Finished Christmas job Wednesday, 10 hour shifts from boxing day, experienced a touch of schadenfreude as I started the final drive up to West London, for Wednesdays shift, listening to the news that engineering works up on the west coast line and elsewhere would be creating all kinds of journey mayhem for the traveling public.
I see in this weeks papers things are grim for travellers and much acreage of journalism is given over to the discomfort caused to the traveling public, its a pity but not surprising that no mention is given to those who will have been working their nuts off since in some cases Christmas eve many away from family doing 12 hours a day.
The traveling public deserve better as do those who work in the industry, its a pity that this is the best Network Rail can do. Labour MP Louise Ellman a member of the house of commons transport committee came up with this nonsense according to the guardian "I shall also be demanding an explanation and an apology. This is a completely unacceptable situation, a fiasco, which has caused massive inconvenience to thousands of people.
"When maintenance work takes place it should be properly planned, and there can be no excuse for the absence or non-availability of specialist workers.
Nothing to disagree with there except since labour is the party of government, perhaps they could do something to improve the welfare and pay of track workers. In the short time I've been on the railway I have witnessed contracting pay packets, poorer conditions.
As in other industries more and more vital workers are poring in from Europe, unfortunately they will work for whatever is offered, thus bringing down wage levels, even more disturbing is the large numbers of "safety critical" staff for whom English is a struggle, since the railway is a dangerous environment and poor communication is a factor in many accidents, its a pity that contractors don't insist on English speaking staff.
Its no surprise that an industry that expects men to desert their families, work 12 hour shifts over Christmas, miles from home has trouble in completing engineering works, myself I spent more than 24 hours just driving to and from work last week, apart from the long hours and hard work.
One thing you can be sure of, is that whatever results from enquiries into Network Rails, engineering debacle this Christmas, those at the top, will no doubt blame contractors and will still have there snouts in the trough next Christmas. The traveling public deserve better as do the those who've given up time with their families either willingly or otherwise.
Tony
ReplyDeleteI suspect this is just another example of a hardy perennial problem.
In 1984 the Institute of Electrical Engineers published research into management in the industry.
93% totally unqualified either by education or experience.
3.5% arts, accountancy or business qualified
3.5% technically qualified.
I found working under the Joint Industry Board scheme for contractors was OK ... EXCEPT when sites did not have a JIB only contract and on sites which had separate audit or management. (Such as steelworks with the Sims Agreement brought about by the industry and trades unions wanting to limit how much contractors could earn !)
I remember Port Talbot in about 1990. We had twelve hour nightshifts on "Jobbers". Ie We were given an amount of work to do (cable pulling, tray work, terminating) which was reckoned to take at least twelve hours.
We would be driving off site in the early hours. 24 hours pay. 6 hours intensive work.
The British Steel security started playing up. Stopping us for searches every night as we drove out etc. Just because they did not like how much we were earning. We told them the British Steel direct employed staff would not be able to keep up with us. It would take them two or more twelve hour shifts to do what we knock out to a better standard in six hours. That is why we get the money.
No pay no play. We are all Thatcherites now !
I work over Christmas too. If anything I have been more productive over the last 2-weeks not having to file stats, read emails from Estates Management telling me where on site I can and can't park, smoke and not smoke, reading emails from Policy makers telling me what I can and can't do, reading emails from Admin telling me whether I can use the fax machine or not. All these people are leeches who suck on productivity of those who actually do a worthwhile job. They come back to work after 2-weeks off and launch into another years worth of bull ****. They can stick their small-minded emails up their arses.
ReplyDeleteWell done , Tony! What I find hilarious about all this posturing by the media and politicians is that not one of them has had any experience whatsoever in organising complicated engineering programmes in poor weather, at night and over a holiday period where the guys working are expected to sacrifice their family time during the longest national holiday of the year.
ReplyDeleteColds and noro-virus are sweeping the land and it is ok for a hospital to shut wards but how dare engineering works delay the great Britsih Public! No one bats an eye-lid when our marvellous boys in blue produce gridlock on the motorways because they close a motorway to spend hours collecting ridiculous minutiae of evidence about a fatality, leaving thousands trapped in cars for hours on end. But if commuters on the railway dare have to be bussed around engineering works and have a couple of hours delay, righteous indignation all round! We need to break this concept that a highly skilled workforce can only get out on an engineering job at night or weekends. Close sections of line in the summer at normal times and do the work in better weather and in longest hours of daylight. To try and put gangs together at anti-social times of night and year and pay the minimum is just unacceptable and we should not be surprised that there is a time over-run. Too much illogical and crazy thinking inhabits our media, but did any news team go and visit a section of engineering work and ask the guys doing the job what the problems were? NO!
Dear Tony,
ReplyDeleteHow it should read....
Finished Christmas job Wednesday. Ten hour shifts from boxing day. Experienced a touch of schadenfreude as I started the final drive up to West London for Wednesdays shift, listening to the news that engineering works up on the west coast line and elsewhere would be creating all kinds of journey mayhem for the travelling public.
I see by this week's papers, things are grim for travellers and much acreage of journalism is given over to the discomfort caused to the travelling public. It's a pity but not surprising, that no mention is given to those who will have been working their nuts off since (in some cases) Christmas Eve, many away from their families doing 12 hours per day.
Thanks for all the comments
ReplyDeleteI would just like to point anon 08:24, this blog is supplied on an as is basis. I assume that you must be a failed teacher of english with some sort of compulsive disorder.
Shakespeare this isnt, ITS Tony Flaig but its read by hundreds each week.
Its a blog ie a rant page for middleaged gits
A bit like a conversation if understand which I dont think you do.
WHEN I WANT AN EDITOR I PLACE AN AD
Correction of facts and opinions are always welcome.
Looks like you've attracted a pedantic twat, Tony. I should know, I'm a pedant myself, but try and restrict my compulsions to my own work rather than foisting it on others.
ReplyDeleteI have an IQ around 125 and cannot write big deal, pedantic this person is but whats he or she doing reading this stuff.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't actually see much improvement in the edited version this tosser is no doubt ignorant of the many hours I spend honing this stuff into a barely readable form.
Well my self esteem has taken a nose dive, I'll survive.