Blaming the unions

I wish that Network Rail had averted this unnecessary strike by engaging in a meaningful way the Unions like ScotRail has. 

The unions have been blamed for the rail strike today by the government. But the government forget to tell you that the workers were balloted on strike action and the workers decided to strike.  I know this because I am a member of a union.  I have been out on strike and my union has worked to protect my rights.  Many years ago, my union acted to ensure that my employer acted within the law and had to be involved as my employer did not listen until the union was involved.

In my job, I see how employers treat those in a union fairly, but often, those who are not in a union do not get treated in the same manner.   Due to this, when I see people with stress at work, one of the questions I ask is if they are in a union, and if they are, if they have involved it.  

It is easy to try and make political capital out of this, and the government have with soundbites that do not stand up to scrutiny.  With this tweet, the wages of teachers has been mentioned.  Teachers in the UK may be considering strike action over low pay, so the answer here is to pay teaches more.  Nurses in the UK have taken strike action over pay.  I presume that this MP backs a call from them for better wages.  Also, the MP ignores how unions are formed by their members.  If workers want a ‘hard left’ person to represent them, that is their right.  I know that I want someone in charge of my union who looks out for my rights and is willing to defend them.

I do not know a union member who wants to strike over everything.  I do know loads of union members who want to work but are part of a union to ensure that their rights are protected.  Strikes are a last resort, and in this case like others, can be avoided through negotiation just like has happened in Scotland.

Home again

Finally, we are back at home. The day was not as eventful as yesterday. 

I woke early this morning to find a charger and charge our car.  I found one that was being used by a mobile home, another which appeared to be residential and finally one in an industrial estate.   Had hoped it was part of the nearby shopping centre, but no such luck.  At first I could not work out which charger to use as it was confusing on the app, but by a process of deduction I sorted it,  we got enough charge to get to a supercharger closer to home, but in Belgium.  I drove in a more energy conserving manner and we had charge to spare when we got there.  This time, my wife visited the nearby truck stop so that I would have something to eat other than Cadburys eclairs!  It did not take long to get the charge needed to get to Calais and we were off.  Again we returned to the supercharger that we had used on Saturday, but this time we got a lot more charge.  One more charging stop on the M20 and we got home with 9% charge, though this time I was not as stressed as I was in France on Saturday! 

It was great to see the kids again and I soon crashed and had to rest a lot.  But it was a long drive, and one far less stressful than before,

Live is Live

Well that was a day. 

We started the day looking for somewhere to charge the car and failing, only for my wife to find the app (which I thought had not been developed) which allowed us to charge our car at the hotel.  We had tried to find a charger in town and also one in a nearby Aldi.  We found one at the Aldi, but issues with a lack of an RFID card were present.  We got back to the hotel despondent, after getting lost and my wife worked out there was an app and we got some charge in the car.  We hoped that it was enough to get us to a fast charger in Belgium, but I got spooked and we tried to find one in Dunkirk.  That did not end well as almost all of them needed an RFID card or fob.  We did find one with 4% charge remaining in the car.  Until then wife and I thinking that our weekend away was ruined were in a state of depression.  An hour at a free charger allowed to get to Belgium and use a very fast charger, again after some additional drama.  

We finally got to the hotel and what an amazing place.  It is a marked contrast to the historic and welcoming stay we had last night.  That had a small lift and very steep stairs.  This has been designed with equal access in mind and we have seen more guests in wheelchairs than we have in a hotel ever before.

We have just got back from the concert we thought we were going to miss.  Mika was amazing and my wife loved seeing Duran Duran live.  We did leave early but we were able to listen to Girls on Film as we left, but did miss the encore.  But it was cold.  From a heatwave two days ago to this,  mind you, it could have been worse.  There was wind and heavy rain last night, and today when at Dunkirk, I got soaked in the rain.  So while it was cold, it was dry.

I am hoping that tomorrow is not as dramatic. I am crossing my fingers that we can find a charger tomorrow morning..

Logis Hostellerie Saint Louis

We have arrived in France.  My wife and I are away from the children in Bollezeele.  Leia is at the dog sitters, friends are helping with the children and my wife and I are about to have our first meal in France in ages.

We drove down in my Honda E, but left home late.  We had to charge on the M20, but  it was quick and easy.  On the train my car grabbed the attention of many and another electric car driver gave us advice on where to charge and not charge in France.  Apparently Belgium will be better.  I am a bit nervous as we are low on charge now and there is only one quick charger nearby, the one next to the hotel not being able to be used without a card which has to be ordered in advance.  We did try to charge in Calais, but due to issues with my iPhone, this did not work well.  Hopefully we will be able to use it on the way home though.  I do love being in France and it is great to be abroad again.  It has been drizzling at times, and if this is the rain forecast for tomorrow, this will not be too bad.

The European Convention on Human Rights

I am to travel to France and Belgium later this month. My daughter hopefully will be travelling to France in the summer.  There are those who wish that the inhabitants of our great nation have more human rights when on holiday France (and other nations in Europe) than we do when living in the UK.  

Can someone explain the logic of how this is patriotic to me please? 

Jesus was an undocumented child refugee

I am in favour of the government plan to relocate asylum seekers to Rwanda if they cross the channel illegally. I do this, knowing the hardships that those seeking persecution face. BUT, I am only in favour of this relocation where people are fleeing from nations where we have a safe and legal refugee route that is working to process applications quickly. That is if it is possible to have such a system in place in that nation. 

 

When I posted about this last year, I did mention that asylum seekers are coming to our shores from a safe nation where they can claim asylum and that no action would result in more deaths in The Channel. I was wrong to do so as I was not aware how hard it was for asylum seekers to access legal routes. In addition to this, forcing refugees to claim asylum in the first safe nation they enter creates a burden on those nations, as seen in Lebanon and Moldova. I would only be in favour of that if we had a system, as is in place with Ukrainian refugees, where they can apply for asylum from those nations 

 

It is silly really as we claim to be a Christian nation, and Jesus himself was an undocumented child refugee. There are some who disagree, but they forget how his parents fled The Massacre of the Innocents.  I do think it is important to act on the people smugglers but it is even more important to offer refugees more legal avenues to seek asylum here. 

With this in one, I am glad the plane which was to deport asylum seekers has been stopped from doing so.  I do not know how long this will be for, but I do hope those who are fleeing persecution find a safe refugee here.  I also hope we can create decent safe and legal routes for those wishing to come here as well. 

Keir Starmer and corruption

Keir Starmer is to be investigated for allegations of corruption. This is after he, unprompted, stated that he had not declared.  It is a considerable amount of money, this being a book fee for one to five hours’ work a week since March 2020 received in April (which he is apparently to pay to charity), and tickets for two football matches worth more than £2,000 received in March and April. 

This is more than the £17,800 that the Conservative Party was fined over the changing story of the £112,549 donation for the refurbishment of the flat of the Prime Minister.

The right wing media will try to equate the two, one were a party leader has apologised for a late declaration, and the other were the truth of the nature of the much larger donation changed with time.  Not the same to me…