Tonight:
5°c
Now train strike hits holiday travellers
Katharine Barney and Dick Murray31 Jul 2009
Thousands of rail commuters and holidaymakers faced another day of travel misery today on the second half of a 48-hour strike by National Express East Anglia staff.
The operator's timetable to and from Liverpool Street was brought to a virtual standstill. An hourly emergency service to London was running from Colchester, Southend Victoria and Norwich.
On one of the year's busy getaway days for summer holidaymakers, the Stansted Express airport service was reduced to running once an hour instead of every 15 minutes.
Rail unions RMT and Aslef have ordered three more 48-hour stoppages on successive Thursdays and Fridays in the continuing dispute over pay and working conditions. There were hopes for talks next week to try to avert further disruption.
National Express East Anglia faces paying ticket refunds of more than £1 million for each day of the strikes. Its tickets were being accepted on c2c, First Capital Connect and East Midlands Trains on strike days. Transport for London buses and London Underground were accepting the operator's Travelcards or season tickets.
As the second day of travel misery was unfolding, it emerged that RMT leader Bob Crow spent more than £1 million on newsletters and leaflets to promote disputes to union members.
Papers leaked to the Standard also show Mr Crow was given a pay rise of £8,000 to £122,167. His basic salary last year was £84,923. He also received £9,156 in national insurance contributions and £28,088 in pension contributions. The RMT also spent more than £110,000 on cars for officials to travel to conferences.
An RMT spokesman said: "Our members expect us to invest heavily in communications. The general secretary's pay is decided at the annual general meeting and there has not been a single complaint from any members about it."
Reader views (12)
If everyone was truthful .... we have all had enough, so lets all walk out down tools show we are not to be taken lightly. Everything around us is going up in price, we the tax-payer are bailing out by the millions, a Government that's failing,the everyday stress we the public have to take ..... Enough I say lets take a stand, why should we let them get away with it?.
- John L., Scarborough. North Yorkshire .England., 01/08/2009 08:34
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Many years ago the Dockers were led into strikes.
Also the Coal Miners were also led into strikes by Aurthet Scargil.
The Railworkers were always striking.
I used to work locally at Enfield and one day strikes were being called all the time.
So what happened, no more Docks, no more local factories at Enfield,no Coal Mines.
How about British Leyland always being closed down and then guess what.
Keep it up Bob and it will all get closed.
It will be quite soon too.
- Ken Curwen, Enfield, 31/07/2009 21:20
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I don't like Bob Crow or his union but I believe that they are asking for 2.5% increase and National Express East Anglia have said no way. That troubles me a bit because NE have put up the price of my annual season ticket by about £400 and that works out at a lot more than 2.5% So who does all that price increase go to?
- Jim, Stowmarket Suffolk, 31/07/2009 21:18
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Break them,sack them.The majority of these keyboard warriors would love someone like Bob Crow to defend them from the bullying and misery they undoubtably face at their workplace.
- Colin, barking essex, 31/07/2009 17:35
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It's clear the union wants to bankrupt National Express and have guvmint take over like good ol' days when they pillaged the travelling public AND taxpayers.
4% pay rise and 4 day working week? Yep, they are having a laugh.
Remarkable how the union heads get paid such enormous amounts of money but they "know how hard it is" for the workers. The unions engage in the sort of rip-off monopoly tactics they accuse employers of doing.
All the union wants is for the taxpayer to own and run it, so it can strongarm a Labour government and blackmail a Tory government to giving them what they want taken from everyone else. Not one of them risks their own money in business, but harks back to the days when they could bully other workers with Marxist rhetoric. If only NXEA could fire the lot and hire people who actually appreciate having their jobs, like most of the country!
- Scott, Norwich, 31/07/2009 17:12
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I was in Clacton this morning and observed a big crowd of poor Mums, waiting at bus stops in the boiling heat, with kids, cases & buggies, trying to get a bus to Colchester main station in order to return to their London homes, after holidaying in Clacton. They were all worried about routes/how to get home- didn't dare tell them there was only a skeleton train service running from Colchester.
Talk about industrial action bashing the working classes...
- Carole, Essex, 31/07/2009 17:02
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Thanks to Mr Crow and his socialist cronies, I now face a 200 mile round trip to go and collect my wife and kid who are stranded in Essex on the last day of their break with no way of getting home. This is the second time this year that Mr Crow has had a negative effect on my life and as far as I'm concerned he should be arrested for what can only be described as economic vandalism. He and his colleagues make me sick! Welcome to the socialist republic of New Labour's Britain - flying apart at the seams!
- Paul, Kent, 31/07/2009 14:24
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Bob Crowe, working class hero! LOL.
The militant unions sense that NuLiebour are close to death and will do anything, and get into bed with anybody in order to cling on to power.
Remember that other great hero of the working class, Arthur Scargill? It was he who precipitated the end of large scale coal mining in Britain, something that was wrongly blamed on Thatcher.
Perhaps Crowe will serve his members in a similar vein.
- Keith Lonsdale, Doncaster, 31/07/2009 14:19
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An RMT spokesman said: "Our members expect us to invest heavily in communications. The general secretary's pay is decided at the annual general meeting and there has not been a single complaint from any members about it."
Hmmm, £8,000 pay rise when most are getting nothing & lots are losing their jobs. Jobs for the boys anyone? Rather destroys your socialist priciples don't you think Mr Crow?
The RMT must be brain washed or just plain stupid to listen to this self promoting dinosaur.
You're on borrowed time Crow so enjoy it whilst you can.
- Annoyed, The City, 31/07/2009 13:55
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I am personally effected by this current strike but in a world where companies and even the government don't listen to there workers... what choice is really left. We live in a bizarre greedy world were companies compete to sell the same thing like gas. Only a morally corrupt government would argue that they have created competition on a rail track that has only one company providing a service. We have endured a poor service and increased prices for far too long.
You have to ask yourself why the government doesn’t re-nationalise the railway… it can only be corruption. Imagine the money involved with these contracts and the backhanders and mixed business interests involved. So while all you lot moan about the time it takes to get home, please think of the bigger picture.
- Paul, London, 31/07/2009 13:12
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"and there has not been a single complaint from any members about it."
http://stroppyblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/rmt-agm-report.html
The concluding paragraph states, "The “top table” got their way on everything, all week. That alone should set alarm bells ringing."
- Bj, London, 31/07/2009 10:25
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Back to the 70's when unions destroyed the UK. Break the unions, destroy them and nationalise the railways. How can you have different rail companies running a national service. Rail is the backbone of any country. Bob Crow should be targeted in the same aggressive way as Fred the shred was a banking target.
- Frank, Copenhagen, Denmark, 31/07/2009 09:14
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