I was thinking along the lines of the best strategy for the union would
have been to have a managed transition away from conductors, as happened in
Adelaide.
In that case as new one man buses came in, conductors phased out. However,
that gave connies the options of training as drivers, or getting priority
for other public sector jobs which paid similarly, and often had good
overtime too. Some, such as art gallery attendants, were not only equally
paid, and with overtime, but were pretty cushy, with the customers being in
a happy frame of mind on weekends.
So, if as the W2s were withdrawn, conductors had negotiated using the
Adelaide pattern, the outcome would have been far better for all. Indeed,
by that time, separation packages were possibly available as a third
alternative to driving or other public sector jobs. Imagine drivers nearing
retirement being offered a year's pay, and some conductors taking their
slots. Vs what eventuated.
On Tue, 19 Mar 2019, 2:06 PM 'Richard Youl' via TramsDownUnder <
tramsdownunder@... wrote:
> Actually, all the open W2s were gone by then and I don’t think any W5s
> with blinds were left either.
>
> Personally, I would not have minded if the Swanston Street to St Kilda
> Beach route had’ve retained conductors during the day time as that was a
> popular tourist destination and some conductors liked doing general PR work
> as well.
>
> But having ridden plenty of overseas tram systems with some form of
> honesty ticketing system, it was clear that the days of conductors in
> Melbourne were becoming numbered.
>
> Regards,
>
> On 19 Mar 2019, at 11:15 am, Mark Skinner emessk@...> wrote:
>
> Actually,
>
> It's what you get when you have stupidly unreasonable leaders on both
> sides of an argument.
>
> In this case, open cars like W2s had a safety reason for retaining
> conductors. Sliding door cars did not. By that time, comparable tram cities
> world wide, across the political spectrum had shed their conductors if the
> trams were enclosed. I simply cannot see what the union thought it could
> achieve. It could have negotiated great exit packages or relocation ops
> like happened in Adelaide when conductors were phased out. However, it
> chose a path that could not succeed, and betrayed its members.
>
> Sometimes telling people what they want to hear, rather than what they
> need to hear, is just bad. Very bad.
>
> Mark Skinner
>
> On Tue, 19 Mar 2019, 10:13 AM Tony Galloway arg@... wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> On 18 Mar 2019, at 6:43 am, 'Richard Youl' via TramsDownUnder <
>>tramsdownunder@...> wrote:
>>
>> I believe that this dispute also commenced the mass civil disobedience of
>> fare evasion which essentially continues to this day and has been passed on
>> to following generations.
>>
>>
>> Seems like a fair response to me.
>>
>> It’s what you get when legitimate workers (conductors) get replaced with
>> shit-brained playcop thugs.
>>
>> Tony (strong advocate of civil disobedience)
>>
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