Safe Speed Forums

Why is the strike on Wednesday being described as "INDUSTRIAL ACTION"?

Participants will be on strike - so presumably there will be nothing "industrious" about their day - and indeed, as a result, there will be very little "action".

Apparently some operations in hospitals will have to be cancelled, and our borders will be manned by operatives brought in from overseas. There will no doubt be numerous other inconveniences.
DVLA taxing cars on Wednesday?
If you work, but cannot get childcare organised, you will have to take time off work.

So will our council officers be working hard for us on Wednesday? The ones in South Lakeland already have decent pensions by many standards, and a free reserved parking space on the top story of the car park behind Lowther Street in Kendal - while many other motorists in Kendal have to use New Road (which the councillors are trying to shut down) or pay for spaces in the Westmorland Centre car park.
With such benefits, I assume they will not be striking.

So will I be on strike?

No, of course not... if I strike, not only will I not earn any money, but I would risk alienating my loyal customers, who for most of the year support my business, and in doing so pay my wages! It is difficult enough to have to take annual holidays when self employed, with nobody to cover time off - you always risk letting a customer down.
If I want a better pension, I have to work HARDER, and fund it from the additional (hopefully) income.

Now THAT is real INDUSTRIAL ACTION.

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Time to take responsibility for our actions.. and don't be afraid of speaking out!

Right on the nail again

These so called workers are just selfish and have no consideration for the rest of the country

As for the overpaid underqualified loudmouthed semi literate union officials if they dont like their lot, try working for a living

There is a way to solve these problems, make everyone selfemployed.

No work equals no pay,

You want a pension then pay for it yourself, why do you expect my taxes to pay for your pension, you do not pay for mine

This country is in a mess due to Tony Blair and Gordon Brown and the many ofice bound civil servants

We all have to pull together to sort out this mess, and by all I mean 100% which includes the strikers and unions, not just the private section

tim said

But ,part of the T& C of their conditions of employment stated pension entitlement .
Who ruine the financial position - YEP -the government , Golden Brown et all ,who will still draw their ministerial pensions . Cameroon will still get a handsome settlement -all these folks want is for HMG to HONOUR the part of the contract that they agrreed to

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

Industrial action!

INDUSTRIAL ACTION!!

Industrial action is "Downing Tools"..."Stopping the line"..."Shutting down the Furnaces"!!

Sorry, we dont have any of that any more!

The best "21st century Union man" can manage in the UK these days is a handfull of "Equality liason officers" having a hissy fit!

That it should come to this....

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"The road to a police state is paved with public safety legislation"

Much of the recent actions have been by unions keen to preserve those costly benefits for NEW members of staff, not existing staff with agreements in place.

In fact negotiations are still taking place, and apparently are close to agreement - but the strike seems set to go ahead.

They will get no sympathy if they continue to at best inconvenience those people who work hard to pay taxes which pay those benefits... and at worst cost those people money and jobs.

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Time to take responsibility for our actions.. and don't be afraid of speaking out!

The reality of the PRIVATE pension is that it has not "paid its way" for many decades.
It has historically relied upon a variety of tax reliefs on contributions etc.
The amount of tax relief for the past few years has been more than the amount paid-out in pensions.
Mr Browns infamous "tax grab" on pensions was just tax relief (subsidy by those paying taxes) being removed in part.
Mt Osbourn looks like he may be removing some more "relief" on pension contribution soon.
The state pension (AKA state benefit) is another thing altogether.
The "undemocratic" union leaders balloted their members on the action and received a majority in favour of that action, as required by law. The members democratically voted for action.
I won't go-on about the self employed (AKA tax avoiders/evaders par excellence) other than to say that HMRC is targeting the black economy (AKA self-employed) very soon as a result of the 80 billion black hole of tax avoidance/evasion. Enjoy your present tax relief, the country cannot afford it any more. Oh, and you get more things to claim against tax than the PAYE guys as well....
They recently told my ex-window cleaner that he could not be self-employed any more.....something about only declaring a few thousand income while also running two Mitsu warriors as business vehicles....and a well-stuffed second bank account by his wife (AKA book-keeper)
As has been said before on this site, the majority of public employees pensions are funded: They contribute a significant percentage of their salary to it (the police pay some 11-13%). The MPs pay nothing towards their even better pension, and still get massive expenses as well...and travel...and second homes to travel between....and other benefits such as second jobs as bank directors etc etc etc etc etc...
Either way the government has problems, not least because the unions are starting legal action as well.....

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The world runs on oil, period. No other substance can compete when it comes to energy density, flexibility, ease of handling, ease of transportation. If oil didn’t exist we would have to invent it.”

56 years after it was decided it was needed, the Bedford Bypass is nearing completion. The last single carriageway length of it.We have the most photogenic mayor though, always being photographed doing nothing

...at least those who were given the choice!!!

Ballot papers not sent but union will still walk out

...and it is not the first time that such "mistakes" have happened during strike ballots

mb

For example...

Network Rail strike 'voted for by phantom workers'

mb

They re-balloted after the "phantom workers" and still got a majority in favour.
I note the gov is saying they'll "up" the amount needed to vote to stop industrial action.....stoney ground that, what's sauce for the union goose is sauce for the local and general election gander....after all....they got "elected" on something like 30% of the vote....and, of course, at the moment there is still the EU courts to get it past....
I still remember the "self employed" at work bragging about their holidays paid for by "new ladders" and the wife being "company secretary", and the home also being the office etc, etc, etc.....
Then HMRC (inland revenue at the time) told the company "No, they're not self employed. They're PAYE, and you owe us 4500 for each of them"
Two of the "self employed" went bankrupt to protect their houses.....rumour was that one of the PAYE slaves phoned the revenue up about it all....and that was about the time that hundreds of thousands of self-employed suddenly found out that they weren't: Self employed OR employed.
UK:Tax-fiddling, back-biting, back-stabbing, ass-licking.
Nothing's changed for the last 25 years.
And all this comes as well as the government considering making each individual union member have to opt-in to the "political levy" each time it needs paying....nothing about forcing each company to get shareholder approval each time the company makes a "donation" (back-hander).
Not only that, there was talk about legislating to end the ability of the UNION to legally act for a member in compensation cases.
With payouts in the past month alone amounting to many tens of thousands to injured workers you can see why they (government, AKA company ass-lickers) are proposing that.
What car industry did we used to have ?
The allegro ?
The maxi ?
You say that the car industry we have NOW is thriving....
I say that the foreign-managed-foreign-owned car industry we have now is thriving...note that one of the first things that happens is that British management either gets replaced or gets decent training.
Then we get to Rover....shafted by its managers to get loads of back-pocket dosh....same old British management.

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The world runs on oil, period. No other substance can compete when it comes to energy density, flexibility, ease of handling, ease of transportation. If oil didn’t exist we would have to invent it.”

56 years after it was decided it was needed, the Bedford Bypass is nearing completion. The last single carriageway length of it.We have the most photogenic mayor though, always being photographed doing nothing

The strikes will also close the Mersey tunnels, so will cause significant transport disruption around Liverpool and Birkenhead.

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"Show me someone who says that they have never exceeded a speed limit, and I'll show you a liar, or a menace." (Austin Williams - Director, Transport Research Group)

Any views expressed in this post are personal opinions and may not represent the views of Safe Speed

Don't know which ballot that was for , but I've seen some of the things NR are trying to do to staff ,a lot of it in reducing safety requirements .For the latter years I worked for a contracter to NR,and NR used it's finiancial muscle to try to reduce what we considered safe staffing levels on track .Something else not widely known ,but spoken about in the industry is that NR delayed payments to firms in trouble .Something else not known ,is that the upper echelon of NR are consultants ,employe through an American consultancy agency .This came to light when one consultant got the chop over the Rugby yard debacle over an electricification problem ,where they misjudged the amount of qualified overhead blokes ,and the tabloids coined the phrase "NOWORK RAIL",when the blockade over ran by quite a few days .

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

Within the industry it is now known as "Deptwork Rail", since it is now over 20 billion in dept.
It would be lower but its right hand doesn't know what its left hand is doing, or if it exists, nor does it care anyway.
And since the health requirements are so high for those "on track" they are finding that getting and keeping workers is getting harder....one report was worried about obesity in the workforce....that same workforce that is out every night in all weathers keeping the system working....and living off pies and tea/coffee (no drink, since consuming alcohol or coming to work under the effects of same is a rigid sacking offence).
I now have a broken son, after years of night work in really crap conditions, working for an industry that says it cares about its workers but only cares about itself.
British Industry ?
S***

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The world runs on oil, period. No other substance can compete when it comes to energy density, flexibility, ease of handling, ease of transportation. If oil didn’t exist we would have to invent it.”

56 years after it was decided it was needed, the Bedford Bypass is nearing completion. The last single carriageway length of it.We have the most photogenic mayor though, always being photographed doing nothing

If only! The opportunity for avoiding tax by the self employed means that the shortfall has to be made up by those of us on the unavoidable PAYE


Assuming that your job is supplying goods or services your pension is paid for by the people who use those goods or services. Just as public sector pensions are paid for by the people who use the services provided by the public sector.

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When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. H.G. Wells
When I see a youth in a motor car I do d.c.brown

True but the value of my pension is governed by the state of the country's finances and the bank rate.

The deeper we go into the brown stuff the lower the value of my pennsion gets.

This is NOT so as far as the public sector workiers are concerned

IS THIS FAIR????????????????????

NOO, it's not fair. A pension that I will have paid £17K into by the time I retire will be worth about £16K...try offering that to the average public sector worker and see his face turn white.
Also with buying from the private sector you do have the choice of take it, leave it or shop elsewhere, unlike the public sector.

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My views do not represent Safespeed but those of a driver who has driven for 39 yrs, in all conditions, at all times of the day & night on every type of road and covered well over a million miles, so knows a bit about what makes for safety on the road,what is really dangerous and needs to be observed when driving and quite frankly, the speedo is way down on my list of things to observe to negotiate Britain's roads safely, but I don't expect some fool who sits behind a desk all day to appreciate that.

It's not that either hand don't know what the other is doing -as I said -the higherups are all contraced and on bonuses to get maximum output for minimum outlay . Few years ago there was a purge on safety on track .All safety critical personal from contractors were given a day safety lecture at local NR HQ - but from my on /off track experiences -NR staff are the worst offenders .At one time recently there was a dispute where the person in charge of site safety could be over ruled, by a manager , on how many safety staff needed to do a job .Personally ,as a qualifie COSS , I'd have referred any interferance to both RMT and my safety officer . Fortunately , once a safety system had been set up ,in our firm , our managers woul back the decision against NR financial decisions .
However , how long ago was the HSS2 idea introduced - an was the decision to cut contractors from six to four part of this .Was the decision to with hold contracts to those firms with permanant staff ,as opposed to those with sub contracted staff also part of this -to get contractors charges down .Seems like conspiracy theory - but now ,it's coming true .



Ten years ago ,BUPA ,health firm used by NR ( then Railtrack) to confirm being medically fit to hold a safety critical position ,had smoking as it's major concern . My next medical - it was drinking .Next one - BMI - over a certain magic number and you were suspect . Then I was diagnosed as diabetic -with slightly high blood presure . No wonder ,I'd given up ciggies and we'd been banned from going out on track without a team leader . ( Some HSE reason put up by -NR)
It's not only drink that's a problem -days off ,most rail blokes make up for lost time -because of the drink ban -driving -the limit is one thing .On track ,or in a safety critical role ,even on a course , the limit is half that for a driver . Break that an it's instant sack ,with a five year ban .



I'm one of those whose job was lost in NR's purge of contractors . i used to do only safety jobs - something my boss set up ,to let me see out my days to let me get up to maximum pension allowance . So ,I'm not exactly a fan of NR .

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on