Rail Strikes announced

[clarkete]

If only this perpetual hot air machine could be used to power alternative transport 😉

[THEBOILERMAN]

49 minutes ago, FrankieX said:

My plan, living in the North of England, was to get a train to Bristol on the Tuesday and stay overnight. This would allow me to reach the site by the morning, get my tent set up and just soak in being at Glastonbury for the first time in five years (I missed out in 2019) in a nice relaxed way.

With the train strike, that isn't an option for me. I live in a small town with an hourly train service but no National Express or Megabus stops anywhere near. Short of paying £70+ to get a taxi to a nearby city, there may not be a realistic way for me to travel on the Tuesday at all. As far as I can work out, my choices are to either travel non-stop by train on the Wednesday (which would have me getting on site around 2-3pm at the earliest, if I set off at 5.30am) or get the train to Bristol on Monday and stay two nights. I'm leaning towards the latter option for two reasons: I'm not at all confident that the services on Wednesday will be running first thing due to the strike disruption, which could make me even later, and having to wake up at 4.30am really won't prepare me well for the next five days. Going on Monday means I have to pay another £50 for the hotel and relies on me being able to get that day off work too (which I'll see about today).

And I recognise that I'm probably pretty lucky in all this, as I do have some flexibility in what I can do. I haven't booked tickets, and probably won't until the last minute just to see if the situation changes. I can probably get the extra day off (fingers crossed). It's definitely worried me though, and I hope that the people working at the festival are looking to support those who need help reaching the farm.

Where about in the North

[zahidf]

Well let's hope they all pull their finger out and talks will cancel/delay the strike. 

 

I'm not hopeful myself, Union clearly up for a fight over this

[jannybruck]

The lack of understanding or support about this by certain people, going to a festival that is foundationally an event that supports togetherness amongst humans and solidarity with others, is quite something. But sadly not surprising.

[Hotchilidog]

It is without doubt a massive inconvenience for those planning to travel on Tuesday and Thursday, but at least one workforce is serious about protecting their interests and I do support the action.

I went to the 02 on Monday during an RMT strike for the Queen + Adam Lambert gig and had to travel from Brighton and it did indeed make the journey a lot more annoying than it otherwise would have. We had to improvise with a boat and then a cab (as all the North Greenwich boats were full at London Bridge). That RMT held really well and there were no tubes so I would expect this one to hold also.

Coaches seem to be the number one workaround, or for Tuesday travellers moving to the Monday or Wednesday. I feel for those who can only travel on the Thursday but there is at least time to formulate alternative arrangements.

When you look at the investment and attitudes towards to public transport on the continent the way we treat it here is nothing short of shameful. Too expensive, poorly maintained and unreliable. We really need to take public transport seriously in this country.

[abiwish]

37 minutes ago, One Tonne Baby said:

For anyone staying in London and worried about getting around, or to different locations for a coach, don’t worry! It’s not ideal but the bus system is huge, black cabs will be in abundance, as well as other firms like Uber, etc..

Don’t want to add to anyone’s fear but if you’re coming through London I’d just be wary that Ubers haven’t been as reliable recently and have been quite hard to get sometimes for awhile now. Just don’t always seem to be many around.

Bolt is a similar app as a backup. But would say if you won’t be able to get the bus, it would be worth prebooking with a local taxi company just in case you can’t actually get an Uber on the day/time.

1 hour ago, AlexOvd said:

Do you leave in London? How was the tube strike on Monday out of rush hours? Did you need to wait a lot for buses?

I got a bus during the tube strike (and through a busy route) on Monday, late morning, and it was probably busier than normal but fine.

Edited June 8, 2022 by abiwish

[Tommy Dickfingers]

I’m getting the train to the festival on Wednesday. My journey time has now increased by a good couple of hours but so fucking what. Incomparable to people who’d be potentially losing their jobs. Power to the strikers I hope it comes off for them. They have my total and utter support. 

[a6l6e6x]

1 minute ago, Tommy Dickfingers said:

I’m getting the train to the festival on Wednesday. My journey time has now increased by a good couple of hours but so fucking what. Incomparable to people who’d be potentially losing their jobs. Power to the strikers I hope it comes off for them. They have my total and utter support. 

Why does it affect your travel time on the Wednesday?

[mattiloy]

13 hours ago, zahidf said:

So any of the pro union lot downvoting me actually got Glastonbury tickets? They are happy to spend an extra 150 quid for travel or miss out altogether? Or are they armchair posers?

Loooool.

’If you really support fair pay and conditions then you must give me, a tory stranger on an internet forum a 150 quid bung to satisfy my selfish and inflexible demands’.

[mattiloy]

40 minutes ago, jannybruck said:

The lack of understanding or support about this by certain people, going to a festival that is foundationally an event that supports togetherness amongst humans and solidarity with others, is quite something. But sadly not surprising.

Sad to say, I think its indicative of a wider direction of travel. The weathers been solidly warm the last years, huge increase in glamping options, prioritising mainstream bookings.. 

Everybody always jumps on these kind of comments for being that of an old stick in the mud who doesn’t like change. And of course there are going to be lots of folk attending the festival who are appreciative of the radical, progressive heritage of the place, just saying I think if you ran opinion polls on the festival population 20 years ago and now, it’d be a fairly marked difference in political persuasion. You could argue thats a good thing, that it exposes those with different views to all that positive progressivism and solidarity and maybe helps them to reconsider their views. Myself I always liked that glastonbury was an oasis of left wing sentiment in an otherwise sometimes bleak and frustrating world. As the left field tent suggests, a place to ’recharge your activism’. A shame if it loses that quality in the pursuit of ever greater scale and the revenue that comes with it…

Ah whatever, maybe I am just an old stick in the mud

[Crazyfool01]

[Jay Pee]

I will need to check with the accommodation but I have a house booked through booking.com on Monday night in Glastonbury town that may be able to support one or two people for the MONDAY NIGHT ONLY.  It was my only option as Paddington Farm campsite is full this year and came in at a stupidly cheap price

I am volunteering and always go down on the Monday for beers around Glastonbury town and a walk up the Tor then taxi to site Tuesday morning. 

I am going in a meeting in a sec and wont be able to email the house owner yet but when i will do i will explain the circumstances and they may be understanding (probably at a cost).  Message me if interested and I will ask the owners.

it may help a couple of you out if you can get down on the train on Monday instead but remember i can go onsite on Tuesday whereas ticket holders cant although i expect people will be putting up tents in the car park on Tuesday at this rate

[Crazyfool01]

1 minute ago, Jay Pee said:

I will need to check with the accommodation but I have a house booked through booking.com on Monday night in Glastonbury town that may be able to support one or two people for the MONDAY NIGHT ONLY.  It was my only option as Paddington Farm campsite is full this year and came in at a stupidly cheap price

I am volunteering and always go down on the Monday for beers around Glastonbury town and a walk up the Tor then taxi to site Tuesday morning. 

I am going in a meeting in a sec and wont be able to email the house owner yet but when i will do i will explain the circumstances and they may be understanding (probably at a cost).  Message me if interested and I will ask the owners.

it may help a couple of you out if you can get down on the train on Monday instead but remember i can go onsite on Tuesday whereas ticket holders cant although i expect people will be putting up tents in the car park on Tuesday at this rate

If you could post this on the help thread if it firms up pls 

[Jay Pee]

Just now, crazyfool1 said:

If you could post this on the help thread if it firms up pls 

Roger that mate

[Rose-Colored Boy]

Update from the Network Rail CEO: 

Obviously mostly manipulative crap but doesn’t sound like he’s given up hope that a deal can be reached.

[dmedxb]

14 minutes ago, Rose-Colored Boy said:

Update from the Network Rail CEO: 

Obviously mostly manipulative crap but doesn’t sound like he’s given up hope that a deal can be reached.

Again, apologies if a silly question, but how genuine is the claim that progress is being made - does it feel like it actually is? 

[deepkittycaz]

14 hours ago, Tranquility of Solitude said:

The Shelter buses are leaving Bristol on the Tuesday.... don’t know if they’ll take you, but no harm in asking.

No luck sadly 😞

[Rose-Colored Boy]

6 minutes ago, dmedxb said:

Again, apologies if a silly question, but how genuine is the claim that progress is being made - does it feel like it actually is? 

Not a silly question at all! I wouldn’t trust a word that comes out of Andrew Haines’ mouth, but beyond that the truth is we simply don’t know. Unfortunately all we can do is read between the lines in terms of tone and aggression, but I’m still not giving up hope personally.

Will of course post any further updates on this thread as and when they become available though. 

[dogeggs]

Does anyone know for sure why these specific dates were chosen? I can’t shake the feeling that it’s a bit of a stretch to say that they targeted the festival specifically.

[dmedxb]

11 minutes ago, Rose-Colored Boy said:

Not a silly question at all! I wouldn’t trust a word that comes out of Andrew Haines’ mouth, but beyond that the truth is we simply don’t know. Unfortunately all we can do is read between the lines in terms of tone and aggression, but I’m still not giving up hope personally.

Will of course post any further updates on this thread as and when they become available though. 

Thanks so much. I'm a UK citizen but have lived outside the country most of my life so I am a bit... clueless when it comes to things like industrial action! It's actually illegal where we live, which is absurd, but means we don't get much exposure to it except from accounts from back home. 

[Rose-Colored Boy]

3 minutes ago, dmedxb said:

Thanks so much. I'm a UK citizen but have lived outside the country most of my life so I am a bit... clueless when it comes to things like industrial action! It's actually illegal where we live, which is absurd, but means we don't get much exposure to it except from accounts from back home. 

No worries, get why it’s confusing! I would usually say that things like this are just brinkmanship and end up in a compromise, but in this case a dispute over pay and compulsory redundancies has been bubbling under the surface for a long time so it’s very possible that we do go out on the picket line unfortunately. 

[dmedxb]

1 minute ago, Rose-Colored Boy said:

No worries, get why it’s confusing! I would usually say that things like this are just brinkmanship and end up in a compromise, but in this case a dispute over pay and compulsory redundancies has been bubbling under the surface for a long time so it’s very possible that we do go out on the picket line unfortunately. 

More power to you all. It's ridiculous that the pandemic's key workers are now being shit on like this. 

[DeanoL]

I get it. No-one wants redundancies but... demand on the rail network is way down from pre-pandemic. And that's not going to change. Working from home is now a thing. This doesn't appear to be the companies being evil for the sake of profit and cutting things to the bone. It's just an inevitable right-sizing. 

I wish we all could just have 100% job security all the time but that's not how the economy works. And for the first time pretty much ever, the rail industry is no longer growing, so for the first time ever I think cuts are actually justifiable.

[Rose-Colored Boy]

13 minutes ago, DeanoL said:

I get it. No-one wants redundancies but... demand on the rail network is way down from pre-pandemic. And that's not going to change. Working from home is now a thing. This doesn't appear to be the companies being evil for the sake of profit and cutting things to the bone. It's just an inevitable right-sizing. 

I wish we all could just have 100% job security all the time but that's not how the economy works. And for the first time pretty much ever, the rail industry is no longer growing, so for the first time ever I think cuts are actually justifiable.

…except they’ve been trying to bring in compulsory redundancies since before the pandemic.

They’re also trying to enforce cuts to track maintenance teams and security staff, despite those staff already being overworked - is that justifiable in your eyes too? 

Edited June 8, 2022 by Rose-Colored Boy

[zahidf]

4 minutes ago, DeanoL said:

I get it. No-one wants redundancies but... demand on the rail network is way down from pre-pandemic. And that's not going to change. Working from home is now a thing. This doesn't appear to be the companies being evil for the sake of profit and cutting things to the bone. It's just an inevitable right-sizing. 

I wish we all could just have 100% job security all the time but that's not how the economy works. And for the first time pretty much ever, the rail industry is no longer growing, so for the first time ever I think cuts are actually justifiable.

Yup exactly. I havent seen anything on the union side to acknowledge this reality