Chinesium steel

[Morrisman]

and you wonder why their buildings fall over

And their motorways..... I’d wager a case of beer all the steel in Manila comes from China.

https://gulfnews.com/photos/news/manila-skyway-span-collapses-after-fire-erupts-1.1580568686486

 

[pressbrake1]

You can blame the unions for that. I remember when my Dad worked in industry. He was an electrical engineers initially. He would often tell me how he would have to wait around before repairing a machine as he wasn't allowed to undo 4 screws to open a panel as it wasn't his job

I was working on a door clinch machine at fords dagenham but in the nineties.
It nearly caused a maintenance walkout when I unplugged a proximity sensor instead of waiting for a ford electrician
Madness

 

[owas]

Is this not more Maggie's fault than unions?

I'm not going to pretend I understand it, trying to learn but everything is one extreme to the other!

 

[fizzy]

Is this not more Maggie's fault than unions?

I'm not going to pretend I understand it, trying to learn but everything is one extreme to the other!

Here we go again. This is going to be locked now.
During her reign British Steel Port Talbot was totally transformed into the most modern steel plant in the World.
It is struggling now due to global forces.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Too much power always corrupts...doesn't matter whose hands you put the power into!

 

[fizzy]

I am just old enough to remember the 1970s and the state things were in due to the unions.
Now they can't be blamed for the problems we are facing.
Sadly heavy industry is better done in developing countries. Germany and the USA have found the same thing.
The Chinese can produce high quality. The phones and computers you are typing on were probably made there!
They have much cheaper energy costs. Cheaper labour. Less taxes and environmental controls.
Having said that the gap is narrowing as their living standards improve.

 

[owas]

But if privatisation was such a good thing, why is our great leader renationalising northern rail

 

[Domdom]

But if privatisation was such a good thing, why is our great leader renationalising northern rail

There are pros and cons to both private and nationally owned.
Private means shareholders and a constant drive for efficiency to provide dividends but precious little social conscience or investment.
Nationalised means massive waste, no accountability and normally comes with huge inefficiencies.
Where is the middle ground? Beats me TBH. But there must be a better way.

 

[jimbo84]

and you wonder why their buildings fall over

The rebar looks more brittle than the concrete it's supposed to be reinforcing

 

[Munkul]

But if privatisation was such a good thing, why is our great leader renationalising northern rail

Because railway work is one great big gig economy, with such massive excessive wastes between the various parties that it can't possibly get any worse... I hope

 

[fizzy]

Just remember with railways when they were at their peak they were privately run and loved by the public and staff. My grandfather worked for GWR as a shunter. God's Wonderful Railway it was nicknamed!
Than along came nationalisation and British Rail.

 

[ronan]

I was working on a door clinch machine at fords dagenham but in the nineties.
It nearly caused a maintenance walkout when I unplugged a proximity sensor instead of waiting for a ford electrician
Madness

Same thing in cadburys in north Dublin, i was to weld a stand that tonne bags of cocoa beans were to sit on. The fuse in the plug of the miller inverter was blown, so i whipped out a screwdriver and went to change it. A little layabout seen me doing this and scurried off. He came back with some other wallys and was very airated. Managers summoned, shop stewards etc, i couldn't care less and told them so. They were not happy.

 

[pressbrake1]

But if privatisation was such a good thing, why is our great leader renationalising northern rail

I ve got a theory though a glance at my business accounts would prove me inept at best.
When a business is privately owned with a benevolent leadership things can be good
When a business is run to please faceless shareholders bad
Even worse is a shareholder owned business that is ingrained with state owned incompetence

 

[jerrytug]

Just remember with railways when they were at their peak they were privately run and loved by the public and staff. My grandfather worked for GWR as a shunter. God's Wonderful Railway it was nicknamed!
Than along came nationalisation and British Rail.

And now it is so expensive, you can buy a car for the price of a rail ticket..I bet GWR were cheaper than flying.
The railways are such a vital part of the nation that they need state control. A BR ticket was a ticket, without all the crazy pricing complications.
It's not just about money. I am very far from being a communist, but I am in favour of re-nationalisation of this particular transport sector. We have tried free-market railways and nobody is happy and it will not get better, but worse.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

When a business is run to please faceless shareholders bad

Definition of irony...a person who is stuck on a badly run private rail service and at the same time is an unwitting shareholder in said rail company via their pension investments.

And therein lies the problem...nobody really cares where their money is invested....all they care about is how much the pot has grown each year!

How much do london tube drivers earn these days?

 

[Domdom]

That’s a good question, quite a lot one presumes.

Its also why I’m against HS2, well one of the reasons at least. However many billions on new rail and the plan is to give the management of it to the same crowd who can’t manage the existing railway. What was it Einstein said? Something about doing the same thing and expecting different results being unreasonable.

 

[eddie49]

How much do London tube drivers earn these days?

"In a statement, TfL said: “The average base pay of a Tube driver is £55,011. The overwhelming majority earned total remuneration – including base pay, overtime, employer pension contributions and certain allowances – of £70,000 or considerably less.”

“Just over three per cent of drivers earned total remuneration over this, largely because they are highly skilled test drivers and instructors who have additional responsibilities to train drivers in the safe operation of trains using new, advanced signalling systems.”

"Some 900 other drivers earned less, due to being part-time or leaving London Underground during the year and skewing the annual average. Night tube drivers are also usually part time and have a base salary of £24,214."

 

[fizzy]

"In a statement, TfL said: “The average base pay of a Tube driver is £55,011. The overwhelming majority earned total remuneration – including base pay, overtime, employer pension contributions and certain allowances – of £70,000 or considerably less.”

“Just over three per cent of drivers earned total remuneration over this, largely because they are highly skilled test drivers and instructors who have additional responsibilities to train drivers in the safe operation of trains using new, advanced signalling systems.”

"Some 900 other drivers earned less, due to being part-time or leaving London Underground during the year and skewing the annual average. Night tube drivers are also usually part time and have a base salary of £24,214."

The technology has been there for years to totally automate it - and computers don't go on strike either!
A mate's ex wife worked as a ticket collector on the London Paddington run. She had a fancy title like train manager or something. Back in 2006 she was earning something like £30k a year - and all free travel and everything thrown in.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Problem with nationalised industries I think has been a tendency to resist change and innovation....and a sense of "closed shop" practices...but maybe that's just a perception.

I look at SpaceX and am staggered by what they've achieved with relatively little money vs their state funded competitors.

I wonder if starlink will mean the end of BT/VM broadband in the next 5 years...maybe less!

 

[Arclikeharrypotter]

"In a statement, TfL said: “The average base pay of a Tube driver is £55,011. The overwhelming majority earned total remuneration – including base pay, overtime, employer pension contributions and certain allowances – of £70,000 or considerably less.”

“Just over three per cent of drivers earned total remuneration over this, largely because they are highly skilled test drivers and instructors who have additional responsibilities to train drivers in the safe operation of trains using new, advanced signalling systems.”

"Some 900 other drivers earned less, due to being part-time or leaving London Underground during the year and skewing the annual average. Night tube drivers are also usually part time and have a base salary of £24,214."

Driver wages both underground and overground are drop in the ocean. Waste on railway is phenomenal, youd have to see it to believe it!