A letter sent to TSSA members last week said the union, which represents train service controllers, ticket officers and gate line personnel, had asked Great Western Railway (GWR) to increase their holiday entitlement to 38 days per year including bank holidays.
“I have ensured that the team that is likely to meet with DfT are briefed and aware of your aspirations in advance of any such meeting between TSSA and the DfT,” said the letter, seen by The Telegraph.
The TSSA said that the GWR holiday demand was not put forward as part of Tuesday’s pay negotiations, describing them as “productive”.
“We listened to what the DfT had to say and they have made us an offer,” a spokesman said.
People may complain that they have to work long hours so why shouldn’t these union members. But unions could lead the way to lower hours being the norm, which would be beneficial to everyone. The vast majority of worker rights came from the actions of unions in generations gone by.
NuPNua on
That’s on par with my working week and actually a little less than my holiday allowance including bank holidays, so I see no issue,
Buggle23 on
Isn’t the key term “requested”, so that’s the starting point for negotiations, something the last government and their media didn’t get the hang of.
Jose_out on
Seems reasonable enough. 35 hour week is 9-5 with an hour’s lunch. 38 days the equivalent of 30+Bank Holidays, which isn’t too much different to the average 9-5.
FoxDren on
And here we see what giving into the unions does. They got what they asked for and now immediately come back demanding more with threats of throwing another fit if they don’t get their way.
AlligatorInMyRectum on
All this automation was meant to lower the number of hours people worked, whilst maintaining living standards, right? This is the way the world should be going, but a part of me feels it will only be those who unionise and have a monopoly.
DoranTheRhythmStick on
That seems like pretty normal terms for a skilled job. It’s roughly what I get and I don’t even have to work odd hours and can listen to podcasts and go to the toilet whenever I want.
RaymondBumcheese on
I’m in a workplace union and I work 35hrs a week. Its great, good for them. Well, not ‘great’, I would prefer to work even less/none but its better than my last place.
StartingLineLee on
Good. Hopefully they are trailblazers and we can all piggyback of this. Unionise and organise, your bosses don’t care about you.
Ok-Philosophy4182 on
Higher pay
Less hours
No changes to working practices
Govt being taken for a ride
Employ-Personal on
Sounds good, they should also be allowed to work from home on a four day week.
Optimal_Mention1423 on
Working hard and keeping your head down used to have a pay-off. You could save a bit every month towards a house or something else. Now, every penny goes to landlords who neglect their properties, supermarkets who profiteer from fluctuating markets and governments who are still clawing back money they handed to failing banks in 2008.
Point being, if working hard doesn’t give us control over our life, we should all work the bare minimum and use our industry representation to get paid with our time back, if reasonable compensation is not forthcoming.
No-Process-2222 on
My metal health would be much better with 38 days of AL and if someone offered me that I wouldn’t say no. Hence fair enough to the rail workers.
Happier & well rested workers are less likely to make mistakes, they work in an industry that’s safety critical. It also means better long term retention so we don’t lose skilled workers and are constantly having to retrain new workers (the consequence of which I see day in and day out in the NHS)
People advocating for better should make us want the same
Or we could just flog them because that would then make us all feel better that everyone is suffering like us. Then when a loved one dies in an easily avoided crash we can just be outraged, blame the drivers/engineers and pat ourselves on the back that we’ve saved a few quid. And wait for the cycle to repeat
BobMonkhaus on
Does the timing of this request have anything to do with reports the government is going to ease back the striking laws soon?
Unintelligiblenoise_ on
Don’t complain, this should be the same for everyone good on them
BrainPuppetUK on
Opening gambit for negotiations. They’ll take lower, and honestly, just a bit lower than this is normal for professional jobs.
Wonder if the telegraph and mail will give that nuance in their reporting
_AhuraMazda on
“If you’re not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.”
― Malcolm X
EasternWarthog5737 on
Ive had plenty of friends who claim to be very left wing turn around and moan about train drivers pay and that they are striking. They compare them to nurses and teachers. But the rail union being strong and fighting for its workers will only help other unions in their fights and then that will it time cause all working conditions to be better.
AI is doing the job of 10 people. Its ludicrous that our working hours havent come down yet, they need to be fought for.
Tom22174 on
As always, the comment section on the article is full of people that have never thought critically in their life complaining about train drivers instead of realising that maybe other industries should unionise better. We need to move from a culture of tearing down people that do well to one of helping eachother also do well.
I wonder what the people whining about train unions would think if they knew how much the people working in banks make lol
Matt6453 on
‘Including bank holidays’ so not exactly extraordinary then.
Also unions have been trying to get a 35 hour standard week for decades, I remember seeing posters that read ‘Drive for 35’ in the late 80’s.
What I find astonishing is I work with a few people (in an office) who’s standard week is 40 hours when I’ve never done more than 37.5.
Shockwavepulsar on
Soon they’ll be like Evrart Claire demanding all workers be on the board.
Original_Bad_3416 on
Yeah but the country stills needs to keep moving, why won’t they think about the economy.
William_Taylor-Jade on
Rather than complaining that a union is representing it’s workforce maybe everyone else should be taking their example and demanding better for themselves.
Raise yourself to their level, don’t drag them down to yours
Intruder313 on
This should be the norm for all jobs (or rather 30h / week)
FloydEGag on
The Torygraph (and the Times) are really going in on rail workers atm aren’t they.
WhoYaTalkinTo on
I support unions and advocate workers rights in general, but some of the rail unions are taking the piss plain and simple. When I saw the salaries of people who just check people’s tickets on trains all day, or stand at a till serving them, and then saw what they wanted their salaries raised to, it definitely left a sour taste in my mouth.
guttersmurf on
I for one welcome the prospect of the driver of the thousands of tons of metal I’m sat in doing massive speeds on rails with no grip being well rested and alert.
dalehitchy on
Currently do 35 hours a week with at my workplace (rail related). It’s great
Particular-Solid4069 on
How can they afford that? The train service is abysmal
30 Comments
***The Telegraph reports:***
A rail union has requested 38 days off per year and a 35-hour week for its members.
The Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) was one of three trade unions that met [Department for Transport](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/department-for-transport/) (DfT) officials on Tuesday for talks about pay rises after ministers had signed off on a [14 per cent increase for train drivers](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/08/14/train-drivers-strikes-labour-starmer-payrise/) last week.
A letter sent to TSSA members last week said the union, which represents train service controllers, ticket officers and gate line personnel, had asked Great Western Railway (GWR) to increase their holiday entitlement to 38 days per year including bank holidays.
“I have ensured that the team that is likely to meet with DfT are briefed and aware of your aspirations in advance of any such meeting between TSSA and the DfT,” said the letter, seen by The Telegraph.
The TSSA said that the GWR holiday demand was not put forward as part of Tuesday’s pay negotiations, describing them as “productive”.
“We listened to what the DfT had to say and they have made us an offer,” a spokesman said.
**Read more:** [**https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/08/20/tssa-union-requests-38-days-holiday-and-35-hour-week/**](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/08/20/tssa-union-requests-38-days-holiday-and-35-hour-week/)
People may complain that they have to work long hours so why shouldn’t these union members. But unions could lead the way to lower hours being the norm, which would be beneficial to everyone. The vast majority of worker rights came from the actions of unions in generations gone by.
That’s on par with my working week and actually a little less than my holiday allowance including bank holidays, so I see no issue,
Isn’t the key term “requested”, so that’s the starting point for negotiations, something the last government and their media didn’t get the hang of.
Seems reasonable enough. 35 hour week is 9-5 with an hour’s lunch. 38 days the equivalent of 30+Bank Holidays, which isn’t too much different to the average 9-5.
And here we see what giving into the unions does. They got what they asked for and now immediately come back demanding more with threats of throwing another fit if they don’t get their way.
All this automation was meant to lower the number of hours people worked, whilst maintaining living standards, right? This is the way the world should be going, but a part of me feels it will only be those who unionise and have a monopoly.
That seems like pretty normal terms for a skilled job. It’s roughly what I get and I don’t even have to work odd hours and can listen to podcasts and go to the toilet whenever I want.
I’m in a workplace union and I work 35hrs a week. Its great, good for them. Well, not ‘great’, I would prefer to work even less/none but its better than my last place.
Good. Hopefully they are trailblazers and we can all piggyback of this. Unionise and organise, your bosses don’t care about you.
Higher pay
Less hours
No changes to working practices
Govt being taken for a ride
Sounds good, they should also be allowed to work from home on a four day week.
Working hard and keeping your head down used to have a pay-off. You could save a bit every month towards a house or something else. Now, every penny goes to landlords who neglect their properties, supermarkets who profiteer from fluctuating markets and governments who are still clawing back money they handed to failing banks in 2008.
Point being, if working hard doesn’t give us control over our life, we should all work the bare minimum and use our industry representation to get paid with our time back, if reasonable compensation is not forthcoming.
My metal health would be much better with 38 days of AL and if someone offered me that I wouldn’t say no. Hence fair enough to the rail workers.
Happier & well rested workers are less likely to make mistakes, they work in an industry that’s safety critical. It also means better long term retention so we don’t lose skilled workers and are constantly having to retrain new workers (the consequence of which I see day in and day out in the NHS)
People advocating for better should make us want the same
Or we could just flog them because that would then make us all feel better that everyone is suffering like us. Then when a loved one dies in an easily avoided crash we can just be outraged, blame the drivers/engineers and pat ourselves on the back that we’ve saved a few quid. And wait for the cycle to repeat
Does the timing of this request have anything to do with reports the government is going to ease back the striking laws soon?
Don’t complain, this should be the same for everyone good on them
Opening gambit for negotiations. They’ll take lower, and honestly, just a bit lower than this is normal for professional jobs.
Wonder if the telegraph and mail will give that nuance in their reporting
“If you’re not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.”
― Malcolm X
Ive had plenty of friends who claim to be very left wing turn around and moan about train drivers pay and that they are striking. They compare them to nurses and teachers. But the rail union being strong and fighting for its workers will only help other unions in their fights and then that will it time cause all working conditions to be better.
AI is doing the job of 10 people. Its ludicrous that our working hours havent come down yet, they need to be fought for.
As always, the comment section on the article is full of people that have never thought critically in their life complaining about train drivers instead of realising that maybe other industries should unionise better. We need to move from a culture of tearing down people that do well to one of helping eachother also do well.
I wonder what the people whining about train unions would think if they knew how much the people working in banks make lol
‘Including bank holidays’ so not exactly extraordinary then.
Also unions have been trying to get a 35 hour standard week for decades, I remember seeing posters that read ‘Drive for 35’ in the late 80’s.
What I find astonishing is I work with a few people (in an office) who’s standard week is 40 hours when I’ve never done more than 37.5.
Soon they’ll be like Evrart Claire demanding all workers be on the board.
Yeah but the country stills needs to keep moving, why won’t they think about the economy.
Rather than complaining that a union is representing it’s workforce maybe everyone else should be taking their example and demanding better for themselves.
Raise yourself to their level, don’t drag them down to yours
This should be the norm for all jobs (or rather 30h / week)
The Torygraph (and the Times) are really going in on rail workers atm aren’t they.
I support unions and advocate workers rights in general, but some of the rail unions are taking the piss plain and simple. When I saw the salaries of people who just check people’s tickets on trains all day, or stand at a till serving them, and then saw what they wanted their salaries raised to, it definitely left a sour taste in my mouth.
I for one welcome the prospect of the driver of the thousands of tons of metal I’m sat in doing massive speeds on rails with no grip being well rested and alert.
Currently do 35 hours a week with at my workplace (rail related). It’s great
How can they afford that? The train service is abysmal