Pampered Tube strikers aren't the victims - that's us terrified and skint Brits

It is almost beyond farce. I say almost because it involves a strike by one of our biggest trade unions, the RMT, and so nothing it ever does or asks for is beyond farce. This dinosaur union has brought the capital to a standstill this week because it wants a new deal which - can you believe it - involves free Legoland tickets, and an (almost) free travel pass to go anywhere in the country.

So lets get this right- London, our great capital city, has been plunged into chaos - people took hours to get to work, some didn't get to work at all, traffic was at a standstill - and all because a bunch of greedy TfL staff, some of whom earn over £100,000, already want free access to roller-coasters and dodgem cars which come as part of the perks of what's called a Priv card that gives them 75% off all main line train tickets.

Oh, and they want an extra day off every week AND yet another pay rise on top of their already gargantuan salary, pension contributions and perks.

The cheek of it is almost beyond belief. These pampered tube drivers, who just have to click their grasping fingers to have this shambolic government come running, are insulting every decent, hardworking, person in this country with their indulgent demands.

How dare they impose these outrageous demands on a nation that is three and a half trillion in debt. Do they not understand the state of public finances?

Do they not get this government is spending £100B a year just servicing its debt - not paying it off, just servicing it. Do they not understand we're facing a budget deficit which will pile yet another £150B onto the national debt this year? These fools can't see the bigger picture. They just want what they want and to Hell with everyone else.

Well, they must not be given anything above the 3.4% they've been offered. Not having been given an inflation busting 6.6% pay rise in November last year with no job or staff losses which is more than they damn well deserve.

If any of the idiots trying to negotiate this deal had half a brain, they'd see it's this kind of union greed and selfishness that's going to force Labour out of power for the next thirty years - just like it did back in the 70s.

The Government literally can't go any farther on public sector wages - and nor should it. I heard some union rep on the news this week saying he'd been on the picket lines supporting his colleagues who were tired and stressed and were having mental health problems because of the long and unsocial hours they worked.

What he omitted to say was that they worked those long, unsocial hours because they get hugely generous overtime for it and it allows them to work a four-day week. They don't have to. They choose to.

So, if they're tired and stressed it's their own fault because they want more than their already generous salary provides. London Underground (Tube) drivers now primarily work a four-day week, averaging 34-35 hours.

They do longer shifts to compensate for fewer working days. This was a result of a recent vote by the Aslef union, which agreed to Transport for London's (TfL) four-day week plan, standardising it across the service.

So, these drivers got exactly what they wanted last time around. Now they're demanding a 32 hour, four-day week AND a bumper pay rise on top of their already gross salaries - £72,000 PLUS overtime. It's a joke and a sick one.

The cost of this pathetic strike to London businesses will be £230M - and all because tube drivers want travel and rides on a roller-coaster.

Starmer keeps banging on about growth - but how is this country ever going to grow or look vaguely attractive to foreign investors when they see a capital city crippled by a bunch of lazy dinosaurs - none of whom are actually needed to drive trains anymore as the technology exists for all trains to be automated.

But as long as Labour and Khan are in power, they won't allow it. But a new Reform Government would. We keep being told we've got to get out of our cars and onto public transport to save the planet but how the Hell can we when we have a government that takes orders from bolshy unions who can bring cities, even the country to a standstill on a whim.

That said unions are already hugely weakened. Membership of the TUC unions has plummeted to 5.5M from the 12 million it was just a few years ago.

Luckily for them they currently have a patsy in charge in the shape of Keir Starmer who carved into their demands the second he came to power. They got everything they wanted but now they're back for more.

And Starmer being the wimp he is will probably cave in again and give them the free Legoland passes they're so desperate for. But these tube drivers must surely realise their days of big fat pay packets are numbered.

With automated technology we literally don't need them anymore. And it wouldn't be so bad if the transport system actually worked. It doesn't. It's an expensive embarrassment.

TfL stopped - which was £12.9B in debt at the end of last year - stopped publishing Tube punctuality data in 2020 during the pandemic and it hasn't restarted.

And I'm guessing the reason for that is that nothing is ever on time - yet still the drivers think they deserve more money. But the unions need to get real.

There was a time when workers in this country needed unions because many employers DID exploit those who had had no voice, no power. But the world has changed.

Unscrupulous employers can't get away with treating workers badly anymore because there are too many laws in place to stop it. In fact, if anything it's the other way round - the workers are very often now the tail that's wagging the dog.

They have the power over their employers and if Angela Rayner's Worker Rights Bill goes through they'll have even more and striking will get a whole lot easier.

But the fact remains the kind of tactics we're currently seeing from the RMT just don't work any more, but they especially don't work when a country is on the brink which Britain is.

Skint Brits, terrified of our uncertain future, can no longer be bothered to listen to "Woe is me" stories from tube drivers who are earning money the kind of money that millions can only dream about.