Pickets and strikes

You are not alone.

It's a long day, doing a picket line. You could probably catch most elements of human behaviour if you trained a camera on them long enough. But of course, seeing them seriously supporting their cause doesn't make the news, does it?

My job is quite serious at times, I sometimes smile though.

I have been on/supported picket lines.
People often take cakes, drinks and so on to keep spirits up. It's particularly grim in the snow/rain/wind/blazing sun. Anything to lift spirits is good.
Sometimes people bring instruments and play music... Often you will find there is singing -usually something people know but with word changes to suit.

It is a miserable thing to be having to do to be honest. Having someone there who is jolly and with some energy is frankly a relief. It is infectious and makes the conditions more tolerable. It can change the mood quite quickly.

Just standing still is not great TV

I have heard the same thing said of protest marches too in the past.

I agree, NotSpaghetti, I went on a march in support of a second vote on Brexit, and we were all there for the same cause, and it was a lovely feeling knowing that everyone around you feels the same, you are not alone. Good natured demonstrations are surely better than violent, bad natured marches with water cannon.

I've been on hundreds of marches and demonstrations and most of them will have happy people ,singing even dancing in the streets as we go through towns.
I think its the feeling that at least you're doing SOMETHING to bring the issue to the public who may see it in a different light .
I remember someone on here saying she was scared when she happened on an Independence march because it was noisy ,with a Bhangra band drumming and people singing .I dont understand that, music is a great leveller I find and I love the multi cultural element to our Indy marches.
CND marches often have bands too and theres nothing more serious than trying to get rid of the abhorrent "deterrent" which in my opinion makes us a target .

I’m not keen seeing them with children on the picket lines, or dogs with coats on saying ‘I support….’

HousePlantQueen

I agree, NotSpaghetti, I went on a march in support of a second vote on Brexit, and we were all there for the same cause, and it was a lovely feeling knowing that everyone around you feels the same, you are not alone. Good natured demonstrations are surely better than violent, bad natured marches with water cannon.

My feelings too, HousePlantQueen & NotSpaghetti

I live in an overwhelmingly Tory area with a hateful MP and I have been on several marches and pickets.

Spirits are usually high because the best thing, as has been said, is the huge feeling of solidarity with like minded people, who are at least showing some opposition in these sad days of (engineered) decline in public services.

I don't know which picket lines you're referring to but striking workers are picketing in their own time, they're not getting paid so what they do is up to them. Why shouldn't they smile, if it keeps up morale?

That said, I have no time for arch Brexiteer Mick Lynch and his Brexity RMT and the chaos they cause for workers much less well paid than Tube drivers, but if they want to smile that's up to them.

Reading the comments here from Farzanah, sodapop, HousePlantQueen and others makes me feel 💃💃🏿🕺🏿🕺🏼...
I remember CND, Anti-Apartheid and Stop the War marches and there was always an element of "jolly" even though the fears were real.

Why shouldn't taking part in a picket be enjoyable? Those attending have come together to support a common cause, and to show solidarity. Positive vibes make for a pleasant outing, and mean that there is no need for police lines with shields and batons and for water cannons. At the other extreme, violent confrontational picketing is a very different beast. I give thanks that with these recent gatherings we are seeing the socially responsible form.

If you spend your life in a stressful job, trying to manage and struggling to pay your bills, and you strike, spending the day on the picket line, you are probably so relieved you become slightly euphoric. With friends and colleagues around you, you feel you are at last taking control and doing something, so you smile.

Would you extend your unease to people actually at work and having a joke and a laugh with their colleagues? Do you think they couldn't possibly be serious about working if they appear to be enjoying themselves?

Just wondering...

It’s difficult to see NHS staff laughing on a picket line when you know what the knock-on result of their absence is.

I have no problem with people enjoying their day on the picket line. Given the way public sector wages have fallen in real terms I think they mostly deserve a good raise. If the Tories think these wage demands are not only unaffordable but contribute to inflation why haven't they introduced wage restraint in the private sector?

So who would cross a picket line then? I know I wouldn't.

Closest primary school next to me has been completely closed to pupils today and yesterday, TAs and office staff are in work, no picket line.

In fact I haven’t noticed a picket line at any of the local schools or the main line station.

The teachers I know are off out either to lunch with friends or out with their children.

I feel sorry for the parents who have had to take time off whilst teachers treat it as a holiday.

I don’t recall laughter during the miners strike

Oh I agree. The whole lot of them look like a stroppy rabble in my opinion, even the junior doctors.
They all follow the same script.
Noise, shouting whenever a car goes past and toots, and then there’s the inevitable person (usually a woman) going along the line screaming into the megaphone “ what do we want…
When do we wanni?”…
I hope the government doesn’t cave in. A reasonable pay rise yes in some cases but not the ridiculous amounts most of them feel they are entitled to.

If militant trade unions are allowed to get the upper hand then heaven help us all.

It’s not being treated as a holiday! Oh, and by the way, people on strike, be they teachers, doctors, rail workers, nurses, ambulance workers, etc, etc, lose that days pay and that days pension contribution, so I’m sure striking isn’t taken lightly, and is certainly not seen as a “jolly”.

Glorianny

If you spend your life in a stressful job, trying to manage and struggling to pay your bills, and you strike, spending the day on the picket line, you are probably so relieved you become slightly euphoric. With friends and colleagues around you, you feel you are at last taking control and doing something, so you smile.

Absolutely this. As mentioned above, the Strikers aren't being paid, they've made their journey to whatever picket line they are at, they are there with others of the same mindset. The ultimate aim of their purpose isn't for the jolly, it's to be seen and their cause recognised.

And it's not just train drivers the Rail Unions are striking over, it's the ticket collectors and the staff at the ticket offices and the platform staff too.

Train drivers are highly trained people with a job of huge responsibility. They work unsociable hours in sometimes grim conditions (thinking of goods trains here, mucky and filthy). Did anyone see this recent story - www.gov.uk/raib-reports/report-02-slash-2023-train-driver-struck-by-a-train-near-west-worthing-middle-siding - one report of this I read showed that Driver hadn't had a rest break for some hours. I travel at least twice a week by train, Grantham to London and return; one evening last year we were held for 3 hours after someone committed suicide by the train in front. Statistics - In 2020/21 there were 247 suicides/suspected suicides on the over ground rail network – a decrease of 36 from the previous year. Imagine that being a factor of your job. I worked with a man whose teenage son and friends "played chicken" with trains, 1990's. Dead. That's a factor of their employment.

www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/looking-after-the-railway/delays-explained/fatalities/

Rail fares go up every year, the pay doesn't. Support the strikers, say I.

Yes