Do you want to discuss boring politics? (41 Viewers)

David O'Day

Well-Known Member
The culture wars nonsense and the budget haven't moved the dial according to the polls.

Looks bad for the tories
 

fernandopartridge

Well-Known Member
RMT members have accepted pay offer

Only the ones that work for Network Rail. They are still in dispute with the TOCs.

Rail union RMT announced today that its 20,000 members have voted to accept a new and improved offer covering pay, jobs and conditions by a margin of three to one.

In a turnout of nearly 90 per cent members voted by 76 per cent to 24 per cent to accept the offer.
The RMT National Executive has announced that the vote means the end of the trade dispute with Network Rail.
The new offer which was also improved with the new money was made following the most recent strike action in January and the threat of more action.
Key features of the offer include:
• An uplift on salaries of between 14.4 per cent for the lowest paid grades to 9.2 per cent for the highest paid
• A total uplift on basic earnings between 15.2 per cent for the lowest paid grades to 10.3 per cent for the highest paid grades. This represents an additional 1.1 per cent over the duration of the deal
• Increased backpay
• Renewing of the no compulsory redundancy agreement until January 2025
• Network Rail withdrawing their previous insistence the offer was conditional on RMT accepting the company ‘modernising maintenance’ agenda, which the union will continue to scrutinise and challenge including on safety
• Discounted rail travel benefits
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said that when the union first declared the dispute with Network Rail a year ago in the Spring of 2022, RMT was told that Network Rail workers would only get two per cent to three per cent.
“However, since then strike action and the inspiring solidarity and determination of members has secured new money and a new offer which has been clearly accepted by our members and that dispute is now over.

Power in the union
 

Grendel

Well-Known Member
Reeves is comedy gold. She highlights the disgrace of fiscal drag then says she will carry on with it
 

PVA

Well-Known Member
"Mr Johnson insisted he was not warned that gatherings in Downing Street during the pandemic broke lockdown rules."

What a c**t.
 

skybluetony176

Well-Known Member
"Mr Johnson insisted he was not warned that gatherings in Downing Street during the pandemic broke lockdown rules."

What a c**t.
We seemed to have put the stupidest person ever in No. 10. For weeks he appeared on TV in the evening telling us what his rules were and why we shouldn’t break them. Are we truly to believe that he didn’t understand his own rules? The alternative is we’re expected to believe he doesn’t know what a party is. Stupidest PM ever… checks notes, says see Liz Truss.
 

skybluetony176

Well-Known Member
Far better terms than they’d have without a union
Correct me if I’m wrong but wasn’t they initially looking for 7%? Pre Trussonomics and inflation spiralling? Then as the industrial action continued their demands went up as they were looking for a pay rise in line with inflation? So basically had they given them 7% in the first place we wouldn’t have had 8 months of industrial action, 8 months of the government compensating the rail franchises and a settlement that would have cost the rail franchises less than it is now? Maybe I’m remembering it wrong but if I’m correct then the workers and the unions have played a blinder by sticking it out. Especially if inflation is 2.5% by the end of the year or whatever it was that Hunt was saying in the budget.
 

Brighton Sky Blue

Well-Known Member
Correct me if I’m wrong but wasn’t they initially looking for 7%? Pre Trussonomics and inflation spiralling? Then as the industrial action continued their demands went up as they were looking for a pay rise in line with inflation? So basically had they given them 7% in the first place we wouldn’t have had 8 months of industrial action, 8 months of the government compensating the rail franchises and a settlement that would have cost the rail franchises less than it is now? Maybe I’m remembering it wrong but if I’m correct then the workers and the unions have played a blinder by sticking it out. Especially if inflation is 2.5% by the end of the year or whatever it was that Hunt was saying in the budget.

You might remember one minister saying that it would have actually cost them less to just settle with the union instead of prolonging the dispute. But they chose to carry on in order to stop other unions from being ‘inspired’ by it.

It didn’t do that and has just cost so much extra money instead.
 

fernandopartridge

Well-Known Member
Views on this? School refuses access to Ofsted:



All for it personally.


Agree with the headmistress.

Sadly, Labour's plans for changing the current regime appear at face value to be just changing the way the information is presented: Labour proposes 'report card' to replace Ofsted grades.

I think the underlying idea that education providers are just a consumer service that parents choose based on things like Ofsted grades or a report card is just stupid, and does not help anybody but estate agents.
 

skybluetony176

Well-Known Member
You might remember one minister saying that it would have actually cost them less to just settle with the union instead of prolonging the dispute. But they chose to carry on in order to stop other unions from being ‘inspired’ by it.

It didn’t do that and has just cost so much extra money instead.
I do remember that too.

From July last year


As I say, I might be misunderstanding the process and how it’s played out and why but from that headline to where we are today it looks like just on wages alone it would have been cheaper to settle it last July rather than play party politics creating a bogey man for a phoney culture war.
 

Brighton Sky Blue

Well-Known Member
@Grendel laughs but really it’s empirically true that unionised workforces get better conditions than analogous non-unionised workforces. Especially in the US but likewise here.
 

Grendel

Well-Known Member
@Grendel laughs but really it’s empirically true that unionised workforces get better conditions than analogous non-unionised workforces. Especially in the US but likewise here.

The NHS workers gained what? 1% more having asked for 15% more? What I’m laughing at is how the rail unions are now spinning the narrative the government previously were
 

Brighton Sky Blue

Well-Known Member
The NHS workers gained what? 1% more having asked for 15% more? What I’m laughing at is how the rail unions are now spinning the narrative the government previously were

What narrative? They are better off than they were before the union intervened.
 

fernandopartridge

Well-Known Member
The NHS workers gained what? 1% more having asked for 15% more? What I’m laughing at is how the rail unions are now spinning the narrative the government previously were

They got an improved offer compared to what they'd had, and the offer is better for the lowest paid.
 

JAM See

Well-Known Member
The NHS workers gained what? 1% more having asked for 15% more? What I’m laughing at is how the rail unions are now spinning the narrative the government previously were
Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world.

All gains are compounded forever for the current staff, and also embedded for our children and their children.
 

skybluetony176

Well-Known Member
Boris’ dressed up dossier doesn’t seem to hold much water. Being pulled to pieces, even Daily Mail journalists are joining in. Tomorrow is going to be an interesting day for old Boris Lad.
 

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