http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-16785576

Why dont the labour party force a vote to get the drivers to do the job they are paid to do!

So Tube workers don’t get paid overtime for any extra hours they do? And they think £500 isnt a reasonable amount to say “thanks” for being flexible with their working hours, holiday etc?!

I personally think its a disgrace that one of the Unions was basically trying to blackmail TfL by saying the £500 would help “prevent” any industrial action during the Olympics.

As an ex-‘shop floor’ union rep (moved employer) I’m all for workers rights, but frankly tube drivers take the p1ss.

Thankfully I won’t be at work when the Olympics are on (teacher’s summer holidays 8) ).

why should they get a bonus?

don’t know the details, but off-hand why would you need to be paid more to do the same job your expected to do everyday, just because the Olympics are on?

Where’s that London Underground/Going Undergound parody song….?

“What you smell
is what you get.
Burger King and
pi$$ and sweat”

z1ppy – Member
don’t know the details, but off-hand why would you need to be paid more to do the same job your expected to do everyday, just because the Olympics are on?

As mentioned above, blackmail.

What a ****ing great idea! I’m off to ask my boss if I can have a bonus for bothering to get out of bed and turn up this morning.

I’m very confident my request will elicit a positive response. I’ll let you know how much i get……

Why does a tube train need a driver? It can’t be that difficult.

Bloody hell! My boss said yes, but then this bloke popped his head in and said no….

😥

To the tune of Going Underground by The Jam:

Some people might like to get a train to work,
or drive in in a beamer or a merc.
Some guys like to travel in by bus
But I can’t be bothered with the fuss today, I’m gonna take my bike,
cause once again the tube’s on strike.
The greedy bastards want extra pay
for sitting on their ar$e all day,
even though they earn 30k.

So I’m standing here in the pouring rain
Where the ++++’s my ++++ing train?

London Underground! London Underground!
They’re all lazy ++++ing useless c+++s
London Underground! London Underground!
They’re all greedy c+++s, I wanna shoot them all with a rifle!

All they say is please mind the doors!
And they learn that on the two day course,
this job could be done by a four year old,
They just leave us freezing in the cold

What you smell is what you get.
Burger king and piss and sweat
You roast to death in the boiling heat,
with tourists treading on your feet,
and chewing gum on every seat

So don’t tell me to mind the gap,
I want my ++++ing money back!

London Underground! London Underground!
They’re all lazy ++++ing useless c+++s
London Underground! London Underground!
They’re all greedy c+++s, I wanna shoot them all with a rifle!

lalalala

lalalala

The floors are sticky, and the seats are damp,
every platform has a ++++ing tramp!

But the Drivers get the day off when,
we’re all late for work again!

London underground! London underground!

wa wa W++kers,

they’re all W++kers!

London underground!
London underground!

take your oyster card,

and shove it up your ar$e…hole!

I agree with CFH, it seems like blackmail. There’s no way the government are going to try and break them and not have the tubes running during the olympics.

Why dont the labour party force a vote to get the drivers to do the job they are paid to do!

What on earth have the Labour Party got to do with it?

another step to tubeless trains….

i would like to think that TJ and ernie find it difficult to argue in favour of the drivers…. but i fear not.

I am sure there are plenty of other people who would love their job. About time someone grew some balls and sorted them out.

They are asking for the bonus, because they are being asked to work extra shifts, not take leave in the middle of summer, changing shift patterns and unusual hours due to a large influx of people watching the Olympics.

If bankers can have bonuses for doing jobs they are already paid to do, why not tube drivers.

I haven’t heard anyone trot out the usual reason for these antics which is to make safety better for passengers/ drivers and the rats that live down there.

If they are asking for money because of additional work and inconvenience then it is an allowance, not a bonus.

MSP, may be wrong, but I believe that the recently negotiated contract for them covered that sort of change to working patterns, obviating the need to have any such bonus. Could be wrong, though!

As mentioned above, blackmail

Market forces, innit.

CaptainFlashheart – Member
z1ppy – Member
don’t know the details, but off-hand why would you need to be paid more to do the same job your expected to do everyday, just because the Olympics are on?
As mentioned above, blackmail.

As I say I don’t know the details, as they often reveal there more to it than just the daily wail type deadline.
I sincerely hope it’s not simple blackmail.

TJ to the forum please

It’s capitalism gone mad

Why, my brother’s bank has just told him that they’re calling in his overdraft on his business acc unless he pays more for it – I blame the unions

alpin – Member

another step to tubeless trains….
What some sort of matter transfer device? I like your thinking, go on…. 🙂

I didn’t realise there was an upper passenger limit, beyond which the tube drivers can claim they are working too hard and should be paid more. Maybe the police should try that, only arresting a certain amount of people per day, or the fire service refusing to turn up because they’ve reached their extinguishment quota. These guys get paid to ‘drive’ a tube train. If lots of people get on those tube trains then hey, it’s a busy day at work, it happens to the best of us.

Using the Olympics as an special reason is a bit precious too, what about all the shop keepers, street sweepers, bus drivers, bartenders, laundrettes, tatoo artists, escort girls etc etc etc who will also see increased custom as the world and his wife descend on That There London?

Good job no one else is screwing the arse off the country to put on our wonderful Olympics. Want £40M EXTRA for the opening ceremony? NO PROBLEM. Doesn’t the cost of the extra security that they have now accepted as needing work out at something like £20,000 per security person each for the 2 weeks. And you wonder why the UG drivers think they might get away with asking for £500.00 flexibility allowance. Holding the country to ransom!!

I think what probably annoys most people isn’t necessarily that these sort of negotiations take place, I can accept that having TFL services available for the Olyimpics might require more staffing than normal and hence some additional pay to persuade drivers to put holidays off or take additional shifts.

No what annoys people is the constant bloody brinkmanship, why are we having this issue now months before the games rather than an negotiated agreement having been reached a couple of years ago? It’s not like the bloody Games were sprung on us all as a suprise!

Should the unions have started negotiating as soon as the venue was announced?
Should TFL have opened a dialogue over requiring more man hours sooner?
Who knows, either way it’s not been handled properly yet again…

This shite will rattle on until the games are imininent no doubt and Call-me or Boris will have to climb down and up the offer to avoid looking like plumbs in front of the world.

I’m pretty supportive of unions in general, we do need them in this country, especially now when “Austerity measures” has become a euphamism for heavy handed management and general gittishness, they are saddly in decline, and certain rather visible actions are simply more damaging, playing to the old “Fatcher was Right, Gawd Bless ‘er” Brigade…

If they’re not happy with their pay they should resign and just find another large metropolitan city underground train network willing to employ them at a higher rate.

Should the unions have started negotiating as soon as the venue was announced?

Usually you start when asked if you’ll do it, not before

Jota – it was more of a Rhetorical question, just like the counter point that followed it…

And it is fair to say that any of the concerned parties could/should have predicted an increased demand well in advance and put measures in place to meet it…

Would it be an idea to train people to drive the trains etc (forces or the like)?

That way there is no extra outlay for the Olympics and everyone’s happy

TFL are expecting another 100,000 journeys on some days

That’s a fair bit extra in income for them

For every crappy Union man, there is a sh1t Manager.

And while I can’t condone Mr Crow, its up to TfL to Lead and Manage their staff.

And how come the Tube Drivers have become the red-top whipping boys – or is it they’re one of the few workers’ who are able to stand up to the establishment?

Oh well, if it’s going to be a bit busy, they need more than £500

What some sort of matter transfer device? I like your thinking, go on….

PMSL

The greedy bastards want extra pay
for sitting on their ar$e all day,
even though they earn 30k.

£30k are you sure?

They’re on £46,000 now rising to over £50k by 2014 FFS

That’s a crazy amount for sitting on your butt all day pulling a lever on and off.

I’d be embarrassed to ask for more for doing my normal job.

Why is it ‘market forces’ when it comes to making people redundant or screwing down on wages, but ‘greed’ when the boot is on the other foot?

is that a bonus for the entire period of the olympics?
doesnt sound like too much to me considering how ridiculously overcrowded and dangerous the tube network will be during the olympics

they may be handsomely rewarded but i dont se many people on here jumping at the chance to do crappy shifts in dangerously polluted tunnels all day long

compared to the greed and blackmail coming out of the city on a daily basis even bob crow has a lot to learn

It does make funny comparison with the other bonus thread running right now. Beyond that I don’t know or care enough to comment

Beyond that I don’t know or care enough to comment

I’m going to call bullshit on that one, TJ. It’s never stopped you before! 😉

CaptainFlashheart – Member

No. I don’t agree, as long as the bonus in question is achievable, and a relevant reward for the work done. I know many folk working in London who regularly achieve a bonus that makes their pitiful basic wage very much liveable (spl?). For example, I know a few folks in sales roles on £10k basics in London. That’s in no way a good wage. However, one chap I know earned well in excess of £100k from that basic plus bonus last year.

Your point?

Thought you had said that,

I don’t … care enough to comment

. Evidently, you do.