London Banter - View Single Post - NTfL: usual suspects short-listed

Recliner[_3_] · January 19th 16, 07:11 PM posted to uk.transport.london

Eric wrote:
On 2016-01-19, d wrote:
On Tue, 19 Jan 2016 14:43:48 +0100
Jarle Hammen Knudsen wrote:
On Tue, 19 Jan 2016 11:06:57 +0000 (UTC), d wrote:

Doesn't surprise me. But can you imagine what would happen if LU tried to cut
driver salaries or recruit new drivers on lower ones to operate these trains.
LU have made a rod for their own backs - the RMT know they always cave in the
end when faced with a strike.

Several strikes have happened, so that's not the reality.

Point is the drivers always get what they want in the end. The law needs to be
changed so that if people go on strike for minor issues like salary disputes
then they can legally be sacked.

A salary dispute is not a minor issue. If you need more money you might
still be reasonably certain of being able to go elsewhere almost
immediately. Tube drivers (and enormous numbers of people in a wide
variety of jobs) not so much. And since the current tendency is for the
value of wages to be eroded, why wouldn't they need more money?

Wages are rising much faster than prices, so the current tendency is for
the value of wages to be growing. And that's been true of Tube driver wages
for many years.

Note the deliberate use of "need" rather than "want".

Well, everyone probably feels they *need* more money, but Tube drivers are
very highly paid for their work.