INDUSTRIAL ACTION HITS WINTER MAINTENANCE

[Kintyre Forum News]

Thought it wise to bring this to your attention with the miserable forecast for this weekend.

Webcam survived another night but took a bit of a battering a few weeks ago.

http://www.campbeltown.info/webcam/index.htm

INDUSTRIAL ACTION HITS WINTER MAINTENANCE

There will be limited road gritting across the Argyll and Bute Council area over the next fortnight as part of the ongoing industrial action currently being taken by Unison and Unite members who work for the Council.

With temperatures set to drop this week the Council is urging residents to take extra care on Council maintained roads as we cannot guarantee that they will be treated. Road gritting will take place during the working day from 8.00 - 4.00 but there will be very limited out of hours cover.
Unison and Unite members are set to strike between 30 January and 1 February when no gritting will take place. Likewise roads will not be treated at weekends.

The trunk roads network should be unaffected by this action.

[Scoop]

Presumably this is in some way supposed to galvanise the public's support for the council workers?

Just like the Post Office workers industrial action completely failed to do, too?

[Kintyre Forum News]

NO GRITTING ON COUNCIL ROADS THIS WEEKEND

Argyll and Bute Council is urging people to take care if they are travelling on Council maintained roads this weekend as no road gritting will take.

This comes as a result of ongoing industrial action currently being taken by Unison and Unite members who work for the Council.

With more freezing temperatures forecast this weekend, drivers are asked to exercise caution if travelling.

The trunk roads network should be unaffected by this action.

[maxmix]

Lets hope there are no major accidents or deaths on the roads this weekend !

One of the coldest weekends coming this year, so I have heard !

maxmix

[SmithD]

Why should workers not be allowed to show there grievance against something that has happened at their work,their life? HOME HELPS, ROAD,CLERICAL, they are all affected. Maintenence workers have been advised to work to rule, all council workers have ,so be it! What would happen if there was no road workers? We pay over the odds for a sub contracted company? Affect your council tax - which isn't rising this year apart from water and sewage(which has nothing to do with council).

Unfortunately it's more than just gritting the roads? The council propose that roads staff don't have over time anymore, which mean your local friendly gritter wont be out at 3am in the morning any more, they will work a shift like all the council will! The work to a shift pattern. This strike has a lot more to it than meets the eye! As I said, HOME HELPS, ROADS, CLERICAL, SUPPORT WORKERS!

I am on strike for 3 days, and I'm sure there is a whole lot more with me next week! Place yourself were we are- you work for years to be told you take a pay loss, and new work conditions - if you don't your sacked and re enstated (IF) with all your condtitions!

Appreciate the road workers or such like - you just assume they are out gritting anyway! Helping take care of the elderly, vulnerable. sweeping the street, taking your payments, quierying your council tax, registering birtd/death/marriages. Paying you. Sorting your discount/ exemption for council tax!

PUt it this way - do you fancy your family loosing more than £1000 a year?

[Tubby the Tuba]

What would happen if there was no road workers?

You mean there is road workers about? I thot it was just a bunch of fellas who went out every Sunday when its raining, with shovels and cold tar.......

Maybe I should stop paying my council tax and road tax for abit, if we're not getting these "5*" services over the next few weeks.

[Kintyre Lad]

Maintenence workers have been advised to work to rule, all council workers have ,so be it! What would happen if there was no road workers?

The council propose that roads staff don't have over time anymore, which mean your local friendly gritter wont be out at 3am in the morning any more, they will work a shift like all the council will!

I am on strike for 3 days, and I'm sure there is a whole lot more with me next week!

Ach dear they have it hard - do you think for the last 40 years anyone has paid me overtime? Work 365 days a year no overtime and there have been more changes than I care to discuss. We just get on with it.

On speaking to a couple of friends/relations it is hard tp understand how you can all go on strike. When was the ballot and what was the result? UNIONS!

Do however, sympathise with wage cuts which are being enforced - just don't think strikes are the correct thing to do.

PS - We gritted our own road this morning at 5am.

[4th gen Suthen']

so, you slept in then today Kintyre Lad!

[jdcarra]

Why should workers not be allowed to show there grievance against something that has happened at their work,their life? HOME HELPS, ROAD,CLERICAL, they are all affected. Maintenence workers have been advised to work to rule, all council workers have ,so be it! What would happen if there was no road workers? We pay over the odds for a sub contracted company? Affect your council tax - which isn't rising this year apart from water and sewage(which has nothing to do with council).

Unfortunately it's more than just gritting the roads? The council propose that roads staff don't have over time anymore, which mean your local friendly gritter wont be out at 3am in the morning any more, they will work a shift like all the council will! The work to a shift pattern. This strike has a lot more to it than meets the eye! As I said, HOME HELPS, ROADS, CLERICAL, SUPPORT WORKERS!

I am on strike for 3 days, and I'm sure there is a whole lot more with me next week! Place yourself were we are- you work for years to be told you take a pay loss, and new work conditions - if you don't your sacked and re enstated (IF) with all your condtitions!

Appreciate the road workers or such like - you just assume they are out gritting anyway! Helping take care of the elderly, vulnerable. sweeping the street, taking your payments, quierying your council tax, registering birtd/death/marriages. Paying you. Sorting your discount/ exemption for council tax!

PUt it this way - do you fancy your family loosing more than £1000 a year?

From a rural point of view

Ok if you live in a town or city, but like most of us who live rural and depend on gritters like yesterday and today. We have police, coastguard and fire service in the village, but if a ambulance is needed, no access. cannot get a chopper in due to weather, lives are at stake. Another point to raise, when gritting is needed they are not there, when it is unessential they are here. I being one of the unfortunate ones to have had a driving mishap on Tues morning 22nd Jan due to ungritted road and being stranded from 6.30 am to midday in freezing conditions.

[the special one]

it was an absolute disgrace that the gritters were not out last nite,what would have happnd if there was a serious accident and the police,ambulance etc couldnt get to it!!!! im a fisherman and could only imagine what would happen if i asked for a pay rise.......told where to go! the ones that were on strike should have been sacked as there are plenty of people goin in and out of the jobcentre that could replace them!

[Barry Chuckle]

Ach dear they have it hard - do you think for the last 40 years anyone has paid me overtime? Work 365 days a year no overtime and there have been more changes than I care to discuss. We just get on with it.

Do however, sympathise with wage cuts which are being enforced - just don't think strikes are the correct thing to do.

One minute your saying to get on with it and the next you have sympathy? Make up your mind.

Why are strikes not the best thing to do? The strike has served its purpose and hit them where it hurts. Its not as if the council had no prior notice to this happening to get a contingency plan in place

And as SmithD says, its not just the road workers that are on strike

[May Contain Nuts]

One minute your saying to get on with it and the next you have sympathy? Make up your mind.

Why are strikes not the best thing to do? The strike has served its purpose and hit them where it hurts. Its not as if the council had no prior notice to this happening to get a contingency plan in place

Just because someone has sympathy with another's situation it doesn't mean they support whatever action they take as a result.

If the purpose of the strike action was to cause annoyance and inconvenience to the public, and to put lives at risk, then I'd agree it probably did achieve its objective.

If its purpose was to force the council into reversing recent decisions then I think you'd have more success trying to knit fog.

[maxmix]

@May Contain Nuts.... I have to agree with you.... It's a pity it is the general public that suffer in these matters....

Exact same with The Royal Mail, always the public (rather than the bosses) that get held to ransom

maxmix

[Trapper]

I do think that it's a bad idea for the gritters to be striking as it obvoiusly isn't galvanising public opinion in thier favour due to the dangers it is causing, but I'd fight for anybodys right to strike, it's the only democratic right we have left that actually makes people sit up and take notice.

[abbey craig]

Ive been a union member for 32 years,since the days of the shipyard

and for the price of a pint everyweek,ive had good value from the union.Ive called on them twice to sort out work problems i had over the years,they sent a representitives down here to help me fight my case if it was left to me on my own i`d be baffled by the work laws and regs,and management would have walked all over me. As it happened i won my case no problem,even got a written apology from the Hr manager.

So what i`m saying is dont knock the unions,if it wasnt for the unions you would`nt have the paid holidays youve got now,pension rights,and paid sickdays, minimum wage, not to mention the big changes in health and safety laws.

on the A&B strike the date for industrial action was prob set weeks ago before anyone knew what the weather was going to be like,and i`m sure if there were a major incident happening on the road these boys would come back to work no prob. Winters theyre best time for action.
You woudnt want them to make the same mistake as Arthur Scargill and the miners in the 80`s striking in the summer time