Talks ongoing to avert rail strike
As the proposed four-day rail strike from 6 April approaches there is renewed hope this evening of a breakthrough with negotiators on both sides said to be "working flat out". The four-day strike will effectively paralyse the UK rail network with only one in five trains expected to run and severe delays and overcrowding inevitable.
As you would expect, there are very different views from either side of the fence with rail network management suggesting that the unions are not as committed to a negotiated settlement as they appear to be in the press, and the unions concerned about job losses, passenger safety and the long-term interests of rail network employees. As with any industrial action the truth is probably somewhere in between the two extreme arguments although there needs to be some middle ground found in the short term to prevent what would be a crippling and very expensive strike.
It is becoming more and more obvious that unions and management up and down the UK are becoming more and more determined in pushing through their own views and their own strategies and in many cases, such as the British Airways and Unite union saga, very little middle ground has been found. The UK government is working tirelessly behind the scenes to try to prevent a crippling strike but so far there has been very little good news.
Share this..
Related stories
Bank of England faces dilemma
Yesterday's confirmation that the Bank of England MPC expects to retain UK base rates at 0.5% for the foreseeable future was not a surprise for the UK economic arena. However, a report expected next week is set to show that while inflationary pressure in the UK is growing in the short to medium term, the economic recovery is stalling. Against this background the Bank of England faces a very diffic...
Read MoreSacked workers continue protest
It has been confirmed this morning that 600 workers at the Lindsey Oil Refinery in Lincolnshire have lost their jobs, which is less than the 900 apparently confirmed yesterday. However, what began as a dispute over 51 workers sacked via a UK based contractor now threatens to blow-up into a nationwide dispute and a battle of wits between the unions and the UK government. Despite the fact that the i...
Read MoreUK GDP shows worst quarterly fall in 30 years
It has been revealed that the UK economy fell by an alarming 1.6% in the final quarter of 2008 which is the worst quarterly fall in 30 years. Initially there were expectations of a 1.5% fall but these figures were revised downwards by the Office of National Statistics after a review of the case data. This is an alarming fall for the UK economy and many people now suspect that the situation will ge...
Read MoreCould we see the first £10 bottle of champagne?
In a sign of the times it has been revealed that we could see the first £10 bottle of champagne this Christmas with a stockpile of champagne held by retailers in the UK due to a lack of interest during the recession. Already we have seen the likes of Majestic Wines offering a 40% discount on top of the range champagne and many people believe this is just the tip of the iceberg and prices will fal...
Read MoreMP committee looks at North sea oil exploration
In light of the Gulf of Mexico disaster a committee of MPs will review the UK government's decision to ignore calls for a moratorium on new drilling exploration in the North sea. While there is no doubt that lessons need to be learned from the Gulf of Mexico problem, which has seen the BP share price collapse, many believe that safety measures in place in the North sea are more than adequate for t...
Read More