The Southern rail strike saga has cost the economy £300m already, says university study December 20, 2016 The Southern rail strikes are costing the UK economy hundreds of millions of pounds, according to new research from the University of Chichester. A study, led by Dave Cooper, professor of management and economic development, has put the cost of the strike saga to the country's GDP at as much as £300m. The industrial action, carried [...]
The RMT wants a Christmas truce over Southern rail saga – but says it’s in the government’s hands December 20, 2016 The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union wants a Christmas truce over Southern rail – only it says it's up to the government to make it happen. Commuters are battling through today's second day of delays as a 48-hour strike goes on by guards over proposed changes to their roles. There have been months of [...]
As militant unions plot Christmas misery, should strike action on railway services be banned? December 20, 2016 Keith Prince, deputy chair of the London Assembly Transport Committee, says Yes. Strike action on public transport can have a devastating impact on commuters. Southern’s passengers have suffered huge delays, cancellations and some have lost their jobs because they can’t guarantee they’ll be able to get to their desks. This appalling situation cannot be allowed [...]
Sorry, Southern rail commuters, your boss can still ask you to keep coming into the office December 19, 2016 Commuters who rely on Southern rail to get to and from the office will understand the pain of trying to keep calm and carry on during strike action. The rail services are being affected by a conductors' strike, orchestrated by the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, today, tomorrow and from 31 December to 2 January. RMT [...]
Christmas strikes 2016: From Southern rail to British Airways, why’s everyone striking? December 19, 2016 A raft of Christmas strikes is set to unfold this week, with travel particularly affected. Around 3,000 staff at various Crown post offices are set to walk out today, Tuesday and Saturday, while members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union unleash their latest industrial action on Southern rail today and tomorrow, with an ongoing [...]
Union leaders are their own worst enemy December 19, 2016 As the country prepares to power down for Christmas, a number of trades unions are flexing their muscles and powering up their strike activity. As PWC’s Tom Kerr Williams notes, for unionised labour “a good time to react is at Christmas when most employers will be under pressure to keep customers happy”. One can't deny the [...]
Surge in days lost to strike action in 2016 December 19, 2016 Talks aimed at averting strikes by British Airways cabin crew over Christmas will be held at conciliation service Acas today as figures obtained by City A.M. show that the number of days lost to industrial action in the first ten months of 2016 has already dwarfed last year’s total. According to the Office of National [...]
The nightmare’s nearly over for the Piccadilly line social media team: It’s just running with “minor delays” now December 16, 2016 Piccadilly line passengers have not been impressed with Transport for London (TfL) taking out half the fleet of trains for wheel repairs. It has been causing severe delays along the line since last month – and some turmoil for the poor people manning the Piccadilly line's Twitter account. But today, the account had some – relatively – good [...]
Will it ever end? Southern rail services are axed for the third day this week as commuters vent fury at government December 16, 2016 All Southern rail services have been cancelled for the third day this week, after protests were held last night by fed-up commuters over the crisis. Members of the Aslef train drivers' union had met with the train company yesterday for a second day of talks at conciliation service Acas, but they ended without resolution. So today's [...]
Editor’s notes: Forget about Murdoch, media dominance is now an online battle December 16, 2016 For a while this week it felt as if we’d slipped back five years, as Ed Miliband and Vince Cable dusted down their criticisms of Rupert Murdoch. 21st Century Fox’s bid for Sky saw the former Labour leader take to Twitter like a student protester. “Do we want Rupert Murdoch controlling even more of [the] [...]