Finance thread 2022.

[PistoldPete]

14 hours ago, uttoxram75 said:

Mick Lynch is fighting for RMT members, thats his job. He's been elected by his fellow workers to represent them. If, by his leadership, the RMT workers get to keep their current working conditions and get a pay rise then he's done a good job for them.

I'm not sure what point you are making but I assume you mean you don't want Lynch to include you when he says he's fighting for working people, I get that. I would suggest that he means people who work at shop floor level in manufacturing, retail, warehousing, cleaning, catering etc.

Some working people are very happy with their jobs, conditions and wages so yes, Lynch probably isn't fighting for them as such. If you're in that group then fair play to you, count your blessings and perhaps offer a bit of support for those less well paid and struggling to pay the bills.

I am not happy with working conditions that I have to turn down jobs  that I cannot get to due to disruption of train services. How is it helping working people at this difficult time if they cannot get to work? 
 

if Lynch is saying he’s doing this for the benefit of his members then fair enough, except I find it difficult to believe even that is true. They are losing pay ..and customers too. 
 

But he doesn’t. Even say that he claims to speak for all working people. And rail workers earn pretty much the average wage and far above average pensions. Train drivers and union officials far more than the average working person. 
 

[Bob The Badger]

On 16/12/2022 at 16:47, Unlucky Alf said:

Tips, Don't watch TV at night with the lights on, Stagger the use of your Central Heating, Walk instead of using your car, Wrap up with more clothing, And take a sheep to bed to keep warm.

I'm not sure if you're trying to be funny, but you're failing. 

One sheep would only keep one side of you warm and when they're on their own the wriggle about a lot. 

You need two sheep. You position one each side and then thread baler twine around their hooves at the bottom and their necks at the top and tie them to each other with you wedged in the middle.

The down side is they do tend to chat to each other if you have them facing the same way. But the alternative would be to have them facing away from you and each other and that would be cruel. 

Pro tip:  Pop them in the microwave (or air fryer) for 10 minutes before bedtime and you won't need your electric blanket, saving you even more money. 

[Rev]

10 hours ago, PistoldPete said:

I am not happy with working conditions that I have to turn down jobs  that I cannot get to due to disruption of train services. How is it helping working people at this difficult time if they cannot get to work? 
 

if Lynch is saying he’s doing this for the benefit of his members then fair enough, except I find it difficult to believe even that is true. They are losing pay ..and customers too. 
 

But he doesn’t. Even say that he claims to speak for all working people. And rail workers earn pretty much the average wage and far above average pensions. Train drivers and union officials far more than the average working person. 
 

If you need to use train services to get to jobs, I'd have thought you'd be on the RMT's side. 

One reason they're on strike is they don't want to see safety inspections cut in half, surely no-one who uses the railways wants to see that?

As for Train drivers, they're in a different union altogether and not part of this dispute.

[uttoxram75]

11 hours ago, PistoldPete said:

I am not happy with working conditions that I have to turn down jobs  that I cannot get to due to disruption of train services. How is it helping working people at this difficult time if they cannot get to work? 
 

if Lynch is saying he’s doing this for the benefit of his members then fair enough, except I find it difficult to believe even that is true. They are losing pay ..and customers too. 
 

But he doesn’t. Even say that he claims to speak for all working people. And rail workers earn pretty much the average wage and far above average pensions. Train drivers and union officials far more than the average working person. 
 

The reasons the RMT Union members voted to strike. 
 

[Ram-Alf]

9 hours ago, uttoxram75 said:

The reasons the RMT Union members voted to strike. 
 

 

Some folk need to realise what's going off with this Parasitic Government 

A quote from the above RMT member

"they also wish to fire and re-hire the operative grades and bring them back under a new job title but on £9000 a year less"

Remember this ?

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/mar/24/po-ferries-boss-says-800-staff-were-sacked-because-no-union-would-accepts-its-plans

[PistoldPete]

1 hour ago, Unlucky Alf said:

 

Some folk need to realise what's going off with this Parasitic Government 

A quote from the above RMT member

"they also wish to fire and re-hire the operative grades and bring them back under a new job title but on £9000 a year less"

Remember this ?

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/mar/24/po-ferries-boss-says-800-staff-were-sacked-because-no-union-would-accepts-its-plans

So in any industry where there are redundancies , you suggest the answer is an all out strike? Fewer people are using the railways. Fewer people are using ticket offices. We risk going off topic, what I am saying is whatever the rights and wrongs of this grievance, it is ordinary folk who suffer. Railworkers lose pay for every day they strike. People like me can't keep work appointments, have to turn down work. Work from home in the freezing cold. And hospitality has taken another big hit in the past week, just what they don't need after everything, parties hotel bookings it hits the business side as well as peoples ability to enjoy their leisure activities too.         

[Ram-Alf]

3 minutes ago, PistoldPete said:

So in any industry where there are redundancies , you suggest the answer is an all out strike? Fewer people are using the railways. Fewer people are using ticket offices. We risk going off topic, what I am saying is whatever the rights and wrongs of this grievance, it is ordinary folk who suffer. Railworkers lose pay for every day they strike. People like me can't keep work appointments, have to turn down work. Work from home in the freezing cold. And hospitality has taken another big hit in the past week, just what they don't need after everything, parties hotel bookings it hits the business side as well as peoples ability to enjoy their leisure activities too.         

Self self self, A worker has the right to withdraw his/her labour, Whether in a Union or not, I'd hope they'd weigh up the cost of losses against future gains, Asda workers were FORCED to accept worse contracts or be sacked...Nurses, Tanker drivers, Train staff, Post office workers, Uber drivers, Sports Direct, Amazon drivers...all erm...Ordinary folk who have or continue to suffer. 

[PistoldPete]

40 minutes ago, Unlucky Alf said:

Self self self, A worker has the right to withdraw his/her labour, Whether in a Union or not, I'd hope they'd weigh up the cost of losses against future gains, Asda workers were FORCED to accept worse contracts or be sacked...Nurses, Tanker drivers, Train staff, Post office workers, Uber drivers, Sports Direct, Amazon drivers...all erm...Ordinary folk who have or continue to suffer. 

I did say that the railway workers have lost pay too, along with people working in hospitality too. Anyway let's move on. 

[Bob The Badger]

1 hour ago, PistoldPete said:

So in any industry where there are redundancies , you suggest the answer is an all out strike? Fewer people are using the railways. Fewer people are using ticket offices. We risk going off topic, what I am saying is whatever the rights and wrongs of this grievance, it is ordinary folk who suffer. Railworkers lose pay for every day they strike. People like me can't keep work appointments, have to turn down work. Work from home in the freezing cold. And hospitality has taken another big hit in the past week, just what they don't need after everything, parties hotel bookings it hits the business side as well as peoples ability to enjoy their leisure activities too.         

I hear what you're saying and the sad reality is there are a lot of people losing.

But striking for *most* people is the last resort because they know they may well not recover their lost earnings. It's something they can do when they're utterly desperate and nothing else has worked.

The alternative is to keep bending down and taking it.

It's like the nurses striking, they're doing it out of sheer desperation. In real terms their pay has been cut by 20% over the last 12 years and their working conditions steadily worsened. 

What else can they do?

I gave my Postie £20 yesterday and he was utterly delighted as much as because I said both me and Mrs Badger support him as for the cash.

This is very much relevant to a finance thread, because it will impact us all financially in varying ways. Most of us will be worse off by the strikes, but I support them all if they have no other option.

This is not like the 70s when trade unions were just taking the piss, this is desperate people taking desperate measures. 

 

 

[PistoldPete]

1 hour ago, Bob The Badger said:

I hear what you're saying and the sad reality is there are a lot of people losing.

But striking for *most* people is the last resort because they know they may well not recover their lost earnings. It's something they can do when they're utterly desperate and nothing else has worked.

The alternative is to keep bending down and taking it.

It's like the nurses striking, they're doing it out of sheer desperation. In real terms their pay has been cut by 20% over the last 12 years and their working conditions steadily worsened. 

What else can they do?

I gave my Postie £20 yesterday and he was utterly delighted as much as because I said both me and Mrs Badger support him as for the cash.

This is very much relevant to a finance thread, because it will impact us all financially in varying ways. Most of us will be worse off by the strikes, but I support them all if they have no other option.

This is not like the 70s when trade unions were just taking the piss, this is desperate people taking desperate measures. 

 

 

The miners did similar. It didn’t help, all the mines shut down. Now ironically the Tories want to open one and Labour don’t. Arguably the strikes only made things worse , lost pay and lost their jobs anyway all of them. 

[Stive Pesley]

I mean seriously, how effective do you think strike action would be if it didn't cause any inconvenience to people? What you describe is the exact purpose of strike action. To prove that your role is essential to the public good and should be remunerated as such!

The biggest problem that the RMT have is that the foreign companies we sold our rail services off to, are indemnified against losses in their contract with our government. So they get paid whether the trains run or not. 

That seems like the real problem to me

Edited December 19, 2022 by Stive Pesley

[RoyMac5]

18 hours ago, PistoldPete said:

The miners did similar. It didn’t help, all the mines shut down. Now ironically the Tories want to open one and Labour don’t. Arguably the strikes only made things worse , lost pay and lost their jobs anyway all of them. 

The rich always try the old 'divide and conquer' technique against the poor... 

[Grumpy Git]

All this crap about there ‘being no money’ is garbage as well.

There’s plenty of money, it’s just the entitled classes have siphoned it off and put it in offshore accounts.

 

[Bob The Badger]

22 hours ago, PistoldPete said:

The miners did similar. It didn’t help, all the mines shut down. Now ironically the Tories want to open one and Labour don’t. Arguably the strikes only made things worse , lost pay and lost their jobs anyway all of them. 

Different reasons, different union, different economic climate, different industry, and in all but name, a different Government.

 

[Ram-Alf]

1 hour ago, Grumpy Git said:

All this crap about there ‘being no money’ is garbage as well.

There’s plenty of money, it’s just the entitled classes have siphoned it off and put it in offshore accounts.

 

Stop Moaning she did well did the Baroness ?

[Tamworthram]

7 hours ago, Grumpy Git said:

All this crap about there ‘being no money’ is garbage as well.

There’s plenty of money, it’s just the entitled classes have siphoned it off and put it in offshore accounts.

 

Edited December 19, 2022 by Tamworthram

[Reggie Greenwood]

It’s time to call Sky again as they have increased my rate by stealth by £10 this month and looks like another £10 on top of that for Feb. I will call to badger for a better deal but what are the alternatives ? Don’t fancy Virgin as they still want to knock holes in the  walls. 
Are the fire stick things legal ? What is the best stand alone broadband without the telly ?

Thanks all in advance 

[PistoldPete]

9 hours ago, Reggie Greenwood said:

It’s time to call Sky again as they have increased my rate by stealth by £10 this month and looks like another £10 on top of that for Feb. I will call to badger for a better deal but what are the alternatives ? Don’t fancy Virgin as they still want to knock holes in the  walls. 
Are the fire stick things legal ? What is the best stand alone broadband without the telly ?

Thanks all in advance 

Now Tv ? Not tried it but they do Sky don’t they?

[Gaspode]

10 hours ago, Reggie Greenwood said:

It’s time to call Sky again as they have increased my rate by stealth by £10 this month and looks like another £10 on top of that for Feb. I will call to badger for a better deal but what are the alternatives ? Don’t fancy Virgin as they still want to knock holes in the  walls. 
Are the fire stick things legal ? What is the best stand alone broadband without the telly ?

Thanks all in advance 

Fire Sticks are entirely legal - unless you install software on them to illegally access content....be aware that you still need to pay for the better content so would need a Netflix or Amazon Prime subscription unless you're happy with the free live/catch-up services (iPlayer etc)

[Stive Pesley]

Just now, Gaspode said:

Fire Sticks are entirely legal - unless you install software on them to illegally access content....be aware that you still need to pay for the better content so would need a Netflix or Amazon Prime subscription unless you're happy with the free live/catch-up services (iPlayer etc)

My experience of the hooky firestick software is that it works ok-ish for a bit and then when the legal content providers shut servers down (it's a game of whack a mole for them) the firestick will need reconfiguring and its a right pain

Your best bet to get a good deal is to just ring your current provider (or in the case of Virgin, you can now do this via online chat) and tell them you are leaving. They will magic up a much better deal for you if you tell them the quote you got from a competitor