Brex<deleted>eers wanted them out, now we have food rotting and our fields, not enough truck drivers to move things and a lack of nurses to look after our sick... The list is endless.

 

"Yes there are about 1.3million vacancies in the UK right now, there is also inflation."

 

I don't understand why you put these in the same sentence.

 

I also don't understand why you say inflation came before pay increases. Inflation is with us most of the time, except when there is a recession, so are pay increases ????‍????

[Chomper Higgot]

6 minutes ago, ThaIrish Sean said:

I do not agree with all you said.

The Unions certainly helped in bringing industry to its knees although I do agree with you that under investment and bad management were key factors too.

 

There may be one or two workers rights being stripped away but equally there are other rights coming in to help them. The minimum wage being a welcome addition.

 

I am surrounded by people who do not want to work even though they could and are happy to sit on social welfare. There is no incentive for them to work as they get as much for doing nothing.

Immigrants in the UK work so much harder than the indigenous population, and yet the Brex<deleted>eers wanted them out, now we have food rotting and our fields, not enough truck drivers to move things and a lack of nurses to look after our sick... The list is endless.

 

"Yes there are about 1.3million vacancies in the UK right now, there is also inflation."

 

I don't understand why you put these in the same sentence.

 

I also don't understand why you say inflation came before pay increases. Inflation is with us most of the time, except when there is a recession, so are pay increases ????‍????

Idle Brits refusing to work is absolutely nothing to do with unions.

 

Inflation is an undeniable issue, most working people have never experienced the level of inflation the UK is experiencing, and it’s getting worse.

 

Importantly, that inflation has not been caused by increases in worker pay - pay demands are a result of inflation.

 

[Chomper Higgot]

It is now being reported that the Rail Workers Union is having success making agreements with several rail companies, the only exception being those companies under control of the Department of Transport.

 

It seems we have a ‘truth gap’ between the Government’s statements wrt not getting involved and evidence that the DfT is almost certainly interfering to prevent negotiations and settlement.

[baboon]

1 hour ago, Chomper Higgot said:

It is now being reported that the Rail Workers Union is having success making agreements with several rail companies, the only exception being those companies under control of the Department of Transport.

 

It seems we have a ‘truth gap’ between the Government’s statements wrt not getting involved and evidence that the DfT is almost certainly interfering to prevent negotiations and settlement.

It has to be perfectly obvious that the government WANTS this strike, to pit worker against worker. They couldn't give a tinker's cuss who is affected, nor do their fanbois on here. Hopefully it will backfire on them.

[ThaIrish Sean]

I saw an interview with one of the train companies spokesman, a Scottish fellow I can't remember his name. He said that he can't talk for the other companies but the government does not get involved in his negotiations with the Unions and he does not know who is spreading the rumours.

We can all speculate on who it may be and we could all be wrong.

[Bluespunk]

On 6/20/2022 at 9:12 PM, Loiner said:

So what has Starmer said about this, anything at all? All part of their plan to try and sway the public against Boris. 

Talking of people turning against johnson, Labour has just won Wakefield. 
 

And the Liberals have taken Tiverton. 

[baboon]

51 minutes ago, Bluespunk said:

Talking of people turning against johnson, Labour has just won Wakefield. 
 

And the Liberals have taken Tiverton. 

Get in!!!????????????????

[Chomper Higgot]

7 hours ago, ThaIrish Sean said:

I saw an interview with one of the train companies spokesman, a Scottish fellow I can't remember his name. He said that he can't talk for the other companies but the government does not get involved in his negotiations with the Unions and he does not know who is spreading the rumours.

We can all speculate on who it may be and we could all be wrong.

He’s a spokesman, he’s paid to say what he says.

[ThaIrish Sean]

On 6/24/2022 at 7:13 AM, Chomper Higgot said:

He’s a spokesman, he’s paid to say what he says.

I don't think he was, he said he never has to go out of the room and talk to the government (alluding to what other people have to do, allegedly) that he makes the decisions for his own company.