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Post by snoggle on Feb 8, 2015 17:24:28 GMT
If you came to my area, you'd of seen the buses running nearly as good as they usually do - there were more routes running this time in Brixton than last so on this occasion, I do believe TfL figures of more than 50% of services was correct. I'm not one who usually jumps to the aid of TfL figures so this sparks a rare occasion. The impact of the strike seems to vary and bits of South London seemed to have come off better as some of the London General garages have had far higher levels of drivers turning up for work. Arriva seems to have been particularly badly hit although more buses ran this time than on the first strike.
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Post by rambo on Feb 8, 2015 18:20:02 GMT
Disagree, a union is only as strong as its members, and sadly bus drivers are a nightmare for sticking together. UNITE agreed to all these terms and conditions being imposed on the new drivers now as they would have been consulted before the company brought them in Not at BE. The union rep worked very hard to oppose the new starter rate, but sadly there was nothing unite could do about it.
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Post by rambo on Feb 8, 2015 18:21:45 GMT
I forgot about this thread. I did strike last Thursday also but I was surprised at the amount of drivers turning up for work. Despite so many drivers at my garage striking at the strike in January, many of them did turn up for work at the strike on Thursday but I spoke to at least 3 drivers so far who did work last Thursday and said they will not work the next strike day due to the problems with passengers. One driver said he was one of two drivers on the 322 in the evening and he got to the Gipsy Hill Estate and had one passenger fuming with him saying he waited almost an hour for his bus. Although the passengers on board were immediately defending the driver against the angry passenger, it affected the driver to the point that he already made the decision not to come in at the next strike. The other drivers I spoke to said they had problems but didn't elaborate further. Having look over the posts in this thread, I like to point out that reports were that over 50 percent of buses did not run in the strike last Thursday compared to 30 percent of buses out on the road on the strike in January. Some routes did not even run throughout the day such as the 155, 197, 200, 432, 468, etc. You don't need the brains of einstien to work out that working on a strike day will be aggro.................
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Post by Deleted on Feb 8, 2015 21:03:49 GMT
UNITE agreed to all these terms and conditions being imposed on the new drivers now as they would have been consulted before the company brought them in Not at BE. The union rep worked very hard to oppose the new starter rate, but sadly there was nothing unite could do about it. U mean there was nothing your local UNITE rep could do about it. Let's be realistic here, UNITE have been in cahoots with the bus companies for a long time now. Whether u like or not UNITE agreed in the past to the new starter rates and terms and conditions to get a better pay deal when in negotiations for current driver wages. They didn't care about new drivers before so why start this dispute now??? As someone mentioned before, I think this is a way for UNITE to try and make a name for themselves like RMT to make it look like they are actually doing something, because a lot of drivers have been disillusioned with the union in recent years for various different reasons.
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Post by moz on Feb 8, 2015 22:06:52 GMT
So you're criticising unite but you're also criticising those who ignore the strike? A lot of drivers were thanked by passengers for their efforts. Oh yes indeed I am. The only reason I'm a part of Unite is for the local level and it's always better to part of a union than not. This action by Unite is a synical attempt at making this union matter again I don't think they're bothered about the little men. Where were they when these contracts were being negotiated I tell you where in the companies pockets all pally pally with management recommending them to the members that's where.Sadly very true and it has been going on since the days of LBL privatisation where with some firms it wasn't just the company being bought... Moz (Who worked at a company where the Union Convener suddenly became an Area Manager)
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Post by 6HP502C on Feb 10, 2015 21:13:33 GMT
This caught my eye - video about the strike this year, showing one of the awful Leyland Olympians which operated on the 176 (a massive decrease in passenger experience after the brilliant LondonLinks Citybuses!)
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Post by snoggle on Feb 10, 2015 22:34:49 GMT
As we're doing Youtube videos about strikes how about this old Thames News one from 1987 about the demise of Norbiton Garage and the threat of Kingston Bus? You can argue some of today's woes started right back then. Plenty of Metrobuses for fans of those.
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Post by rmz19 on Feb 10, 2015 23:40:02 GMT
Looks like walking/Underground/Overground is the best bet for the most part of my day on the next strike.
But I for one will appreciate and thank any driver I see driving a bus on a bus strike, when it comes to a rare occasion like this you realise that something so fundamental nowadays is taken for granted yet you stumble across a handful of drivers unfazed with the strike and doing their best efforts to keep London moving.
Sadly those who blame the drivers for waiting too long on an official bus strike goes to show the Ignorance that exists in today's society, they certainly don't deserve this kind of nonsense. Seriously credit where it's due.
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Post by capitalomnibus on Feb 11, 2015 0:55:13 GMT
This caught my eye - video about the strike this year, showing one of the awful Leyland Olympians which operated on the 176 (a massive decrease in passenger experience after the brilliant LondonLinks Citybuses!) Leyland Olympians were much better than Volvo Citybuses. hated Volvo Citybuses with a passion. Horrible non standard things. About the only good thing about them were the livery that were applied to them. They looked ugly in evrry bodywork variation and being with a horrible high floor to the extreme.
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Post by 6HP502C on Feb 11, 2015 2:04:34 GMT
Leyland Olympians were much better than Volvo Citybuses. hated Volvo Citybuses with a passion. Horrible non standard things. About the only good thing about them were the livery that were applied to them. They looked ugly in evrry bodywork variation and being with a horrible high floor to the extreme. The Citybuses on the 176 were of supreme quality, though I'm sure the same couldn't be said of some other batches - I didn't like the ones on the 133/196. The 176's were fast and very comfortable. Also pleasant inside, lots of light with those massive windows. One day they just vanished, replaced by these clapped out Kentish Bus Olympians, with that drab, depressing interior and seats with scant legroom. I recall some locals were unhappy with this development and some drivers complaining because they weren't as quick . They were ugly as sin, but far nicer to travel on than what replaced them. I do remember the expedition to board and alight - it was fun getting down the steps with shopping bags when alighting. Aside from the ZF Volvo Olympian, they're the only buses I really rated from my early childhood - I was 7 when they went. Slight digression from the topic!
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Post by vjaska on Feb 11, 2015 5:02:30 GMT
Leyland Olympians were much better than Volvo Citybuses. hated Volvo Citybuses with a passion. Horrible non standard things. About the only good thing about them were the livery that were applied to them. They looked ugly in evrry bodywork variation and being with a horrible high floor to the extreme. The Citybuses on the 176 were of supreme quality, though I'm sure the same couldn't be said of some other batches - I didn't like the ones on the 133/196. The 176's were fast and very comfortable. Also pleasant inside, lots of light with those massive windows. One day they just vanished, replaced by these clapped out Kentish Bus Olympians, with that drab, depressing interior and seats with scant legroom. I recall some locals were unhappy with this development and some drivers complaining because they weren't as quick . They were ugly as sin, but far nicer to travel on than what replaced them. I do remember the expedition to board and alight - it was fun getting down the steps with shopping bags when alighting. Aside from the ZF Volvo Olympian, they're the only buses I really rated from my early childhood - I was 7 when they went. Slight digression from the topic! I never rode the Arriva Citybuses which I would of liked to but the VC class on the 133/196 were excellent (I'm quite gutted you don't like them but hey lol). The Kentish Bus G VBB Olympians were dreadful and slow - I'd always be annoyed when one turned up on the 2. Meanwhile, the older Eastern Coach Works Gardener Olympians would outperform the Kentish Bus ones and were better in every department IMO. I think new DLA's at N allowed the Kentish Bus Olympians to go to North London thankfully never to return to South London apart from a few trainer buses lol.
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Post by mondraker275 on Feb 11, 2015 9:30:27 GMT
Looks like walking/Underground/Overground is the best bet for the most part of my day on the next strike. But I for one will appreciate and thank any driver I see driving a bus on a bus strike, when it comes to a rare occasion like this you realise that something so fundamental nowadays is taken for granted yet you stumble across a handful of drivers unfazed with the strike and doing their best efforts to keep London moving. Sadly those who blame the drivers for waiting too long on an official bus strike goes to show the Ignorance that exists in today's society, they certainly don't deserve this kind of nonsense. Seriously credit where it's due. Last strike day, I took six trains and no buses. I had nothing on my oyster and got around even though the buses were operating reasonably.
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Post by capitalomnibus on Feb 11, 2015 10:04:00 GMT
Leyland Olympians were much better than Volvo Citybuses. hated Volvo Citybuses with a passion. Horrible non standard things. About the only good thing about them were the livery that were applied to them. They looked ugly in evrry bodywork variation and being with a horrible high floor to the extreme. The Citybuses on the 176 were of supreme quality, though I'm sure the same couldn't be said of some other batches - I didn't like the ones on the 133/196. The 176's were fast and very comfortable. Also pleasant inside, lots of light with those massive windows. One day they just vanished, replaced by these clapped out Kentish Bus Olympians, with that drab, depressing interior and seats with scant legroom. I recall some locals were unhappy with this development and some drivers complaining because they weren't as quick . They were ugly as sin, but far nicer to travel on than what replaced them. I do remember the expedition to board and alight - it was fun getting down the steps with shopping bags when alighting. Aside from the ZF Volvo Olympian, they're the only buses I really rated from my early childhood - I was 7 when they went. Slight digression from the topic! I forgot about those Kentish Bus G### VBB Olympians. The interior of them looked ok when new, but after a few years, really aged and looked battered. I was thinking about the Leyland/ECW Olympians for some reason.
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Post by capitalomnibus on Feb 11, 2015 10:06:13 GMT
The Citybuses on the 176 were of supreme quality, though I'm sure the same couldn't be said of some other batches - I didn't like the ones on the 133/196. The 176's were fast and very comfortable. Also pleasant inside, lots of light with those massive windows. One day they just vanished, replaced by these clapped out Kentish Bus Olympians, with that drab, depressing interior and seats with scant legroom. I recall some locals were unhappy with this development and some drivers complaining because they weren't as quick . They were ugly as sin, but far nicer to travel on than what replaced them. I do remember the expedition to board and alight - it was fun getting down the steps with shopping bags when alighting. Aside from the ZF Volvo Olympian, they're the only buses I really rated from my early childhood - I was 7 when they went. Slight digression from the topic! I never rode the Arriva Citybuses which I would of liked to but the VC class on the 133/196 were excellent (I'm quite gutted you don't like them but hey lol). The Kentish Bus G VBB Olympians were dreadful and slow - I'd always be annoyed when one turned up on the 2. Meanwhile, the older Eastern Coach Works Gardener Olympians would outperform the Kentish Bus ones and were better in every department IMO. I think new DLA's at N allowed the Kentish Bus Olympians to go to North London thankfully never to return to South London apart from a few trainer buses lol. Not all the Kentish Bus Olympians were slow. Some were very fast. I remember L535 was a rocket.
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Post by daveb0789 on Feb 11, 2015 11:11:36 GMT
I used to drive the Arriva Volvo citybuses. If anyone is interested in hearing more about them I'll post.
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