Re: Bog Zech?????
Very simplified view on the unions.
Based on 50-odd years experience.
creating a death spiral of intransigence, counter productive to the health of the industry affected.
And is why most people in the UK won't join a union.
you do realise most of the RMT (Mick Lynch union) members are primarily relatively low paid staff cleaners, ticket staff, etc.
According to their own figures 45% of their membership earn more than £35,000/year
Not that drivers are overpaid, a safety critical job, customer lives at stake & still massively less well paid than an MP
No argument that many MPs are overpaid for what they do, but so are train drivers. They earn twice what bus drivers do, for example, but driving a bus is a far more stressful and safety-critical job than driving a train. Trains are so automated these days that it's difficult for a driver to take a dangerous action without the automated systems halting the train & signalling the problem.
We need to get away from the idea that manual labour is unskilled and should be badly paid
Not a question of "should be", it's the usual question of supply& demand. If a job requires nothing more than a strong back there's unlikely to be a shortage of candidates, so inevitably more competition & people who accept lower wages. Unions aren't going to change that.
not to mention the zero tolerance drink and drug tests, no chance of risking a couple of pints the night before a shift as blood alcohol fail levels really low, so quite an impact on social life if you like meeting pals in the pub for a beer or 2.(& no chance of getting away with illegal recreational drugs for those so inclined,
Sounds very reasonable, the same rules should apply to anyone serving the public (yes, including MPs and civil servants).
It doesn't really change my initial argument that unions, like other powerful groups, tend to devolve to become self-serving.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
