Would you like to know why the Tories are scaremongering about the RMT’s train pay demand? It’s because it shows them up – and it exposes the way bosses have tried to exploit workers by demanding “favours” for which they aren’t paid.
The RMT, led by the now-legendary Mick Lynch, wants pay-rise parity with train drivers in fellow union ASLEF. This means a three-year pay deal, backdated to start from 2022, including a five per cent pay rise for 2022-3, 4.75 per cent for 2023-4, and a 4.5 per cent rise for the current financial year.
The deal initially offered to the RMT (by the Tories, while they were still in government) was for five per cent in 2022-3, only four per cent this year – and the 2023-4 level would have been dependent on formal negotiations on working conditions with individual companies.
It simply isn’t as good. And why shouldn’t other railway workers seek pay-rise parity with their driver colleagues? It isn’t as if they’re being paid the same amount now (is it)?
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
The RMT deal would be an effective pay cut – in comparison with that for ASLEF drivers, potentially creating a source of division between them. And that was probably the Tory plan; divide and rule is their byline.
The situation is complicated by the fact that ASLEF drivers at London North Eastern Railway (LNER) will strike on every weekend in September and October – and two in November. But this is because drivers have claimed managers have “badgered” them for “favours” that were “outside of rostering agreements”.
From the look of it, bosses were demanding something for nothing.
Now consider the way the Tories have described it, according to the BBC’s article:
Conservative shadow transport minister Kieran Mullan said the Aslef strike was “a taste of what is to come: a nationalised train service seeing Labour-backing unions staging walkouts despite a bumper pay deal”.
See how Mullan has twisted the facts? If he isn’t mentioning the freebies that managers have allegedly demanded so he is lying about the reasons for the strikes.
The Conservatives have accused Labour of losing control of public sector pay and of “being played by its union paymasters”, and claimed all trade unions would now demand “double-digit rises”.
Shadow Commons leader Chris Philp said pay rises awarded by Labour, including a 22% increase for junior doctors over two years, would lead to tax rises at the Budget in October.
This is indeed possible – but Labour has committed to keeping the main taxes at their current level, meaning that it is only other taxes, that are more likely to affect the rich, that are likely to rise.
And after 14 years of tax breaks under the Tories that have allowed many of them to triple their incomes, isn’t it time the richest in society started to contribute their fair share back into it again?
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The Tories are scaremongering about the RMT’s train pay demand
Would you like to know why the Tories are scaremongering about the RMT’s train pay demand? It’s because it shows them up – and it exposes the way bosses have tried to exploit workers by demanding “favours” for which they aren’t paid.
The RMT, led by the now-legendary Mick Lynch, wants pay-rise parity with train drivers in fellow union ASLEF. This means a three-year pay deal, backdated to start from 2022, including a five per cent pay rise for 2022-3, 4.75 per cent for 2023-4, and a 4.5 per cent rise for the current financial year.
The deal initially offered to the RMT (by the Tories, while they were still in government) was for five per cent in 2022-3, only four per cent this year – and the 2023-4 level would have been dependent on formal negotiations on working conditions with individual companies.
It simply isn’t as good. And why shouldn’t other railway workers seek pay-rise parity with their driver colleagues? It isn’t as if they’re being paid the same amount now (is it)?
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
The RMT deal would be an effective pay cut – in comparison with that for ASLEF drivers, potentially creating a source of division between them. And that was probably the Tory plan; divide and rule is their byline.
The situation is complicated by the fact that ASLEF drivers at London North Eastern Railway (LNER) will strike on every weekend in September and October – and two in November. But this is because drivers have claimed managers have “badgered” them for “favours” that were “outside of rostering agreements”.
From the look of it, bosses were demanding something for nothing.
Now consider the way the Tories have described it, according to the BBC’s article:
See how Mullan has twisted the facts? If he isn’t mentioning the freebies that managers have allegedly demanded so he is lying about the reasons for the strikes.
This is indeed possible – but Labour has committed to keeping the main taxes at their current level, meaning that it is only other taxes, that are more likely to affect the rich, that are likely to rise.
And after 14 years of tax breaks under the Tories that have allowed many of them to triple their incomes, isn’t it time the richest in society started to contribute their fair share back into it again?
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (bottom right of the home page). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Join the uPopulus group at https://upopulus.com/groups/vox-political/
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
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