Scotrail

[IrishBhoy]

On 02/07/2022 at 12:46, Self-raising Lazarus said:

This wave of strikes is a direct result of 12 years of austerity. People forget the Cameron Osborne "tighten your belt" patter, which was never actually reversed. For all the claims of pay rises fuelling Inflation I'd be interested in a comparison of top 1% pay and median pay over the last 12 years. And for anyone suggesting there shouldn't be strikes as other people are suffering too, how long do workers, especially unionised, put up with deliberate and concerted efforts to drive down their wages and conditions? Get this government and neoliberalism to ****

Between the start of 2021 and the current day, over a quarter of a million people in the UK have became millionaires. In that same period, the richest 1% now has an average wealth of £3.6 million pounds, an increase of 40% from pre-covid data. I wonder where we should aim our anger at? Nurses, teachers, rail workers? Public sector workers who haven’t had a real terms pay increase in over 10 years? 

[IrishBhoy]

On 28/06/2022 at 11:17, oaksoft said:

In your rush to write this whataboutery post, did you even read mine?

At all?

Cos you missed this bit right at the top.

Everyone is asking for enormous pay-rises and company bosses are balls-deep in the troughs themselves. It's a true saying that when rampant greed gets a hold, all intelligence, common-sense and decency flies out the window. And everyone is at it from the top to the bottom.

Fair enough but the rest of your post seemed to be blaming unions for disruption, and 20% pay rises for public sector workers ‘bankrupting the country’. There wouldn’t be a need for unions if workers weren’t constantly being taken for mugs, especially in the public sector. A decade of real terms pay cuts, that has came to a head now that the cost of living is sky rocketing. Full time nurses and teachers needing to rely on welfare to make ends meet, in one of the wealthiest countries on the planet? Does that seem normal to you? We spend over £200 billion a year on a nuclear deterrent, and if we are ever to be involved in a war you can bet we would be able to find billions upon billions to spend on defence. The money is there, it’s just not being directed towards the people who need it most.

[101]

The last train home on Tuesday was 19:20 even during the driver dispute it wasn't as early as that. Naturally I didn't check so missed it and had to get a taxi from Inverkeithing. 

Considering the first train in the morning was 7:40 it seems odd not to run trains for at least 12 hours a day so folk who have to graft for a living can actually get too and from work.

[Left Back]

4 hours ago, IrishBhoy said:

Fair enough but the rest of your post seemed to be blaming unions for disruption, and 20% pay rises for public sector workers ‘bankrupting the country’. There wouldn’t be a need for unions if workers weren’t constantly being taken for mugs, especially in the public sector. A decade of real terms pay cuts, that has came to a head now that the cost of living is sky rocketing. Full time nurses and teachers needing to rely on welfare to make ends meet, in one of the wealthiest countries on the planet? Does that seem normal to you? We spend over £200 billion a year on a nuclear deterrent, and if we are ever to be involved in a war you can bet we would be able to find billions upon billions to spend on defence. The money is there, it’s just not being directed towards the people who need it most.

No we don’t.

[IrishBhoy]

33 minutes ago, Left Back said:

No we don’t.

Apologies I’ve misread the figures, that is the projected amount that will be spent maintaining Trident and replacing it. It’s still eye watering sums being spent on that and other projects, and it was only a few weeks ago that Johnson said he wanted to be spending £190 billion on defence by the year 2025. 

[Sergeant Wilson]

1 hour ago, 101 said:

The last train home on Tuesday was 19:20 even during the driver dispute it wasn't as early as that. Naturally I didn't check so missed it and had to get a taxi from Inverkeithing. 

Considering the first train in the morning was 7:40 it seems odd not to run trains for at least 12 hours a day so folk who have to graft for a living can actually get too and from work.

Graft?

How is life at the coal face these days?

[101]

5 minutes ago, Sergeant Wilson said:

Graft?

How is life at the coal face these days?

I don't graft Sarge, I was more concerned about folk who actually contribute something to society.

[Sergeant Wilson]

Just now, 101 said:

I don't graft Sarge, I was more concerned about folk who actually contribute something to society.

Fair enough. I'm  sure you'll contribute...eventually.

[101]

1 minute ago, Sergeant Wilson said:

Fair enough. I'm  sure you'll contribute...eventually.

Have you had a stroke? Or is your sentence structure usually this poor?

[Sergeant Wilson]

1 minute ago, 101 said:

Have you had a stroke? Or is your sentence structure usually this poor?

Don't  know and yes.

[vikingTON]

8 hours ago, IrishBhoy said:

A ‘below inflation’ pay rise, 10 years on the trot, isn’t just something to be laughed off, like you seem to be doing there, it’s an extremely deliberate political decision. I don’t know what angle your coming from, but you seem to be implying that wage rises for public sector workers that keep up with inflation would be an issue. The best lie this Govt. has managed to convince the public of, is that the UK is operating on a tight margin between income and expenditure. I’m not advocating for 20% pay rises, but an increase which keeps up with the basic costs of living should be an absolute given in a country as wealthy as the UK. 
 

We could start by having a quick look at our overseas territories, which have become havens for the unimaginably wealthy in order to, completely legally, evade tax. Have a look at how the City of London operates, post Gordon Brown. No one will ever be able to tell me ‘the money isn’t there’ for wage increases in the public sector, because it absolutely is. To have millionaire politicians come out over the last few months trying to demean and shame the working classes for asking for better pay and conditions, especially the rail workers, is worrying to see. To then have other working class people in different sectors parroting the government line is even worse. Divide and conquer at its finest, the poorest arguing amongst each other as the rich get richer, a transfer of wealth in front of our eyes.

I already set out a list of changes that would be needed to pay for inflation-matching public sector rises in the post that you quoted, but presumably didn't read for the sake of comprehension. But those reforms need to be carried out first before pay increases can actually be afforded.

And as the ranks of middle class professionals have not once voiced support for anything like that radical economic program, their sectional mewling about pay now can be filed in the bin where it belongs. 

[RawB93]

£46.70 is the cheapest single from Glasgow to Aberdeen today. (Open return is £65.20)
I appreciate that there has to be a deterrent for people traveling to Aberdeen but that’s a bit steep. I didn’t want to go anyway, but now I really don’t want to go. 
Why can I get a flight to Belgium for less than a tenner but it’s nearly a full weeks giro to get to Aberdeen and back? I thought this was a wee country that people cycle round on a regular basis. 

[Guest]

We spend over £200 billion a year on a nuclear deterrent, and if we are ever to be involved in a war you can bet we would be able to find billions upon billions to spend on defence. The money is there, it’s just not being directed towards the people who need it most.

C'mon atleast keep it topical £92 billion on a high speed railway that 99.9% of the country have absolutely no use for

[Sergeant Wilson]

1 minute ago, oaksoft said:

You could have simply asked instead of assuming.

It seems fashionable on here to screech at posters first and then ask questions later.

That's why we can't have genuinely interesting conversations about anything.

Away you go. That's what makes it interesting.

[IrishBhoy]

3 minutes ago, oaksoft said:

You could have simply asked instead of assuming.

It seems fashionable on here to screech at posters first and then ask questions later.

That's why we can't have genuinely interesting conversations about anything.

It’s a Scottish football forum, not the Oxford Union debating chamber. 

[vikingTON]

On 23/06/2022 at 15:49, RiffRaff said:

Getting this thread back on track; it looks like Scotrail are bringing back their normal timetable from the first week in July, RMT strikes permitting.

Still the same garbage service with no end in sight.

What happened to the three week reviews to the timetable that Sturgeon insisted would remove disruption to passengers as soon as possible? Has the job been given to the same 'three week review' clowns who kept  nonsense Covid laws in place and banned people from leaving their local authority area for months on end?

[DA Baracus]

1 hour ago, RawB93 said:

£46.70 is the cheapest single from Glasgow to Aberdeen today. (Open return is £65.20)
I appreciate that there has to be a deterrent for people traveling to Aberdeen but that’s a bit steep. I didn’t want to go anyway, but now I really don’t want to go. 
Why can I get a flight to Belgium for less than a tenner but it’s nearly a full weeks giro to get to Aberdeen and back? I thought this was a wee country that people cycle round on a regular basis. 

Has it ever been affordable to buy on the day for such journeys? I mind it was £80 return from Inverkeithing to Aberdeen on the day once (thankfully I had purchased in advance for a quater of that).

[54_and_counting]

12 hours ago, IrishBhoy said:

, but an increase which keeps up with the basic costs of living should be an absolute given in a country as wealthy as the UK. 
 

 

Just a blanket cost of living pay rise doesn't work though, someone on 50 grand a year getting a RoI pay rise will see more money than someone on say 30 grand a year

Or you have someone on 100 grand a year, should they get a RoI pay rise as well

Im all for lower paid workers getting rises to help with living costs etc, but giving 200 quid a month extra to someone on 50 grand a year is a smack in the face to wee betty the cleaner on 20 grand a year getting less than 100 quid extra from the same pay rise 

[Moomintroll]

3 hours ago, oaksoft said:

Is that supposed to be an excuse for people behaving like farmyard animals? 

That is a slur on farmyard animals.

[welshbairn]

Getting the train from Manchester Airport to North Wales next week and they're charging half the fare than Scotrail are for the same distance from Inverness on the Aberdeen line, likely because they're still selling advance fares down there