Arriva Strike

[wirralbus]

RE: Arriva Strike

(14/11/2017 18:55)iMarkeh Wrote:  Birkenhead will stay where it is I think. St Helens wont move because of how big it is and that is where all major works are. Any heavy maintenance seems to be done in St Helens. Also repaints and refurbishments etc. They would loose too much in St Helens. Unsure how much space Bootle has left but all services except 46 could move there (375/385 could just as easily move to St Helens or be split between Bootle and St Helens). 46 would be a tough one though due to how long it would take to get a bus there.
I think Runcorn routes could all move easily to other depots. The X30 can be done from Chester, there was just a lack of vehicles and resources but if Runcorn shut, drivers would move with the routes. 79C from Green Lane, Rest from St Helens or Speke. If those depots can't take Runcorn routes for whatever reason. I genuinely think Runcorn has a higher chance of closure than the other depots because of its location and how there are 2 other depots within 20 minutes of it and it is the smallest depot that Arriva have.

You would put the 79C at the same depot as the standard 79 even if it means moving another route over to Green Lane from Speke.

[Turbostar19]

RE: Arriva Strike

(14/11/2017 18:58)wirralbus Wrote:  Oh and the poor people trying to do there Christmas shopping will instead of getting on public transport will end up getting in there cars and gridlocking shopping centres . I do hope they get what there after people before the general public lose patience .

Agreed. The four day strike on the run up to Christmas will certainly test the patience of shoppers & the public.

Lets hope this gets sorted sooner rather than later.

[Y458 KNF]

RE: Arriva Strike

(14/11/2017 19:16)Turbostar19 Wrote:  Agreed. The four day strike on the run up to Christmas will certainly test the patience of shoppers & the public.

Lets hope this gets sorted sooner rather than later.

I have a bad feeling that this is gonna end bad for both parties hopefully this will get sorted before it reaches those levels

[Lynx]

RE: Arriva Strike
I find outright closure at Runcorn unlikely given the recent investment in gas buses and the fact that these can't be run from any other depot given that Speke and Green Lane don't have the CNG facility, that for the record wasn't cheap to install. If anything I think it's more likely that a buyer would be sought, could even be the ticket into Halton that Stagecoach have reportedly been after for some time.

[Bevan Price]

RE: Arriva Strike
The example of the withdrawal of Arriva from seeking the next rail franchise for Wales shows that their German owners will not hesitate to dump any potentially non-profitable activities. I think the danger of prolonged strikes is that many marginally profitably route will become unprofitable, and will almost certainly be withdrawn by Arriva - the consequence being a lot of lost jobs.

Whilst I have some sympathy with the drivers' cause, my advice would be to take what you can while you can. Next year you might not have a job with Arriva, and consider - will you get better pay from a new operator (probably operating fewer / less frequent services ) ??

Principles are fine - but they don't pay the food & housing bills, etc.

[Harryn9000]

RE: Arriva Strike
i think the public are start to lose patience social media ppl are get fed up with it. as it is becoming more and more disruptive i understand the want a pay rise, but the gap is literally a few pence from what they want and what arriva will give them.

[FC Pictures]

RE: Arriva Strike

(14/11/2017 23:01)Bevan Price Wrote:  The example of the withdrawal of Arriva from seeking the next rail franchise for Wales shows that their German owners will not hesitate to dump any potentially non-profitable activities. I think the danger of prolonged strikes is that many marginally profitably route will become unprofitable, and will almost certainly be withdrawn by Arriva - the consequence being a lot of lost jobs.

Whilst I have some sympathy with the drivers' cause, my advice would be to take what you can while you can. Next year you might not have a job with Arriva, and consider - will you get better pay from a new operator (probably operating fewer / less frequent services ) ??

Principles are fine - but they don't pay the food & housing bills, etc.

exactly who wants to lose a job just before christmas or any time,is there a hidden agenda from these union reps, jeremy corbyn won `t pay your wages or mortgage,and if Stagecoach get any of Arriva`s Liverpool work they will pay there rate which is a good £2 less per hour,where`s the gain in that

[iMarkeh]

RE: Arriva Strike

(14/11/2017 19:01)wirralbus Wrote:  You would put the 79C at the same depot as the standard 79 even if it means moving another route over to Green Lane from Speke.

I only said Green Lane due to Speke holding only double deckers and the 79 currently uses singles.

(14/11/2017 19:34)Lynx Wrote:  I find outright closure at Runcorn unlikely given the recent investment in gas buses and the fact that these can't be run from any other depot given that Speke and Green Lane don't have the CNG facility, that for the record wasn't cheap to install. If anything I think it's more likely that a buyer would be sought, could even be the ticket into Halton that Stagecoach have reportedly been after for some time.

Or they wanted to stick with what they had. 4 years ago the original gas buses were introduced so if they were to go ahead and purchase battery buses, that would be another cost and another bit of equipment. It is also cheaper for maintenance having less types of vehicle in a depot (spare parts and familiarisation). Of course this issue of strikes wasnt an issue 4 years ago. It would have been daft if Arriva had turned around and bought another different type of vehicle using another bit of equipment. Arriva would still move some ops into other depots to save hassle. For example the 79C, 82A, X1 as they are useless to Stagecoach in that they run right along and through Arriva areas. The busway circulars, X30 would probably be taken. 110 I think has a good chance as well. The 3a,b,c don't look like they make much money. X30 would still move to Chester depot and the 1,2,110 could be ran from Gillmoss (only 25 minutes drive). That still leaves Runcorn depot empty.

(14/11/2017 23:01)Bevan Price Wrote:  The example of the withdrawal of Arriva from seeking the next rail franchise for Wales shows that their German owners will not hesitate to dump any potentially non-profitable activities. I think the danger of prolonged strikes is that many marginally profitably route will become unprofitable, and will almost certainly be withdrawn by Arriva - the consequence being a lot of lost jobs.

Whilst I have some sympathy with the drivers' cause, my advice would be to take what you can while you can. Next year you might not have a job with Arriva, and consider - will you get better pay from a new operator (probably operating fewer / less frequent services ) ??

Principles are fine - but they don't pay the food & housing bills, etc.

I think quite a few routes may end up cut in the near future as a direct result of the strikes. I don't think there is much chance of them ending soon. Arriva are not daft, they know that if it keeps going, drivers will say, sod it as they can't afford to live on the £30 they get on strike days. Arriva are unlikely to budge I think. The more dates, the less the drivers earn and it will get to a point where they can't live on it. One day per week isn't much. Upto 3 & 4 days, that is a lot more they are losing. Especially Christmas week, they wont earn anything. A proved in St Helens on the last strike day, a driver tried to drive a bus and Arriva called the police to escort the driver out the depot but the employees all blocked the entrance and refused to let the bus out. Eventually routes will go elsewhere. The amount of contracts Arriva have from Merseytravel for schools and diversion money for plenty more services. It will all move to other services or new contracts will be sent out losing Arriva a lot more money again. It will be interesting to see how many services end up running next month. Winsford are almost on a full service as is Macclesfield. I don't think Bolton and Wythenshawe are far behind full service either leaving only Merseyside and Runcorn fighting. At least the depots where the routes are least viable, the service is still running keeping those areas running.

[M60lad]

RE: Arriva Strike
From what I can gather from every Strike its mainly only the Merseyside Depots that are takimg part with the other depots running a limited service and indeed Winsford/Macclesfield Depots running as near to a full service as they possibly can, I even heard recently that its only a couple (if that) of drivers at Macclesfield that do strike due to the fact Macclesfield are on a different pay deal anyway until next year so they dont see a point of going out on strike hence more services running from there than any other depot on strike days.

[wimdebusse]

RE: Arriva Strike
When the multiple day strikes happen, will Merseytravel step up to the mark and fulfil their remit, which is to ensure an adequate bus service? , I don't know about Liverpool, The Wirral or St Helens, but large areas of Southport will have no bus service! It's OK Merseytravel to say, yes, but six out of the twelve bus routes are operating, but they all work along or near to the A565, leaving most of the inland side of the town including the Hospital without any service. A few years ago Cumfybus attempted to operate a bus route connecting Crossens, High Park, Blowick & Birkdale to the Hospital, a link not provide by MTL but they were forced off by Arriva's predecessor MTL, all the areas that are now solely served by Arriva. I for one will not be using Arriva in Southport in future.