Solent Coast Guard on Strike tonight

All right, I'll say it; Is This A Wind Up ??!!

If it was planned a while ago fair enough, if there really is a strike I'm quite sure no-one in that profession would deliberately choose a time like this.

10/10 for their personal long range forecasting system though ! :eek:
 
Seajet said:
All right, I'll say it; Is This A Wind Up ??!!
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I don't do wind-ups. Typed this straight after seeing it reported on BBC South Today, right after the main 10 o'clock news.

I just wanted everyone to be aware because if you were out sailing and had not been watching the TV last night you would not have known about it.

Note that they are on strike today at 11 this morning.
 
TBH, I suspect that they will only suspend the "radio check" & Passage log type traffic. They are not staying away from work are they, just stopping routing traffic for an hour? I can't imagine anyone ignoring a Mayday shout.
 
Searush said:
TBH, I suspect that they will only suspend the "radio check" & Passage log type traffic. They are not staying away from work are they, just stopping routing traffic for an hour? I can't imagine anyone ignoring a Mayday shout.
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Do they really think that is going to help their cause?
 
Ex-SolentBoy said:
Do they really think that is going to help their cause?
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Perhaps not, but its been on the news and now everybody is aware about what is happening. While 95% of the population may not be interested perhaps the other 5% will do something about it.

Personally, I hope the govt. do a "U-Turn" just like they did with the Fire Service.
 
They are raising awareness not downing tools. And for the record,anybody in favour of withdrawing emergency towing vessels is a stupid b*****d.
 
They may well raise awareness, but I suspect it won't be the sympathetic type that they were after.

If their PR company are any good, they'll announce the postponement of their plans for a few days.
 
Bobc said:
They may well raise awareness, but I suspect it won't be the sympathetic type that they were after.

If their PR company are any good, they'll announce the postponement of their plans for a few days.
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OK, I'm not a union member, but I will give a bit of background -

This is a DfT wide action, not just against cuts in the CG service, and has been organised by the PCS.

It is inconceivable that even the most ardent union member would ignore issues critical to the safety of people at sea. It's more to do with not doing the (vast) admin side of what we do, and in protest about the way the changes are being made as much as the changes themselves.

Plus, non union members, of which there are many, are of course carrying on as normal.
 
Channel Yacht,

Thank you for giving the background and reassurance that the emergency side of things will still be covered. It was not made clear on the TV last night what the effect would be, so, it is reassuring to know.
 
PhillM said:
Channel Yacht,

Thank you for giving the background and reassurance that the emergency side of things will still be covered. It was not made clear on the TV last night what the effect would be, so, it is reassuring to know.
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Phil,

That's always really been our problem. Management know that in the vast majority of cases, even union members would never do anything that could end in someone losing their life - we just couldn't live with ourselves. Most people are in the CG not because it's the best job we could get, but because we love the job - well, we love the getting people out of the **** part of the job. Sadly, that seems to be en ever decreasing part of what our senior managers think we're there for.

Even when people go on full strike, it's done in the knowledge that there is a contingency - even if it is a reduced "routine" service.

CGs are not usually, by type, union types - many being ex military, or of a similar mindset. People tend to leave when fed up, rather than push back. That's why we've lost decades of experience in a short space of time.

But there will come a breaking point.
 
Channel Yacht,

I wonder if South Today read your post because last night's report was much more balanced and made excatly the same points.

I have no experence working in or managing a public service so do not have a valid view of the cuts. All I can say is that from what I hear on Channel 16, I am glad that our local coastguard are there for us.
 
PhillM said:
Channel Yacht,

I wonder if South Today read your post because last night's report was much more balanced and made excatly the same points.

I have no experence working in or managing a public service so do not have a valid view of the cuts. All I can say is that from what I hear on Channel 16, I am glad that our local coastguard are there for us.
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I think it's more likely one of my Solent colleagues has picked them up on things...

This action isn't just about the current cuts though - the last lot treated us no better. We have had pay and grading disputes running for years now - given that a payroll administrator is graded higher in the civil service than a fully qualified, experienced watch officer, you might start to see where we're coming from.
 
chanelyacht said:
I

This action isn't just about the current cuts though - the last lot treated us no better. We have had pay and grading disputes running for years now - given that a payroll administrator is graded higher in the civil service than a fully qualified, experienced watch officer, you might start to see where we're coming from.
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I dont doubt it, always worked in private enterprise where you can clearly see who is making the difference,- it makes it easier to make the correct pay rewards.

Never have understood the way that the public service works - so I guess I'm now qualified to stand for election so I can run it! :)
 
chanelyacht said:
It's more to do with not doing the (vast) admin side of what we do, and in protest about the way the changes are being made as much as the changes themselves.

Plus, non union members, of which there are many, are of course carrying on as normal.
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If its admin work not vital to sea safety one wonders why it is done at all.
If its admin work that is no longer going to get done one wonders why it was necessary in the first place.
If its admin work that isn't going to get done by the people that were supposed to do it, but it has to get done, one assumes that the non union members are going to have to cover for the others. Typical.
 
Chanelyacht,

I am sure I am not alone in saying 'more power to your elbow', the CG cuts are just another example of the erosion of common sense, let alone treating motivated people decently.

The withdrawal of rescue tugs and closing of stations has 'accountant' written all over it, and absolutely zero evidence of seamanship or learning the lessons of history.

I left BAe when that sub-species took hold, if you ever get a Mayday from a boatload of accountants ( there must be a collective noun but I doubt it's repeatable here ) do us all a favour and just leave it to Darwin ! :)
 
Seajet said:
Chanelyacht,

I am sure I am not alone in saying 'more power to your elbow', the CG cuts are just another example of the erosion of common sense, let alone treating motivated people decently.

The withdrawal of rescue tugs and closing of stations has 'accountant' written all over it, and absolutely zero evidence of seamanship or learning the lessons of history.

I left BAe when that sub-species took hold, if you ever get a Mayday from a boatload of accountants ( there must be a collective noun but I doubt it's repeatable here ) do us all a favour and just leave it to Darwin ! :)
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