Another High Street Rebrand

[WillPS]

A bit of a non-story, but hasn't stopped the unions getting angry:

OK, clearly a cock up on Abellio's part that new uniforms weren't ready. But really, unions proclaiming 'our members will ignore this until we agree another uniform'? They've even allowed it to be done on work time! I really do wish moaning railway employees would realise how good they've actually got it (sorry Alexia). British Rail doesn't exist any more, the railway is privatised and operated by private companies. As an employee of a private company, if your employer wants you to modify your uniforms, then you modify the fucking uniforms, your employer does not need your consent, it does not need to justify anything to you or enter into any negotiations before it happens - they get whatever they want because it's their business and not yours. It might well be a stupid move, but it's their stupid move to make. Similarly stupid things which I don't agree with happen at my place of work, and at places of work up and down the country - that's the reality of working for a private company. The difference between where I work and the railway is that if I proclaimed I wasn't going to do it I'd be sacked for gross misconduct (failure to follow a reasonable management instruction - with 'reasonable' being anything that isn't against the law, as that is all an employment tribunal would consider). Those working on the railway should be grateful to work within a unionised industry and so still have a modicum of sway over the management when the vast, vast majority of the UK workface enjoys no such benefit. But that sway should be reserved for things that matter (like continuing to get you boxing day off in the face of clear public demand for trains on boxing day), not stupid things like this.

They have a right to look smart and not wear something which has literally had bits torn off it. They also have a right to feel comfortable.

Employers should co-operate with their staff much more than they do on uniforms. In Germany it's a legal right that they must, and the workforce can reject it, as Virgin found out.

I don't see why it matters to you as a (potential) passenger at all; the staff aren't saying they wont wear a uniform, simply that they wont tear bits off either.

[Andrew]

I have to say telling staff to turn items inside out and cut off logos is a bit daft and I'm not surprised the staff aren't happy.

I would have thought wearing a newly branded name badge over the old logo on their chest and a new branded lanyard and ID card would suffice.

The GWR livery is very classy, has a very GNER feel. On the flip side those of us on the east coast route have gone the other way from the understated East Coast branding to the very brash in your face Virgin branding.

[Alexia]

What they said (re uniforms). I did start typing something about it last night but it ended up in a bit of a rant so I thought better of it.

I know, I thought better of it. Blow me down.

[scottishtv]

If it helps calm things down, it appeared that hi-viz vests, blue ScotRail tabards and new name badges did all of the hard work. Everyone I saw on day one looked rather smart despite the 'old' uniforms, and not a First logo in sight. There were also people giving out free mini stroopwafels at stations, although everything else was business as usual.

In terms of the trains themselves, this is all that happens now:

Before:


After:

[cwathen]

They have a right to look smart and not wear something which has literally had bits torn off it. They also have a right to feel comfortable.

Oh please, you are acting as if it was proposed that they turn up for work in a bin liner. They will be wearing the same clothes, with some debranding modifications. But there is no 'right to look smart' and 'right to feel comfortable' in UK employment law. As regards to clothing, the only right you have is that it doesn't breach H&S regulations (adequate PPE etc), aesthetics are not part of it.

As I said before, I completely agree that Abellio are being ridiculous. My personal view is that either branding matters or it doesn't, in which case they either sort out a new uniform for day 1, or they accept that First branding will hang around until they do. But what I think or what the workforce thinks isn't the point. The point is that however ridiculous it is, if Abellio want First logos cut off their uniforms then they can have that done because the business belongs to them and not the people who work there. Arthur Skargill types proclaiming 'our members will not do that' is just as ridiculous a position to take as Abellio's.

My post was not intending specifically at being a dig at people working on the railway (for one thing, I rely on those people to get me to work every day). At the expense of making a sweeping generalisation, it seems to me that wherever you have a unionised work force, you have large swathes of the workforce moaning their way into a genuinely held belief that they are the most put upon employees working for the worst pay with the worst conditions and the worst management in the world. And it frustrates me when I have always worked in an industry where there is no union and where the workforce has no official voice against the management, no way of arguing back without getting sacked, no way of striking without getting sacked, and as such the management routinely get away with things which in a unionised industry like the railway they wouldn't dare to try. I challenge anyone whose always had a union behind them to spend a year in an industry where there isn't one and not be shocked to see how the other half live (and what they get paid). Being part of that other half, I'm afraid I have no sympathy for people getting incensed and unions making statements over some non-issue like being asked to cut a logo off a uniform.

If it helps calm things down, it appeared that hi-viz vests, blue ScotRail tabards and new name badges did all of the hard work. Everyone I saw on day one looked rather smart despite the 'old' uniforms, and not a First logo in sight. There were also people giving out free mini stroopwafels at stations, although everything else was business as usual.

Also in the interest of calming things down, given that there is consistent Scotrail branding for everything else, I do wonder why there isn't a Scotrail uniform, rather than the TOCs continuing to kit staff out in their own. If the whole purpose of Scotrail is essentially to make changes of franchisee as invisible and inconsequential as possible, then why would you want the uniform to change?

[WillPS]

My post was not intending specifically at being a dig at people working on the railway (for one thing, I rely on those people to get me to work every day). At the expense of making a sweeping generalisation, it seems to me that wherever you have a unionised work force, you have large swathes of the workforce moaning their way into a genuinely held belief that they are the most put upon employees working for the worst pay with the worst conditions and the worst management in the world. And it frustrates me when I have always worked in an industry where there is no union and where the workforce has no official voice against the management, no way of arguing back without getting sacked, no way of striking without getting sacked, and as such the management routinely get away with things which in a unionised industry like the railway they wouldn't dare to try. I challenge anyone whose always had a union behind them to spend a year in an industry where there isn't one and not be shocked to see how the other half live (and what they get paid). Being part of that other half, I'm afraid I have no sympathy for people getting incensed and unions making statements over some non-issue like being asked to cut a logo off a uniform.

It's not the staff of the railways fault that you have chosen to work in an un-unionised workforce. They have worked hard over time to maintain shop membership and they've done very well for it. Almost every other industry has massively sold out, either by allowing the management to divide and conquer or by not encouraging new staff to join. That's before you factor in modern(ish) companies where simply nobody has ever bothered trying to form a union.

To compare railway staff objecting to be asked to ruin their uniform and wear them in their rag-like state to the antics of Skargill is fucking ridiculous.

[Pete]

It was cutting off a nubbin on a zip, not ripping an arm off.

[Beep]

It was cutting off a nubbin on a zip, not ripping an arm off.

The transfer to GoVia Thameslink Great Northern from First Capital Connect saw similar changes here in the South East; staff coloured in pink FirstGroup logos and removed First tax tabs from trousers and jackets - no real complaints!

[fusionlad]

If I'd known trains were being discussed, I would have come back here a lot earlier.

I'll keep a closer eye on this site for a while now, especially as we are on page 125

[Nick Harvey]

Hey, welcome back!

Do we need a picture, do you think?

[Alexia]

How about a video?