British rail come back.

[fillyboy]

The Tory's know that the only way to stay in power is to nick all the labour and liberal policies.

At least the Tories acted on those policies.

 

[JP_]

You can bet that if it works out, the Torys will be saying how their great their plan of renationalising the railway was, but when asked, they will way the NHS is a very different beast that needs lots of private "investment" from their chums.

I guess what we can learn from this more than anything else - Not many Eton schoolboys set up railway companies.

 

[motorbiking]

Ah, so get rid of all rail unions then...

Would you stop there or get rid of other unions because in your opinion 'they hold back progress'?

And what is your definition of 'holding back progress' or 'driving conditions and pay that are uneconomical' in other industries/services?

Are the pay of the bosses and their conditions 'economical'?

It's not much good having workers rights, if the jobs have gone overseas. I prefer a market forces approach - pay them the necessary, to retain the best talent.

 

[ReganAndCarter]

If we're going back to BR, at least there's no danger of bumping into Jimmy Saville on the trains these days.

 

[EFLImpudence]

The railways were not privatised.

The government merely paid different people to run them.

All so-called profits being a so-called subsidy from the government.


No national railway in the world makes a profit.

 

[SirGalahad]

It's not much good having workers rights, if the jobs have gone overseas. I prefer a market forces approach - pay them the necessary, to retain the best talent.

That all depends on the structure of the market. When you try to contrive competition and the 'free market' for ideological pedagogy the result will be as expected, perhaps by design.

 

[ellal]

It's not much good having workers rights, if the jobs have gone overseas. I prefer a market forces approach - pay them the necessary, to retain the best talent.

So a race to the bottom then?

But you still haven't answered...

Would you stop there or get rid of other unions because in your opinion 'they hold back progress'?

And what is your definition of 'holding back progress' or 'driving conditions and pay that are uneconomical' in other industries/services?

Are the pay of the bosses and their conditions 'economical'?

 

[SirGalahad]

The railways were not privatised.

The government merely paid different people to run them.

All so-called profits being a so-called subsidy from the government.


No national railway in the world makes a profit.

Eh?

 

[SirGalahad]

So in 20 years time this will be another colossal waste and privatisation will be answer again.

 

[Bodd]

Labour policy.

Is there a problem with a changing of the mind????

 

[Scarlet Pimpernel]

Is there a problem with a changing of the mind????

That depends.

 

[Lower]

So a race to the bottom then?

But you still haven't answered...

Would you stop there or get rid of other unions because in your opinion 'they hold back progress'?

And what is your definition of 'holding back progress' or 'driving conditions and pay that are uneconomical' in other industries/services?

Are the pay of the bosses and their conditions 'economical'?

Why is it a race to the bottom? Companies pay market rate for skills and market rates are set by demand. Many companies pay over the market rate to attract the best talent. The market rate isn't set by the unions. Same with conditions.

 

[ellal]

The market rate isn't set by the unions. Same with conditions.

So you're at odds with this statement then?

They hold back progress and they drive conditions and pay that are uneconomical.

The 'race to the bottom' occurs when employers set all the conditions/pay and employees have no say!

 

[motorbiking]

They have the option to leave and work for another employer. It is an inevitable fact of progress that over time some jobs will disappear and be replaced with other jobs. The aim of the Union is to maximise the control the employee has over the employer, right down to blocking innovation to replace menial jobs.

 

[Scarlet Pimpernel]

The aim of the Union is to maximise the control the employee has over the employer, right down to blocking innovation to replace menial jobs.

I suspect that unions have other functions as well.