Fuel Tanker drivers Reject Proposed Deal ..

[terryh 10]

yes let them strike 100 percent behindthem

[Fibutton 10]

...........<pant>.....just got back from the garage, got milk and bread for the month......

 

 

Oh wrong thread..............

[spooky3 10]

Your perception is that I inferred it. All perceptions of the truth are the detection of an analogy however.

 

That's seriously full of weak excuses!

[HeadingNorth 11]

So you're saying any strike action will increase petrol prices and is the fault of the unions and not greedy businesses who sell petrol etc at increased prices?

 

Any strike action, by definition, is the fault of the people taking it. It may be justified, at least by some if not by all; that depends on what the grounds for strike action might be. In this case, health and safety appears to be the main issue; I've read no specific details.

 

It's reasonable to assume that granting the union's requests - whatever they might be and whether or not they are justifiable - will cost extra money, which can only be recouped by increasing the price of fuel. (You might argue that fuel companies are making so much money that they don't need to recoup it at all, of course...)

 

I don't know where pensions come into it. I've heard nothing about them being a concern until last night.

[spooky3 10]

So you're saying any strike action will increase petrol prices and is the fault of the unions and not greedy businesses who sell petrol etc at increased prices?

 

They are intending to strike if they don't get more money (money for training, pensions, etc), and yes that cost is passed on directly to us consumers. Don't you understand basic economics?

[HeadingNorth 11]

If they do go on strike , they have my total support. I do not care one iota about being inconvenienced. Anything to get rid of this damned unelected government is OK by me.

 

This "unelected" government was elected in 2010. Did you not notice the general election?

[andyofborg 11]

As explained on the news the other night, all the cost increases are thrown straight back to us, on petrol, which also influences other goods and services, they were surprised however that it hasn't affected large supermarkets.

 

I'm not sure that the issues in the dispute would increase costs, the price of petrol spiked during the recent panic because of supply and demand issues rather than a strike which couldn't have happened at that point anyway.

[spooky3 10]

I never noticed a Condem politician on my ballot paper. Did one appear on yours?

 

Two in fact

[andyofborg 11]

They are intending to strike if they don't get more money (money for training, pensions, etc), and yes that cost is passed on directly to us consumers. Don't you understand basic economics?

 

and what's wroing with training?

 

given that they are driving what is in effect a very large bomb on major roads and highly populated areas then proper training should be paramount, unless you are quite happy for your loved ones to be roasted alive because a poorly trained driver was involved in an accident which resulted in an explosion.

 

i'm not sure that they do want more money for pensions, just some sort of stability.

 

the issue seems to be that the oil companies have outsourced tanker driving to a variety of companies and each time the contract changes the tanker driver's employer changes and their pension provider changes. there are costs associated with moving pensions which erodes the value of the fund.

 

it also seems to be that when the contract changes the cost to the company goes down but that doesn't seem to bring the price of petrol down though the profits of the oil company always seems to go up.

 

it should be quite possible to arrange matters so that the tanker drivers have some certainty over pensions, decent training and the cost of petrol not go up.

[ferno 10]

This "unelected" government was elected in 2010. Did you not notice the general election?

 

Nobody voted for the government we have.

[HeadingNorth 11]

Nobody voted for the government we have.

Nobody ever votes for a government. We vote for individual MPs; the MPs get together to decide a government programme.

 

That getting-together can happen before the election or after it, but in neither case does it mean the government "was not elected."

[andyofborg 11]

Nobody voted for the government we have.

 

nobody votes for any government we get