Arriva Strike

[Barney]

RE: Arriva Strike

(17/11/2017 14:20)CX06 EBK Wrote:  The biggest reason smaller firms struggle to retain staff is rate of pay, one of them is nearly £3 less per hour than either Stagecoach or Arriva and for the work involved its no wonder people leave for those firms.

I totally agree. My point is that in the current economic climate for many occupations - not just the bus industry - there is a race to the bottom when it comes to pay rates and conditions of service.

IMO, those with a "you know what you signed up for and if you don't like it you should find another job" attitude either don't need to work themselves or are living in a bubble of childlike naivete.

[CX06 EBK (Administrator)]

RE: Arriva Strike
Yes and sometimes staying at a smaller firm longer than you should sometimes boils down to the people you work with but eventually it comes to breaking point where you know you just have to leave to get paid a proper wage. In those cases too, the option to go on strike for better pay/conditions is simply not an option like it is at other firms, you just have to like it or lump it. Obviously pretty much everyone decides to leave and the entire thing starts again with the next set of arrivals.

[knutstransport]

RE: Arriva Strike

(17/11/2017 14:49)Barney Wrote:  there is a race to the bottom when it comes to pay rates and conditions of service.

While I think that is the case in some sectors, I get the impression it's not the case in a lot of union represented roles overall. For instance, the RMT were moaning about an offer being 0.2% behind the latest RPI figure (but a figure that was at RPI at the time the offer was made) and they claimed it was a 'race to the bottom' but what they didn't say is two years previously an almost 5% pay rise was given when inflation was less than half that!

[Bevan Price]

RE: Arriva Strike

(17/11/2017 10:52)Barney Wrote:  Who knows when this dispute will end. Hopefully very soon.

As far as I am aware no Arriva bus driver has been made redundant since the company was established and the biggest problem that these "cowboy operators" (Avon, Cumfybus, HTL etc.?) is recruiting and retaining staff. There aren't many days of the week when I don't see Arriva (or Stagecoach) training vehicles on the road.

You may recall that during the 12-week strike in 1968, many road staff resigned and when the strike was finally resolved the employers were offering cash inducements to former staff to return to their former employment.

Back in 1968, the buses were run (mostly) by councils, who wanted to continue to provide bus services. Now, Arriva is controlled by people in Germany, and mostly, they will be only interested in £££ (or Euros), and keeping "+" symbols on their accounts rather than "-" symbols; they probably care little whether or not people have bus services if those services make a loss.

We have already seen Arriva reduce services that do not make enough money**; their DB parent company has reduced staff levels in rail subsidiary DB Schencker. Nobody can assume that Arriva will always want to operate buses in our area.

** -e.g. Runcorn/Chester withdrawn; Chester/Northwich reduced to hourly; Chester/Ellesmere Port- Liverpool no longer served by Arriva, etc., etc.

Remember one Arthur Scargill, who thought the miners were right to strike. They may have had a good case - but they lost. Remember also what happened to the UK coal industry.

A prolonged bus dispute will only encourage people to find alternative transport (cars, etc.) and it will take a long time to get them back onto buses. (Just as the long ASLEF rail strike in 1955 led to lost rail traffic, and probably helped to bring about the Marples-Beeching closures.)

[Turbostar19]

RE: Arriva Strike
Does anyone know if the two sides are talking/negotiating at the moment? From the very limited information available in the public domain, there doesn't seem to be that large a gulf between the sides.

I acknowledge that there may well be other factors not within the public domain, which are causing this impasse, but I hope for all concerned, this gets sorted out soon.

[knutstransport]

RE: Arriva Strike

(18/11/2017 15:22)Turbostar19 Wrote:  Does anyone know if the two sides are talking/negotiating at the moment? From the very limited information available in the public domain, there doesn't seem to be that large a gulf between the sides.

I acknowledge that there may well be other factors not within the public domain, which are causing this impasse, but I hope for all concerned, this gets sorted out soon.

Well the head of Arriva Merseyside appeared on the news last night and said "This is the best offer we can afford" and the union rep appeared and said "We won't accept anything less than 3% with immediate effect." IIRC the offer is an increase of 2.6% now and an increase to 3% above the current wage in 6 months time.

[Metroline1511]

RE: Arriva Strike

(14/11/2017 11:04)SSS871 Wrote:  Further dates have been announced for December: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/live...r-13899487

I am considering coming to Liverpool on one of the strike days for non-transport reasons, namely December 14th. Liverpool will look odd with little or no turquoise.

[St Helens Rider]

RE: Arriva Strike
Southport are running a limited service on the 44. That's the only extra service running on this strike day.

[T42 PVM (Moderator)]

RE: Arriva Strike
362 and 534 out of Bolton as well, seems more drivers have gone into work this time

[Turbostar19]

RE: Arriva Strike
Whilst I sympathise with the drivers' pay claim, I can't help but wonder what this is actually about? The gap between the two parties involved seems (on the face of things) to be small. Also, it's quite likely that those drivers that have been on strike every time, will have lost more money than they will recoup via an enhanced pay offer-one that doesn't seem to be on the cards.

That some drivers are seemingly going back to work says quite a lot. Principles are all well & good, but they don't pay the mortgage!