Union Leader Bob Crow Dead

[bigmarco]

An eye for an eye would make the whole world blind Reference Mahatma Gandhi.

[Bluebirdjones]

I would imagine that the vast majority of people who use/read this site are from a working class background, albeit if you are now self-employed. I guess few (if any) are living on inherited wealth and position.

So, to castigate someone who stood up for the working man is bizarre in my opinion.

He campaigned tirelessly for better working conditions, better job security, better wages.

What’s wrong with that ?

The alternative is a race to the bottom, which unfortunately we've been experiencing for decades now.

Granted he might have said a few distasteful things which he might have presented better …… but fighting against the “establishment” for years, and seeing yourself demonised by the Murdoch & Rothermere press on a regular basis, probably does result in a belligerent attitude.

[les_taxi]

Never been a fan of any union to be honest

What I did see was Ok fair enough he did his job as required to do but could not give a .... for other companies and businesses that his actions may affect.

That's trouble with unions, as long as your alright stuff everyone else.

As I mentioned before he had no answer to the business his action's were affected by the strike, if it meant others lost their jobs so what
He wasn't bothered.

[KeithD]

£50,000 a year for driving a train. That's a button that says go, another says stop .... and who pays for it, and the bi pensions they get? The British public.... mind you, they are mostly southerners so who cares?

[les_taxi]

Plus they go thru red lights!

[andy222]

April 2013

Union leader Bob Crow has said Margaret Thatcher can "rot in hell" for what she did to the country during her time as prime minister.
Crow, the general secretary of the RMT union, told BBC Radio London on Wednesday evening that Thatcher "created an ideological argument to attack working people" during her time in office and that there were "loads of loads of people who lost their houses, jobs and committed suicide because of what she did".
"She has got nothing in common at all with working people," he said. She didn't die in a hospice, she died in the Ritz, somewhere no working people could stay for one night."
"I wont shed one single tear over her death," he added. "She destroyed the NHS and destroyed industry in this country and as far as I'm concerned she can rot in hell."

To be honest cant argue with him.

[les_taxi]

Andy had enough on his plate with the championship looming lol

[andy222]

You may be right Les. Just pay your £100 to Tiger. . RIP BOB. We need more like him.

[les_taxi]

Tiger will get his when it's confirmed no problem, seeing Brom go down will soften the blow

[bigmarco]

"Why should it just be the bankers, politicians and the idle rich who get all the best things? As a militant trade union we demand a standard of living for our members that enables them to share in the fine wines and fine times that the likes of David Cameron and his Old Etonian mates take for granted." Bob Crow

Next month like every year for as long as I can remember Tube workers will get an above inflation pay rise which will take drivers past the £50k pa for a maximum 36 hour week. In the meantime we'll have to go about the business of electing the next man/woman to make sure Bobs good work continues.
I don't think it's a coincidence that the RMT is not even in the top 10 unions in member numbers in the UK and yet everyone knows who our GS was.
Personally I wish every union had a Bob

[grahamw48]

Aah..back to the 70s and bankruptcy.

[Jenky]

Aah..back to the 70s and bankruptcy.

And now here we are in this decade where most unions have been trivialised and those that remain are portrayed as leftie troublemakers by Maxwell and his phone hacking fraternity.
All we are sadly left with are the creations of Thatcher who having left Eton were able to run around unchecked and bankrupt the country driven soley by their own loadsamoney greed. And along the way spawning various Wonga-like hangers on who now make a profit exploiting the fall out from the resulting working class misery.

Capitalism at its best.

Rip Bob You fought for the working person.

[les_taxi]

No, he fought for his union members, here is my analogy:

Ok, I'm a taxi driver, the Council decides to hike up our annual costs once again, so we all get together (500 of us) and refuse to pick people up as we are not happy. I'm the leader

We also prevent people from getting to work by driving around the town at a crawl making everybody miss trains, flights, business deadlines etc. I'm a great guy as I'm doing it for my members.

What i don't give a chuff about is the rest of ya, you may miss an important deadline and lose an order causing you to lay off workers, shut down, affect all the local business due to lack of trade etc etc. Could go on forever, but hey I'm alright, my members are alright - what's the big deal I'm a hero.

Council backs down and me and me merry union are happy.
Oh so lots of you have suffered hardship and lost your jobs, Oops, sorry 'bout that, really I don't care I'm Les Crow the hero.

That's the trouble with unions very selfish in their aims and not for the people, the public only the workers they represent sod the rest of society.

[London_Manila]

£50,000 a year for driving a train. That's a button that says go, another says stop .... and who pays for it, and the bi pensions they get? The British public.... mind you, they are mostly southerners so who cares?

Plenty of trains north of Watford last time i looked
I normally hear this argument from bus drivers

Mainline trains are certainly not even remotely "automatic"

First you have to pass a strict medical
Then its criminal record check and ALL your past employers will be contacted

Entry tests are hard and many fall at this first hurdle
Minimum training for a mainline Train driver is 1 year and there is lots to learn
2 to 3 months is classroom based

For every 1000 people who apply only 1 makes it through to become a trainee

Shifts are anything in 24 hours a day 7 days a week
I pay in over £200 a month into my pension pot
Make a mistake out on the mainline and you are soon out of a job (happens all the time)

If its such an easy job then feel free to apply to any TOC and see if you can become 1 in a 1000

[London_Manila]

Plus they go thru red lights!

Then you become an x train driver (overnight)

[London_Manila]

I would imagine that the vast majority of people who use/read this site are from a working class background, albeit if you are now self-employed. I guess few (if any) are living on inherited wealth and position.

So, to castigate someone who stood up for the working man is bizarre in my opinion.

He campaigned tirelessly for better working conditions, better job security, better wages.

What’s wrong with that ?

The alternative is a race to the bottom, which unfortunately we've been experiencing for decades now.

Granted he might have said a few distasteful things which he might have presented better …… but fighting against the “establishment” for years, and seeing yourself demonised by the Murdoch & Rothermere press on a regular basis, probably does result in a belligerent attitude.

Good post and you make many great points

I feel a lot of fellow workers are jealous of railway pay rates and they come from the angle that if they themselves get paid peanuts and have to work long hours then everybody should

I can see no other reason for their arguments

[London_Manila]

No, he fought for his union members, here is my analogy:

Ok, I'm a taxi driver, the council decides to hike up our annual costs once again, so we all get together (500 of us) and refuse to pick people up as we are not happy. I'm the leader

We also prevent people from getting to work by driving around the town at a crawl making everybody miss trains, flights, business deadlines etc. I'm a great guy as I'm doing it for my members.

What i don't give a chuff about is the rest of ya, you may miss an important deadline and lose an order causing you to lay off workers, shut down, affect all the local business due to lack of trade etc etc. Could go on forever, but hey I'm alright, my members are alright - what's the big deal I'm a hero.

Council backs down and me and me merry union are happy.
Oh so lots of you have suffered hardship and lost your jobs, Oops, sorry 'bout that, really I don't care, I'm Les Crow the hero.

That's the trouble with unions very selfish in there aims and not for the people, the public only the workers they represent sod the rest of society.

The problem with your industry is that everyone undercuts each other
Instead of working together you all work against other companies
Thats why pay rates are so low for taxi drivers

[London_Manila]

Really! When you say "actually" do you know that for a fact or are you guessing?

http://www.salarytrack.co.uk/average-director-salary

Yes i was shooting from the hip

Sir Peter Hendy head of TFL last year made £ 652,000
Bob Crow made £145,000

I dont see you or anyone else complaining about the fats cats !

[les_taxi]

There is not a problem as I have built up a sound business all on my own, look after my customers, open doors, carry bags, clean car - pop quizzes on a night. I love it so do my customers.

I don't want to blow my own trumpet but people want me as I look after them.

I don't whinge or put my meter on if they a few mins late, treat every customer as if they are the most important one that day.
I'm totally happy and earn a decent living thank you very much

[London_Manila]

Train drivers earn shed loads but don't want to be one, working on the London underground lol no thanks!

I would rather ferry people around and build up regular work driving around beautiful Yorkshire.

I go to work for what it says in my net pay box on my wage slip
surroundings and scenery dont even come into it

[les_taxi]

I'm not knocking your job or anyone's, just saying that working on the London Underground is not my idea of fun. I'm at an age where I want to enjoy what I do and have no-one to answer to (apart from customers)

[London_Manila]

You were going well LM until you said that You must admit, he was on a good screw

I'll even admit, from what I've read about him, not knowing him personally Bob Crow worked wonders but, he made the mistake to rubbish and insult the dead and their family........That in my book is a no no

Bob's salary was not that high when compared to the people he had to deal with

His views on Thatcher were of no interest to me

Thats par for the course anyway look at the Daily Mail and Milibands father

[les_taxi]

Bob's salary was not that high when compared to the people he had to deal with

His views on Thatcher were of no interest to me

Thats par for the course anyway look at the Daily Mail and Milibands father

Well at the end of the day the man did say those things about Thatcher so no sympathy from me and many others.

[Jenky]

No, he fought for his union members,here is my analogy:

Ok, I'm a taxi driver, the council decides to hike up our annual costs once again, so we all get together (500 of us) and refuse to pick people up as we are not happy. I'm the leader

We also prevent people from getting to work by driving around the town at a crawl making everybody miss trains, flights, business deadlines etc. I'm a great guy as I'm doing it for my members.

What i don't give a chuff about is the rest of ya, you may miss a important deadline and lose an order causing you to lay off workers, shut down, affect all the local business due to lack of trade etc etc. Could go on forever, but hey I'm alright,my members are alright - what's the big deal I'm a hero.

Council back down and me and me merry union are happy.
Oh so lots of you have suffered hardship and lost your jobs, Oops, sorry 'bout that, really I don't care I'm Les Crow the hero.

That's the trouble with unions very selfish in there aims and not for the people, the public only the workers they represent sod the rest of society.

Capitalism at its best!..........How many people in your area are on the list waiting to be taxi drivers?.......My guess is quite a few or if not plenty of Eastern Europeans would soon become interested. And it is only the Council you berate that is stopping a free for all and preventing all those people from getting their taxi licence. Imagine let's stop the council doing that and give them all their licences......They then of course undercut you.....possibly putting you out of business but along the way definitely giving us all cheaper taxi fares.... happy days! (I just paid £15 for a 10 minute rip off last weekend)............Oh how you would like a Bob Crow to stand up for you then?

Strange thing is, even though I would be getting a cheaper taxi ride, I would be supporting the Bob Crowe who is representing you and would not mind any disruption etc....Why? because I want to see the working man earn a working wage and not see the salary of taxi drivers fall to a level that they are unable to survive on unless they were renting a house being shared by more than ten people.

[les_taxi]

Easy to answer that

You know nothing about the taxi trade and licensing laws obviously

First of all you haven't even read my post properly, I was not complaining, it was used as an analogy to prove my dislike of unions

I have no problem with my council apart from them not setting much harder knowledge tests for the slow drip, drip of Asians who live in Bradford applying for Harrogate licences and have no clue where anywhere is.

We have Turks,Greeks Pakistanis and plenty of local people in Harrogate.

There is no 'Unmet demand' in Harrogate so the number of Hackney Carriage plates does not increase.

So how does a Taxi Driver make a decent wage? Well I already explained how I do it - stuff your unions don't and would never want one.

I'm a believer in making your own way in life and if you have got the ability to sell yourself and make people want to use you, it's the best way.

So even if lots of dodgy taxi drivers appeared they would still lose out to me and a few others as people want local, knowledgeable honest drivers, fare is irrelevant as they want to get home safe, know their kids are safe and enjoy the ride.

Private hire is a different matter and that has increased dramatically as the council cannot limit it and that does affect our trade.

[grahamw48]

Please someone, define the nonsense term 'working man' (or WOMAN).

[bigmarco]

London Taxi Drivers are probably the best paid in the country. They're also probably the most militant. When they get a problem they don't talk shiite about unions and blame everyone else. They ring Bob to get on their case.

[Jenky]

I'm think you also missed my point

I was just using an analogy based on your own analogy, nothing personal

You do not like unions or what they stand for. Fair enough. Truth is businessmen will do whatever it takes to make more money and unions, if they can, will try and limit the damage to the individuals involved..............They are both doing their job.......I think that Boris wanted to close all of the ticket offices on the London Underground.............losing that personal touch that you feel gives you an such an edge in your own business..................Bob Crowe stood up for those people who would see their salaries and jobs cut as a result and I think that most Underground users - however inconvenienced they became - were sympathetic.

[grahamw48]

Ah, those terrible businessmen (and WOMEN) who create all the jobs for those 'working class' people.

Of course there is always living off the land, working for the government, or being a Gypsy.

[gWaPito]

Well at the end of the day the man did say those things about Thatcher so no sympathy from me and many others.

Me included