R.i.P BOB great Union man.What house he choose to live in was up to him.As mentioned in previous posts Truck Drivers could do with some one of his calibre and strong stance to fight their corner and we would have a lot better conditions across the board .But then again judging by some comments on here I doubt we can ever expect to gain anything near what he got for his members as our comrades won’t stick together.He stood for workers rights despite the Media hounding him daily.I don’t see them following the Bankers and other High Profile Goverment People who have milked us to a thread for many a year.Despite them having numerous houses flats etc all paid for by tax payers.
Criticism of Bob crow over him living in a council house at least he leaves a property vacant for some of the poorest in London rather than chased the capitalist right to buy scheme buy on the cheap and make massive profit.
Crow achieved great things for his members and if he was a banker and he succeeded like he did as a union official the right wing press and business community would be praising his success and the financial services sector be paying him four five times his wages and massive bonuses.
Hopefully his legacy will inspire many more to take up the reigns and many more workers to stand up for themselves
RIP Bob Crow sympathies to friends and his family
viking35dp:
Criticism of Bob crow over him living in a council house at least he leaves a property vacant for some of the poorest in London rather than chased the capitalist right to buy scheme buy on the cheap and make massive profit.Crow achieved great things for his members and if he was a banker and he succeeded like he did as a union official the right wing press and business community would be praising his success and the financial services sector be paying him four five times his wages and massive bonuses.
Hopefully his legacy will inspire many more to take up the reigns and many more workers to stand up for themselves
RIP Bob Crow sympathies to friends and his family
Mrs. Crow is still living in that house, I believe ?
mazzer:
Well at least there will now be one extra council house available in London for a deserving low income family, over 110k salary a year and living in social housing hypocrite
So are you saying that if you earn over a certain amount, you should have to move out?
I’m a london bus driver, and I wished we had someone like bob as our union leader.
Plenty on here moan about what drivers are getting paid, and yet, when a group of people, backed by their union leader get good terms and conditions, the same drivers moan.
As my grandad always said ‘the working man is his own worst enemy’…
Thereal-john:
Ramon123:
When I was a Union member I would have loved Bob to have represented me,negotiated top wages for his members,job security,good pensions,sorted health & safety on the underground,what’s not to like ?
He was also a hater of degrading zero hours contracts/agencies.He’ll do for me.
RIP Bob.We’ll said
Yes, very well said. It was only the other day I was listening to what had to be his final interview on the radio, which had me thinking that if we had a few more union men like him, then us working types would all be a lot better off.
Most of us on here are paid what we are worth. The market rate, pushed ever lower by the likes of Stobart etc. How could a Bob Crow like character get more money for a particular group of drivers? He would just make the company uncompetitive and eventually bankrupt. How could a general haulage strike ever work without mandatory union membership on getting your licence. This would only take us back to the bad old days. Bob Crow flourished because he was in the public sector, and could play his militant games knowing the cards were always stacked in his favour. He also played the everyman card like the old union cronies, and people fell for it, but like on the docks, and in Fords etc, do you see many vacancies advertised for the man on the street? no, because they go their cronies. I still laugh when I remember Fords drivers going out because they were demanding £10 per hour, and the union spokesman said they were doing it for all drivers, as other firms would have to follow…and that was about fifteen or more years ago!
Well some of the comments on this thread beggar belief the bottom line was that he managed to get the people he represented a good income with all the benefits that should go alongside it i e pensions ect .As for where he lived he really couldent win if this thread is any mark of peoples views , living in council accommodation is wrong if he bought a big house in a nice area that would be wrong as well .How the man spent the money he earned was his own business when all said and done he worked hard and was successful in is efforts for the members he represented if haulage had someone like him we might be better off RIP BOB CROW his achievements will be remembered .
And the best paid transport workers in London are. !!! Yep the underground. Well done bob rip
rambo19:
mazzer:
Well at least there will now be one extra council house available in London for a deserving low income family, over 110k salary a year and living in social housing hypocriteSo are you saying that if you earn over a certain amount, you should have to move out?
Quite simply. Yes. Although, in Bob Crow’s case, moving to a nice big house would have got him slated anyway!!!
RIP Bob.
R.I.P. Bob.
One of the very few Union leaders with principles who actually fought for his members. A great loss to the worker’s movement in general. David Cameron and Boris Johnston will be partying tonight.
Slackbladder:
Yeah that’s what we need, some big mouth telling us what we want & when we want it. So that we could sit at home on strike getting bugger all while the bob crow figure makes his deals behind closed doors, then flies off on his jollies. Can any of you lot bleating on about the unions remember the 70s? The three day week, power cuts, no work. How about the 80s miners strike? They did really well out of that didn’t they, union men living the high life in London at the members expense, got to be the way forward.
It’s easy to stand up gobbing off about how you will shut down this or that when the staff walk out for a day or two, unpaid of course, while on the level of pay your members could only dream of. Ever wondered why these strikes last less that 4 days, it’s because over that & the union has to pay cash to its members, that’s just not in the game plan.
If you don’t like working for low pay, then don’t work for low pay. I don’t need anyone to tell me that. If you want to join a union then do so, it’s your legal right, & there are some on here that do belong, funny that you don’t see many good stories on here about them though.
It’s people like you what’s probably helped this industry go into decline by working for next to nothing in order to drive a Scanny or a shiny Volvo instead of going to work for money
Working on a weekend for a flat rate
instead of time and a half and double pay is what’s dragged drivers pay down
The firm I worked for before I packed up driving in 2003 paid very well the lorries weren’t the newest but they were well maintained and legal we was on guaranteed 55 hours a week Monday to Friday 40 at basic and 15 at time and a half
We got £24 a night out all parking was paid ( I never ever parked
overnight in a layby)
We got £5 early start money paid daily if you started before 5 am
12 hours max working day no 9 hrs off at base it was always 11 hrs
We got paid 50ks to hour with a maximum 650ks daily
If we started at midnight we got paid dark allowance from midnight until 6 in the morning and that was a quarter of your hourly rate
If we worked a Saturday it was time and half til midday then double time after that
Sunday was double time with a minimum of 6 hrs so I only worked 4 I still got paid 6 hrs
Bank Holidays were always paid at double time and a day in lieu
Holiday pay was 60 hrs a week again 40 at basic and 20 at time and a half
So that’s what you get when you work for a decent firm where it’s unionised and everyone sticks together and keeps to agreements
We never had another strike again even when new management came in and tried to alter our agreements we stuck together
I’m glad I’m out of driving full time nowadays cos it seems a lot of so called drivers on here would rather have a shiny lorry ( oooops I meant truck ) with frilly curtains and
umpteen spotlights fitted than earn a decent wage
Oh I forgot to mention it if you was wondering I was on £6.50 in 2003
That’s a lovely story, nearly brought a tear to my japs eye. You know nothing about me & what I work for, but feel free to keep jumping to conclusion, it’ll keep you fit.
My experiences with unions have always been negative, they only want to support a colleague when it suit their needs. As a teenager in the 70s I got offered a job in an engineering works, wasn’t allowed to start as I wasn’t a union member, went to join the union but was told I couldn’t as I didn’t have a job! When I did get a job the union had us out, unpaid, on a regular basis, not for us mind, but to support other companies as a show of solidarity. Meetings were a waste of time, agenda was already set by the committee , and any questions or discussions were frowned on, basically just a hands up exercise for the sheep.
Fast forward to 2005 & working for ASDA, little money & shiney trucks, not. Less than 25% of the workforce were union members, they managed to get over 200 employees made redundant as they didn’t fancy a new contract that would bring them into line with the other depots in the area. Unions for the workers, don’t make me laugh.
switchlogic:
Happy Keith:
essexandy1963:
As an ex Postman … then maybe the Post Office might not be in the state it is …’Unless my letter got lost, weren’t undemocratatic political powers jealous of the UK’s hitherto brilliant postal service that resulted in privatisation of the PO becoming a legislated requirement of the EU, which Mr Crow fully believed in
Post Office hasn’t been privatised so not sure which EU legislation one is referring to exactly.
Not that I’m agreeing with any of the anti or pro-Crow stuff (Rip Bob), but see the link below - I think you must have been out of the country at the time Luke:
telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ … under.html
I had Bertie down as a probable investor 
sonofjamie:
R.I.P. Bob.One of the very few Union leaders with principles who actually fought for his members. A great loss to the worker’s movement in general. David Cameron and Boris Johnston will be partying tonight.
I don’t know about that, what I do find more telling is the distinct lack of labour luvvies coming forwards to praise him.
Slackbladder:
That’s a lovely story, nearly brought a tear to my japs eye. You know nothing about me & what I work for, but feel free to keep jumping to conclusion, it’ll keep you fit.
My experiences with unions have always been negative, they only want to support a colleague when it suit their needs. As a teenager in the 70s I got offered a job in an engineering works, wasn’t allowed to start as I wasn’t a union member, went to join the union but was told I couldn’t as I didn’t have a job! When I did get a job the union had us out, unpaid, on a regular basis, not for us mind, but to support other companies as a show of solidarity. Meetings were a waste of time, agenda was already set by the committee , and any questions or discussions were frowned on, basically just a hands up exercise for the sheep.
Fast forward to 2005 & working for ASDA, little money & shiney trucks, not. Less than 25% of the workforce were union members, they managed to get over 200 employees made redundant as they didn’t fancy a new contract that would bring them into line with the other depots in the area. Unions for the workers, don’t make me laugh.
You mentioned in your rant about what good have unions done so I gave you a response but seeing how you’ve replied I take it your balls haven’t dropped yet or you’ve not started puberty
So why don’t you give us all a laugh and fast forward to the present day and tell us what your doing because in 2005 I was earning £18 an hour driving a tug on a 35hr week at yet another unionised firm
Now in 2014 I’m still driving a tug on £25 an hour and still on a 35 hr week
So that’s 2 good bedtime stories for you to read about unions
Going back to ASDA they’re very anti union as they’re owned by Walmart
Unions fought for a thing called TUPE
to protect workers and their pay and conditions
I’ll leave you to sulk and I’ll go back on the Old time lorries and drivers forum where you’ll see where drivers stick together bye for now
gazsa401:
RIP a true working class hero who stood up for his members no matter people said
+1
sime17:
switchlogic:
Post Office hasn’t been privatised so not sure which EU legislation one is referring to exactly.Not that I’m agreeing with any of the anti or pro-Crow stuff (Rip Bob), but see the link below - I think you must have been out of the country at the time Luke:
telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ … under.html
I had Bertie down as a probable investor
I think what Luke was getting at was that the Royal Mail has been privatised, but not the Post Office. Though I may be wrong.
Slackbladder:
Fast forward to 2005 & working for ASDA, little money & shiney trucks, not. Less than 25% of the workforce were union members, they managed to get over 200 employees made redundant as they didn’t fancy a new contract that would bring them into line with the other depots in the area. Unions for the workers, don’t make me laugh.
Now let’s fast forward to current day ASDA.
All depot now have Union recognition. We were the last depot to ballot for it.
Currently we have
A good hourly rate.
An insult of £1.80 per hour overtime
An insult of £4.80 per hour for bank holiday*
Overtime is after 45 hours, but if you get overtime at the start of the week, they can send you home early later in the week to claw it back.
No sick pay for 1st 3 days.
13 weeks sick pay per year
Now we have union recognition and will entering the national agreement in May we will get.
A slightly better good hourly rate.
£5.10 per hour overtime
Double time for bank hols plus a day in lieu.*
Guaranteed full days work. Overtime is safe. If you finish early you sit and wait for your 9 hours to finish.
Full Sick pay from day one
26 weeks sick pay per year.
*everyone gets £4.80 per hour. Which means the warehouse staff actually get more % increase!!! Getting double time means everyone gets the same % increase which is fair.
You wanted a good union story. There you have it.
The only drivers who haven’t joined, (but of course will take the extra money the union has worked to get for them) are the same ones who worry about mpg and who have their heads firmly wedged up the managers back side.
Rhythm Thief:
‘…I think what Luke was getting at was that the Royal Mail has been privatised, but not the Post Office. Though I may be wrong…’
My thread post related (no more and no less) to how the UK’s hitherto World beating letter delivery system was forced to conform to a legislated EU requirement, of which the respected deceased by default approved.
It tried to illustrate agenda incompatibilities within which political figures often writhe - which in this case has now resulted in UK society being at the behest of foreign investors who now control a once wholly UK managed public service that was amongst the nation’s largest workforce employers.
Mine is a simple Q to assist my understanding: Did the guy - sincerely respected as he remains due - approve*; fight-for*; fight-against* or be indifferent about* the EU’s undemocratic conglomeration of unelected squadrons of grey-suited civil servants in Brussels/Strasbourg yanking the UK’s chain 
- I think those options cover it
George@ASDA driver:
Slackbladder:
Fast forward to 2005 & working for ASDA, little money & shiney trucks, not. Less than 25% of the workforce were union members, they managed to get over 200 employees made redundant as they didn’t fancy a new contract that would bring them into line with the other depots in the area. Unions for the workers, don’t make me laugh.Now let’s fast forward to current day ASDA.
All depot now have Union recognition. We were the last depot to ballot for it.
Currently we have
A good hourly rate.
An insult of £1.80 per hour overtime
An insult of £4.80 per hour for bank holiday*
Overtime is after 45 hours, but if you get overtime at the start of the week, they can send you home early later in the week to claw it back.
No sick pay for 1st 3 days.
13 weeks sick pay per yearNow we have union recognition and will entering the national agreement in May we will get.
A slightly better good hourly rate.
£5.10 per hour overtime
Double time for bank hols plus a day in lieu.*
Guaranteed full days work. Overtime is safe. If you finish early you sit and wait for your 9 hours to finish.
Full Sick pay from day one
26 weeks sick pay per year.*everyone gets £4.80 per hour. Which means the warehouse staff actually get more % increase!!! Getting double time means everyone gets the same % increase which is fair.
You wanted a good union story. There you have it.
The only drivers who haven’t joined, (but of course will take the extra money the union has worked to get for them) are the same ones who worry about mpg and who have their heads firmly wedged up the managers back side.
Well said mate I didn’t mention it in previous posts but I was a senior shop steward for the TGWU on Hire and Reward and I sat on a wages council called the the JIC
Most regions had these councils and I sat on the East Midlands one
What we did was that a majority of
Road Haulage Companies would meet annually to discuss a pay claim and most of these firms would agree to pay the JIC/ Trade Union and Transport companies agreed wage and conditions rises it worked very well for years the rises were across the board like you’ve mentioned I’m your post
So no matter if your in the warehouse office garage or a driver everybody got a pay increase
and it wasn’t always about pay but extra holidays night shift pay bank holiday payments meal allowances night out money uniforms and PPE
Early start payments sickness and loss of HGV / LGV Licences schemes we even managed to get a death in benefit service which would try and help your spouse/ partner or dependants some sort of financial assistance
In my own opinion and experience of this industry it’s been some stupid drivers that’s dragged wages and conditions down by not sticking together and giving up hard fought pay and conditions so they can be glory boys and driving the flash new lorries as a bribe to work extra for nothing and if you want me to name and shame a lot of companies please feel free to ask
So that’s another union story and again I’ve got plenty more with facts to prove kind regards gazsa401