Ongoing debate regarding the threat of a possible fuel strike
Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3
Last edited by: R.P. on Sat 7 Apr 12 at 10:06
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I went to top up my tank, late last night, at a filling station on the A11 just south of Cambridge and was surprised to see fuel at 0£.
The place had no fuel whatsoever but was still open for nibbles.
Perhaps they had not paid their bills?
My top up was precautionary rather than essential but all the other fuel stations on the A505 seemed to be "normal"
A very quiet run home A1 M25 M3 with still several - must avoid the empty lLane one muppets. Even had one lump in lane 3 of 4 when in his own little world.
Last edited by: R.P. on Sat 7 Apr 12 at 10:04
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Bizarre talks suspended for Easter - recommence Tuesday. Bizarre in that Unite sit in one room, employers in the other and ACAS shuttle backwards and forwards with messages and proposals!
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>> Bizarre talks suspended for Easter - recommence Tuesday. Bizarre in that Unite sit in one
>> room, employers in the other and ACAS shuttle backwards and forwards with messages and proposals!
>>
It stops it turning into a shouting match and the inevitable flounce and strike.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Sat 7 Apr 12 at 10:34
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>> >> Bizarre talks suspended for Easter - recommence Tuesday. Bizarre in that Unite sit in
>> one
>> >> room, employers in the other and ACAS shuttle backwards and forwards with messages and
>> proposals!
>> >>
>>
>> It stops it turning into a shouting match and the inevitable flounce and strike.
Absolutely, it removes all elements of "personality and ego" from the process, and that is usually the main barrier to settlement.
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I'd slip laxatives into their coffee ( both sides ) encourage 'em to make their ruddy minds up so we all know where we are. Bored with this now.
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Not bizarre at all, ACAS have a good history, this is a tried and trusted process.
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I'd take away their chairs and make them stand. Guaranteed to focus minds.
I think the general public is fed up people that have decent paid jobs whining about it. An awful lot only earn NMW so hearing some tanker driving bellyaching about only earning £30 or £40k gets on people's nerves. If you don't like the pay and conditions then leave. If there is a shortage of people that can do your job then the pay and conditions will improve to attract those people. If there is no shortage they won't. Then you'll see whether you were worth as much as you thought.
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>> Bizarre talks suspended for Easter - recommence Tuesday. Bizarre in that Unite sit in one
>> room, employers in the other and ACAS shuttle backwards and forwards with messages and proposals!
I was on one side of a mediation in a contract dispute. Very amusing. The mediator (in the case I am talking about a QC specialising in commercial disputes) has no interest in the rights and wrongs, he just wants an agreement to put on his CV.
The mediator came and went, encouraging us to make an offer or concession to get things moving. Obviously he was doing the same with the other lot. We were claiming they they owed us £Xm., they denied any liability at all. The mediator of course asked us what our bottom line was, without much expectation that we would tell him, and we didn't.
For four hours there was no movement, then we were persuaded to knock about 20% off our claim (which we had padded by 100% anyway) because the mediator convinced us that they might be minded to move from zero to a similar %age of X, which would be a significant step. The other side however stuck to their guns, which inevitably got our dander up, so we resolved to dig in unless they made some movement. A couple of hours after that we all gathered in one room to rehearse our well worn arguments, then went off for a further think. All the while the mediator was shuttling back and forth with suggestions.
By about 11.30pm and after a couple more plenary sessions, we sent for a take away. This was intended to signal that we would continue ad nauseam if necessary (most successful mediations end because everybody wants to go home, and somebody cracks). It didn't work, and the other lot decided they had had enough of mediation.
We continued afterwards with litigation, but never got as far as court. We got an offer of about 0.4X, almost on the court steps, which we accepted.
With hindsight we thought that they had just decided to take it to the wire to try and get the claim down - we thought we had a better than even chance in court, so it's reasonable to think they had been warned we had a good chance and never intended to go that far.
My guess is that both sides in the tanker dispute will have already decided what their bottom line is, and are dragging it out for the best result. If the mediation does its job, and there is an overlap in the bottom lines, then there'll be an agreement. If there is no overlap, or the mediation fails, there'll be some industrial action.
Last edited by: Manatee on Sat 7 Apr 12 at 11:16
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What a non story. We've known for weeks the military would be trained. So what.
What a rabble rousing rubbish pile the Mail is.
Last edited by: VxFan on Tue 10 Apr 12 at 21:20
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>What a rabble rousing rubbish pile the Mail is.
Still upset about that photo WP? ;-D
Last edited by: VxFan on Tue 10 Apr 12 at 21:20
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>> Still upset about that photo WP? ;-D
>>
Maybe...:-)
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No doubt it'll encouarge the terminally stupid;
'I was only going to put £20 into my car but I ended up spending £120 and filling the tank. I'm sure I wouldn't have been the only person either.'
But they need no encouragement, the highest rated comments show we (as a country) aren't all in that bracket yet.
Last edited by: sooty123 on Tue 10 Apr 12 at 19:41
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At least it proves to the unions that the government has a plan "B" however marginal it is.
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I keep the X1 topped up - 600 is plenty of miles to escape this benighted country should the wheel come off.
Daily Mail must have been pretty disappointed that Abu Hamza and his mates lost their appeal...
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Won't get quite so far on a tankful in the E90 :-)
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I don't know about your online paper view at the moment, but mine currently has the rear view of two big tankers, next to the first BP garage photo, leading to these stories:
www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2127511/
www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2127797/
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Panic buying is the new cool. You need to keep up to date on what's short, what's being phased out, what's being ruined by EU regulations.
petrol
proper light bulbs
real creosote
salt
water
stamps
domestic wiring, old colours
and as I observed recently, Parmesan cheese.
Freedom of course is also in short supply, but there aren't many stockists around the world now.
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>> Freedom of course is also in short supply, but there aren't many stockists around the
>> world now.
Couldn't agree more, i commend this chaps blog to the house for perusal, in this letter to DC he speaks for me....some swearing in the comments.
captainranty.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/dear-david-cameron.html
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>> Panic buying is the new cool. You need to keep up to date on what's
>> short, what's being phased out, what's being ruined by EU regulations.
>>
You forgot sodium chlorate Cliff. Glad I found an agricultural merchant with a decent supply while I could. New "terrorist-proof" weedkillers are rubbish.
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Odd figures though. Unleaded down 29% and Super 39% but diesel said to be down only 2.9%.
Stray decimal on the loose??
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Wed 11 Apr 12 at 13:59
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>> Odd figures though. Unleaded down 29% and Super 39% but diesel said to be down
>> only 2.9%.
...and although diesel down only 2.9%, super diesel down by 60%??
EDIT: spurious '.'?
EDIT2: sorry - as noted by Bromptonaut
Last edited by: Focus on Wed 11 Apr 12 at 14:10
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I don't suppose road haulage is down much at all, and they all use diesel. It's feasible that the figures are correct.
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>> I don't suppose road haulage is down much at all, and they all use diesel.
Ah yes, that would make sense.
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>> I don't suppose road haulage is down much at all, and they all use diesel.
>> It's feasible that the figures are correct.
>>
And white van man, who probably fills up two or three times a week anyway so can't really panic buy that much and also tends not to put Premium Diesel in the Transit/Vivaro/Sprinter, should imagine most of the Premium sales are put in large 4X4's.....
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The Union do have a bizarre approach to all this. They have threatened a strike and haven't said there won't be one, as yet. Now one of their talking heads has objected to the fact that the Government (sensibly in my view) is continuing with contingency plans which may ensure fuel deliveries. They seem to find this threatening or even confrontational.
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As at 1630 today the tanker drivers have rejected the deal that has taken 6 days to thrash out. The BBC report that the 2 sides might reconvene at ACAS. United has until Friday to accept a deal or announce a strike. (Source - BBC News website)
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Oh bleeding marvelous !
As if we haven't got enough problems to deal with right now.
I could cheerfully take the protagonists from all sides of these negotiations and knock their heads together. Time to get real guys !
Sort it out.
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Calm down chaps its all part of the negotiation dance.
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>> Calm down chaps its all part of the negotiation dance.
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>>
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Absolutely; a variation on the old theme of "don't **** on the first date".
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60/40 I think for a strike.Depends on employers offer..
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Last I heard was talk of a token 1 hour strike at some point. A bit of muscle flexing and keeping the full strike option open perhaps?
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Anyone on a £45K lifestyle is not going to want a long (or any) strike.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Wed 18 Apr 12 at 21:15
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>> Anyone on a £45K lifestyle is not going to want a long (or any) strike.
>>
Especially since there's not a huge amount of public sympathy for their "predicament".
My personal view is that the union have handled this badly, and tried to use it as a tool of mischief rather than for the purpose of improving their members' lot.
The panic-buying by the public has been shown up to be just that, and I daresay there are a fair few who with hindsight are rather embarassed about their actions. I don't think it's a trick that will work twice, and IMO the union are now playing a poor hand with virtually no trump cards.
The servicemen have now been trained up, the public know that any strike action will take at least a week and probably more to kick in, and the Easter exodus is over.
The only thing that does bother me is if McCluskey's mind is focussed on holding off the industrial action until the Olympics are closer, for greater effect. I wouldn't put it past him.
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Last edited by: Old Navy on Wed 18 Apr 12 at 21:33
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Regular unleaded at the BP station I pass on my way to work was 141.9 this morning. On the way home it was 143.9
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>> Regular unleaded at the BP station I pass on my way to work was 141.9
>> this morning. On the way home it was 143.9
>>
It's actually levelled out or even crept back down a penny or two round here. I don't think many were fooled by the attempts of some unscrupulous service station owners to cash in on the "shortage".
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>> Especially since there's not a huge amount of public sympathy for their "predicament".
>>
It's a dispute between the tanker drivers and their employers not ther public.
The workers in industrial disputes rarely get public sympathy and even in cases where they do (NHS staff perhaps?) there's not much evidence that it affects outcomes.
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>> The workers in industrial disputes rarely get public sympathy and even in cases where they
>> do (NHS staff perhaps?)
And that Usually only applies to Nurses.
The only other group with an almost universal support in disputes is Firemen.
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That's good. The price will come down and then there will be a strike so we can't buy any!
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>> It's a dispute between the tanker drivers and their employers not ther public.
>>
It's a dispute between a union with a militant faction and the government. If those drivers were carrying anything else but fuel, Unite wouldn't be interested.
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The ITV evening news has just come up with the headline, announced in po-faced fashion:
'Panic buying of petrol gave the economy an unexpected boost last month...'
Had me rolling on the floor.
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The fuel tanker drivers' strike deadline has been extended into next week. tinyurl.com/cb9yq7o
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The tanker drivers have voted 51% to 49% to accept the agreement reached between the drivers, the employers and ACAS.
Link to the Beeb.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-18036724
Last edited by: Duncan on Fri 11 May 12 at 15:25
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That's a relief! I wonder if the turnout was better than the 23% in the recent Local Elections?
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According to the Beeb it was a 69% turnout which suggests more interest than in politics, by a factor of 3!
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It was a higher turnout because the result mattered to the drivers. They were directly concerned by the outcome and had a real voice in the matter.
OTOH, in elections for politicians it hardly matters who gets in. There is just a choice between the Red Pillocks, the Blue Pillocks and the Yellow pillocks (and if you live in Wales or Scotland, the Nationalist pillocks as well).
And don't anybody trot out the old chestnut "Well why don't you stand then". Independents in British politics get nowhere.
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Fuel Tanker Drivers' Strike. Volume 4 - henry k
