Cathedrals to Worcester 23/08 CANCELLED

Would it be worth asking ASLEF to exempt steam excursions from the effects of their industrial action?
During the lengthy seamans' strike in 1966, the National Union of Seamen exempted P & A Campbell, the operator of pleasure steamers in the Bristol Channel, from strike action so there is some sort of precedent (more information on page 99 of the book "Balmoral and the Bristol Channel" by Mike Tedstone).

 

Can't see that being a popular idea. Surely it wouldn't go down too well with the non-steam drivers (the vast majority) who would see it as quite unfair that a small group are allowed to earn overtime on their rest days while they are not.

Does anyone who what proportion of DBS steam crews are ASLEF members?

 

Let's hope it hasn't got that bad yet, but this current uncertainty cannot be good for business. I for one am reluctant to book any more tours with Steam Dreams at the moment as there only seems to be a 50% chance that they will run.

 

I doubt they 'regret' going to DBS. They went to DBS for business reasons. If West Coast had any sense they would contact Steam Dreams and offer to take on the work at the same cost. That would be the logical and grown up thing to do. logical and grown up in the steam charter market.

 

By the same token they COULD say "get stuffed, you blew us out so why should we help you".
Just saying a possible scenario.

 

Absolutley. Would be childish though and lets face it - if they did a really good job to cover the period DBS drivers were working to rule, they may be considered for further work in the future.

 

Hopefully things will return to normal soon but, in the meantime, it's worth considering that WCRC and 60163 have some history..

 

Is it worth turning down a sizeable amount of income to save face though ?.

 

and I would think it might escalate the issues

 

Some background to the dispute: ASLEF - News

Basically it seems that this has been festering for a while. The union are claiming that DBS have been requesting (with some pressure applied) crews to work rest days for a long while to cover for the fact that they don't have enough crews. We're not talking about running steam specials here - this applies equally to freight which after all is their main business. Then there is the pay issue......

It looks like ASLEF have been balloting their members on strike action with the closing date for the ballot being today. A full scale strike would surely have a bigger impact on steam operations as all drivers who are still working would be allocated to key freight work - that's what I would have thought anyway......

 

I momentarily digress off topic..

ASLEF - DBS strike ballot result and strike dates

how is this a representative vote on behalf of all the employees... 72 people ?

 

I don't think that was correct,or was only part of the result:

DBS strike ballot result and strike dates

31 Aug 2012
ASLEF members working for DB Schenker / DBI will take 24 hour strike action on turns between 16:00 on Saturday 8 September and 15:59 on Sunday 9 September 2012.
The trade dispute between ASLEF and DBS / DBI concerns the company’s failure to make an acceptable 2012 pay offer. The result of the industrial action ballot was as follows:
DB Schenker:
Number of ballot papers returned: 1,008
Number voting yes: 85.2%
Number voting no: 14.8%
DB Schenker International:
Number of ballot papers returned: 72
Number voting yes: 91.7%
Number voting no: 8.3%
Aggregated figures:
Number of ballot papers returned: 1080
Number voting yes: 85.65%
Number voting no: 14.35%
We would like to thank everyone for their support.

 

Looks like the Torbay on the 9th won't run then. Thankfully it seems like all the other trips that weekend are West Coast operations.

 

Is it confirmed the Torbay would be affected though ?, I can understand why it would be desirable to have crews working overtime/rest days for one off tours* , the Torbay is a regular weekly job for 3 months or so and should really be treated as booked work rather than additional for that reason.

*Before anyone argues Steam Dreams/Cathex is a regular series, they may run regularly, but it's constantly to different destinations and schedules, so really is a large number of one offs than a regular programme on a fixed route.

Certainly I don't think TBEL would be too impressed at being messed around when the Torbay runs must form over 75% of their income for the year, especially so with elements born out the ashes of Past Time Rail.

 

The 9th is a strike day up 15:59 as opposed to a rest day ban. See #33.

 

Ah, I missed that, well spotted.

 

To a lot of people any 2012 pay offer would be acceptable, thankyou very much!