The exploding inevitable....

[Wessex]

I've been thinking about a couple of conversations I had a while back, relating to what was the then threat of privatisation.
The first one was with my rep who said that's it mate ,that privately he ,and I must presume other CWU officials, knew that the game was up and we would shortly be privatised.

One of my customers was one of the senior Union negotiators when the railways were going to go through a similar process.What he said to me is what they had done over the previous 12 months was take soundings of what the members wanted.They decided to play ball with the management because they could see the inevitable on its way.However in negotiations they laid their cards on the table and said right you want it to go smoothly here are our list of demands, allowances put fully into
pensionable wages, cuts in this and that , end of b&h , that sort of thing.He was amazed when they said OK to all of the demands.

He said one of his proudest moments was knowing now that a train driver now earns a minimum of x thousand and up to y thousand per annum.

My question is do you think our Union negotiators should have tried for the same sort of deal knowing the likely future.
Or would it be a case of selling your soul at the crossroads..

[Dorset Plodder]

I believe "Their people" are a damn sight smarter than "Our people"! I'm sure it's not a simple as it seems, but every time we think we've got an agreement with the Management they wriggle out of it using some obscure small print or interpretation. It's like trying to nail a jelly to a moving target!

I compare it to The Government thinking they'd managed to corner the Money Grabbing Banks. Obviously the "Banks People" were a bloody sight smarter than "The Governments People"!

Perhaps this time we should employ some top notch negotiator, yes it might cost us short term, but at least he might be able to hammer out a deal that RM won't be able to Bullshit their out of. Apologies if some CWU Negotiators are reading this and feel aggrieved but you really seem to be playing out of your league! Don't go taking a knife to a gunfight again! Too many people's livelihoods are depending on you.

[hans solo]

nothing to do with smartness only corporate greed and ability to sell ones self to the detrement of others
eh! billy