Cost of living crisis

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mumbles87
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Re: Cost of living crisis

Post by mumbles87 »

btajim - mcfc wrote: Tue Jun 21, 2022 1:53 pm Ticket offices seem very old fashioned. You have a phone app for many people plus vending machines there. Floor staff can assist those who need help using them.

My Crewe train was cancelled so I went to the office for help. No queue. The bored lady behind the counter provided none and I had to use my initiative to get the local stopper to Chester instead.

People lose jobs. It’s life. I’ve been there.
However that's not the point

Unions are their to project jobs

They are doing their job
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Re: Cost of living crisis

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sendô wrote: Tue Jun 21, 2022 1:53 pm One thing's for certain, Tesco have been absolutely coining it in the last two years.

What are fuel prices like at Costco?
Not that cheap tbh, their the same as the Sainsbury near by I hear
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Re: Cost of living crisis

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However I am going to add this about the rmt

Today is their wet dream

A nationwide strike

They have been waiting for this day for years
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Re: Cost of living crisis

Post by btajim - mcfc »

mumbles87 wrote: Tue Jun 21, 2022 1:54 pm However that's not the point

Unions are their to project jobs

They are doing their job
I’m 42. I’ve worked for over 20 years and never once joined a union. I’ve not felt the need to.

I use trains regularly. It’s a poor service. They’re overpriced, uncomfortable, overcrowded. Staff can be anything from anonymous to indifferent. Why should they receive a pay rise?
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Re: Cost of living crisis

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mumbles87 wrote: Tue Jun 21, 2022 1:50 pm every chart i see says the garages make 2-3p a litre as profit , im not sure how true it is at all

supermarkets always were cheapest to get people through the door
It's the ASDA barometer again. It's nowhere near that low anymore. All it will take is one supermarket chain to drop their profit margins to the historically low levels again, and everyone, from the other supermarkets to independent retailers will have to follow suit.

Whilst we're paying it, they have no incentive to - but we legally cannot have the protest that we had in the early 2000s when it hit 88.9p a litre and the hauliers came out in force to blockade, as the Blair government made it illegal for hauliers to do so - and if they do, they will lose their operators licence. It's down to us to do it now, but the will isn't there. People can't be arsed, because it's easier to moan about it on social media and create pointless on-line petitions instead.

It's around 30k a year extra at the moment in fuel costs for a single wagon - then there's the huge pay rises for the drivers as they can't recruit - and guess what? Wagons bring absolutely everything to us, so it's small wonder the cost of everything is rising - and that's without taking in to account the extra cost of production, energy costs during production, processing, logistics on imports etc of everything that is made here and abroad.

The cost of shipping a container of goods has increased ten-fold since before the pandemic. Cooking oil has gone through the roof due to the war in Ukraine, the biggest producer of vegetable oils - and incidentally, Ukraine is also one of the worlds biggest exporters of grains too.

It's a perfect storm.
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Re: Cost of living crisis

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btajim - mcfc wrote: Tue Jun 21, 2022 2:02 pm I’m 42. I’ve worked for over 20 years and never once joined a union. I’ve not felt the need to.

I use trains regularly. It’s a poor service. They’re overpriced, uncomfortable, overcrowded. Staff can be anything from anonymous to indifferent. Why should they receive a pay rise?
None of those are anything to do with the staff.
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Re: Cost of living crisis

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Surely people just go to their nearest supermarket? Mine’s Asda. Convenience usurps anything else.
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Re: Cost of living crisis

Post by btajim - mcfc »

Danny's Dyer Acting wrote: Tue Jun 21, 2022 2:03 pm None of those are anything to do with the staff.
Look at the next line and come back to me, please. You’ve selective vision. I blame staff for their attitude when I’ve required service.
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Re: Cost of living crisis

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btajim - mcfc wrote: Tue Jun 21, 2022 2:02 pm I’m 42. I’ve worked for over 20 years and never once joined a union. I’ve not felt the need to.

I use trains regularly. It’s a poor service. They’re overpriced, uncomfortable, overcrowded. Staff can be anything from anonymous to indifferent. Why should they receive a pay rise?
Right, so the fares have gone up. Shareholders profits rise, cost of living has risen but those workers should be on the same salary they started on with no chance of improvement because of what reason?

You can't judge the whole of network rails staff due to a few bad eggs
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Re: Cost of living crisis

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-DL- wrote: Tue Jun 21, 2022 2:02 pm It's the ASDA barometer again. It's nowhere near that low anymore. All it will take is one supermarket chain to drop their profit margins to the historically low levels again, and everyone, from the other supermarkets to independent retailers will have to follow suit.

Whilst we're paying it, they have no incentive to - but we legally cannot have the protest that we had in the early 2000s when it hit 88.9p a litre and the hauliers came out in force to blockade, as the Blair government made it illegal for hauliers to do so - and if they do, they will lose their operators licence. It's down to us to do it now, but the will isn't there. People can't be arsed, because it's easier to moan about it on social media and create pointless on-line petitions instead.

It's around 30k a year extra at the moment in fuel costs for a single wagon - then there's the huge pay rises for the drivers as they can't recruit - and guess what? Wagons bring absolutely everything to us, so it's small wonder the cost of everything is rising - and that's without taking in to account the extra cost of production, energy costs during production, processing, logistics on imports etc of everything that is made here and abroad.

The cost of shipping a container of goods has increased ten-fold since before the pandemic. Cooking oil has gone through the roof due to the war in Ukraine, the biggest producer of vegetable oils - and incidentally, Ukraine is also one of the worlds biggest exporters of grains too.

It's a perfect storm.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52188448.amp

There is a chart there that is where I got my figures from

Sorry I should add thanks for all the above I did read it all and it's very enlightening
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Re: Cost of living crisis

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Well here's a little calculation I've just done - but my maths is a bit ****, so it may not be right.

I just filled at ASDA at 197.9p for diesel. Down the road from me, the Esso is 199.9. I've just put in 37 litres - so that Esso garage that is a not even a mile away, would have cost me a grand sum of 74p extra - which is not even half a litre of fuel. ASDA is 3 miles away.

Esso would have worked out cheaper, wouldn't it? There's no incentive to make a journey to a supermarket anymore. Even at 3p a litre a difference, there's still no incentive. Might as well pay the little bit extra and get branded fuel and sack the supermarkets off, surely, because what you'll save at the pump over the local one down the road, you'll be using in fuel to go the extra distance to the supermarket - and maybe even get a slight better mpg over the tankful too with branded stuff.

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Re: Cost of living crisis

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mumbles87 wrote: Tue Jun 21, 2022 2:09 pm https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52188448.amp

There is a chart there that is where I got my figures from

Source: RAC December 2021.
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Re: Cost of living crisis

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btajim - mcfc wrote: Tue Jun 21, 2022 2:04 pm Surely people just go to their nearest supermarket? Mine’s Asda. Convenience usurps anything else.
If you have an independent closer that's 2-3p a litre more, as I've just demonstrated - it will probably cost you less to do fill there. 3p a litre is a big difference when it's 130p a litre. It's f*** all when it's 2 quid a litre.
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Re: Cost of living crisis

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-DL- wrote: Tue Jun 21, 2022 2:15 pm Well here's a little calculation I've just done - but my maths is a bit ****, so it may not be right.

I just filled at ASDA at 197.9p for diesel. Down the road from me, the Esso is 199.9. I've just put in 37 litres - so that Esso garage that is a not even a mile away, would have cost me a grand sum of 74p extra - which is not even half a litre of fuel. ASDA is 3 miles away.

Esso would have worked out cheaper, wouldn't it? There's no incentive to make a journey to a supermarket anymore. Even at 3p a litre a difference, there's still no incentive. Might as well pay the little bit extra and get branded fuel and sack the supermarkets off, surely, because what you'll save at the pump over the local one down the road, you'll be using in fuel to go the extra distance to the supermarket - and maybe even get a slight better mpg over the tankful too with branded stuff.

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Someone told me that years ago that if driving more 10 miles or something silly

But I filled up twice last week

Friday morning we needed milk and other bits so went to Tesco and then filled up as was there

Sunday twins needed a nap and I needed fuel and to go shops so I drove them to Tesco, filled up then parked in car park until they woke up aha

Again DL (just seen your second post, didn't see the source rac 2021) Interesting

Wonder what it is now
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Re: Cost of living crisis

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-DL- wrote: Tue Jun 21, 2022 1:29 pm £74 for just over half a tank of fuel - at a ****ing supermarket?!!!!!!

Robbing *****. Pre-pandemic profit margins - 3-4p a litre at Tesco, Asda etc.

Now? Almost 20 ****ing pence.

EVERYONE is taking the ****ing piss out of us - they're riding on a price-hike gravy-train, and us ****ing idiots are letting them get away with it.
I honestly think loads of them from Supermarkets, fuel suppliers etc all think they lost 2 years of profit due to covid and now it's time to get it back.

Didn't the cost of gas originally rise because of mild summer winds and then a harsh European winter in 2021 even though it was pretty barmy over here? Now we've got Putin to thank for the price going even higher.

Add that to the massive amount of VAT the government are coining in and there's no incentive for any of them to stop.

They ain't bothered that thousands go hungry, cold or worse. :thdn:
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Re: Cost of living crisis

Post by chelmsfordhammer91 »

I'm pretty sure I read somewhere recently that supermarket fuel is effectively no different to BP/Esso etc. The difference comes when you fill up with their premium fuels that have the additives in.

Not sure how accurate that statement is, but for me I just go to wherever is nearest or if I have one of the kids with me I go to the nearest pay at pump.

For the sake of a couple of quid (if that), convenience trumps the negligible saving.
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Re: Cost of living crisis

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btajim - mcfc wrote: Tue Jun 21, 2022 2:02 pm I’m 42. I’ve worked for over 20 years and never once joined a union. I’ve not felt the need to.

I use trains regularly. It’s a poor service. They’re overpriced, uncomfortable, overcrowded. Staff can be anything from anonymous to indifferent. Why should they receive a pay rise?
I'm 58, worked for rather longer than you, have enjoyed Union membership, started as a trainee and worked my way up to the Boardroom at my first firm.

My experience of the Unions with which I had regular contact was positive, on both sides of the table. As a member I was well represented , as a Director I had no issue sitting down with outside officials. To a man and woman, they were well trained, professional and courteous.

Take this dispute. The RMT have diligently published every ballot result on their website, it' there for the public to look at : the Union have been given, on a decent , and legal turnout, a clear mandate for industrial action.

As for their service, it varies, over the years I've had some poor, some excellent, currently, were i live it's a fabulous service, well invested in new rolling stock, smart, modern stations and a fair price.

Inter City is a less positive experience, those trains tend to be over crowded, but it's a similar experience on the continent.

The pricing policy on IC also leaves much to be desired, but none of those things are the responsibility of the frontline workers who are the ones on strike today.

I get it's inconveinient, it's meant to be.The boss of the Railways is on £600,000 a year.

Do you think he has handled this situation well ?
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Re: Cost of living crisis

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the pink palermo wrote: Tue Jun 21, 2022 2:51 pm I'm 58, worked for rather longer than you, have enjoyed Union membership, started as a trainee and worked my way up to the Boardroom at my first firm...
something that is overlooked is just how hard it is to actually call a strike now aswell

the trade union act came into force in 2017. its very undemocratic as if you dont return your ballot its better for the company than if you vote no.. as you need a minimum return of ballots for it to count

"Tougher ballot thresholds will reduce industrial action in important public services like transport, health and education by 35%"

"From today, fresh ballots will have to achieve at least a 50% turnout of eligible union members, with a majority voting in favour of strike action. In important public services - including in the health, education and transport sectors - an additional threshold of 40% of support from all eligible members must be met for action to be legal."

so lets leave that fresh in the mind for a second .. and then note this is the biggest network rail strike since the 1990s ...

so even though its tougher to call a strike

even though its harder to make it legal

they are still striking

so when you look at that and how big the strike is .. you really have to take a step back and think hang on sec ... something cant be right if its got to this
Last edited by -DL- on Tue Jun 21, 2022 2:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Large quote removed
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Re: Cost of living crisis

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chelmsfordhammer91 wrote: Tue Jun 21, 2022 2:50 pm I'm pretty sure I read somewhere recently that supermarket fuel is effectively no different to BP/Esso etc. The difference comes when you fill up with their premium fuels that have the additives in.

Not sure how accurate that statement is, but for me I just go to wherever is nearest or if I have one of the kids with me I go to the nearest pay at pump.

For the sake of a couple of quid (if that), convenience trumps the negligible saving.
Almost correct. All fuel is the same when it is in storage at the terminal. Each retailer, be it BP, Shell, Esso, etc then adds their own blend of additives - and that includes supermarkets. The big companies, like I've mentioned, the brands, do have a higher quality of fuel at the pump than a supermarket, and you can get an increase in mpg over supermarket fuel.

The 'premium' fuel has different additives again over the regular fuel, as its octane levels need to increase for higher performance engines - but for your bog standard family motor, it makes no difference if you use it over regular fuel apart from to your wallet. If your handbook says to use the 'premium' higher octane fuels, use them. If it doesn't, you're wasting your money.
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Re: Cost of living crisis

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sendô wrote: Tue Jun 21, 2022 1:53 pm What are fuel prices like at Costco?
Haven't been since Jubilee w/end but at the derv was about 3p cheaper than tescos. The queues were manic however.

btajim - mcfc wrote: Tue Jun 21, 2022 1:53 pm Ticket offices seem very old fashioned. You have a phone app for many people plus vending machines there. Floor staff can assist those who need help using them.
My station has 1 member of staff and 1 ticket machine. Often the ticket machine isn't working. Also ticket machines are not good at explaining the myriad of ticket options available.

Also Ive checked Google Play and there is no app that can go and give first aid to a torso and severed limbs as well as keep several hundred school children away from the scene. That was last Tuesday. The second jumper of the year. Same guy attended 4 last year. But maybe you are onto something Jim and we could write an app
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