Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 7, 2006 19:32:10 GMT
From the BBC London website:
London Underground workers have been offered cash bonuses based on the level of customer satisfaction.
The offer is part of a long-term pay deal of up to five years linked to inflation, currently under negotiation.
The bonuses would be linked to travellers' rate of satisfaction using criteria such as punctuality, cleanliness and over-crowding.
Staff would get £250 if satisfaction targets were met and £500 if they were exceeded, said an LU spokesman.
He said staff performance would be assessed using a customer satisfaction survey, which collates the views of thousands of commuters.
Unions said they would be considering the offer, although further talks are expected.
Relations between LU and the unions have been strained in recent months and have led to two strikes this year.
Now: What I'd like to know is how the hell can we ground-level staff have any control whatsoever over things like "punctuality, cleanliness and over-crowding"
How can the unions even think about entertaining a deal like this? The punctuality problem is purely down to failing signals, dodgy track or signal operators(!). The drivers do not deliberately run slowly to cause a delay.
Similarly, how on earth have we any control over the amount of people who are crushed on our trains? If I'm going to lose my wages because a lot of people have decided to get on my train, then I'll run empty all the time!
Finally, cleanliness: Does this mean that me on my train or the CSA on his/her station have to be constantly picking up crisp packets etc to keep a decent salary?
I know I'm looking at this all wrong - I must be! Sounds like a management excuse to withold pasrt of my wages to me!
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prjb
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Post by prjb on Apr 7, 2006 19:45:40 GMT
This sounds pretty daft but I think if it is right (and I don't know if it is) the £250/£500 would be a bonus rather than part of your wages that would be witheld if targets weren't met. Either way it sounds like nonsense!  Unions have to consider any offer, they represent us and must look at any deal that is on the table and then negotiate accordingly. They may consider the offer, but nothing says they have to accept it! |
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Post by Tubeboy on Apr 7, 2006 21:29:24 GMT
I dont agree with these sorts of bonuses. Are these sorts of targets not covered at present by the mss[mystery shopper surveys]. As you said alan how far do you go. Do you ensure you pick up every sweet wrapper on the platform. Things like this are very divisive. It seems like a management ploy to me. It is also very patronising by saying giving us more money, we will be more friendly and more pro-active[one of broadways favourite words] in respect to our customers and our environment. |
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Colin
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Post by Colin on Apr 7, 2006 21:48:08 GMT
I don't like it. Who will decide at what level the targets will be set, and will it be realistic (achievable)? Every single one of those 'benchmarks' are already part of the PPP contracts - and are used to penalise/pay the privateers. The cleaning contractors are responsible for cleanliness. I can control overcrowding by shutting the doors before anyone gets a chance to board. As for punctuality - well i'll get the train there on time providing the signals are green, but if they're red................ This is ridiculous - I drive a train. That is my job and I do it to the best of my abilities. In any case, if the punters know we're paid a bonus based on the answers of a questionaire, it's pretty obvious that the answers will be less than favourable regardless of the truth  |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 7, 2006 23:05:12 GMT
All this is to distract from the basic offer of RPI plus half a percent for five years, which is pretty feeble for a 5 year deal IMHO.
250 quid represents about 0.7 percent of a driver's salary. And it's effectively a one-off increase, so shouldn't be thought of as 250 this year plus 250 next year plus...
So if RPI stays around 2.5 percent we're looking at 3.7 percent in the first year (including the 250 bonus) then 3 percent a year after that, plus or minus 250 quid depending on how the bonus is fixed each year.
But this is LU's first offer. No doubt their bottom line is better and will be negotiated with the unions.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2006 16:45:38 GMT
Sounds similar to 'Performance Related Pay' I had to contend with while working for a certain DIY store. More customers=more in the tills=bigger bonus. Our aim was to effectively gatecrash customers and twist their arms into buying things they did not need to buy.
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Phil
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RIP 23-Oct-2018
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Post by Phil on Apr 8, 2006 17:23:32 GMT
Oh the stories I could tell about when LT (buses) decided to change from a fleet bonus to an individual (Driver/conductor) bonus in the early seventies!!!!!!
Talk about competition - there were many cases of drivers up before the beak.......
One Sunday night I (and my driver) earned a bonus the equivalent of half a week's wages on a single shift ;D ;D ;D
Details if anybody wants them.
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Post by Tomcakes on Apr 8, 2006 17:25:01 GMT
Details if anybody wants them. Please do elaborate ;D |
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Phil
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RIP 23-Oct-2018
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Post by Phil on Apr 8, 2006 17:39:39 GMT
That night we were on a 10 min service, BUT with the two buses in front of us out (one from another garage, the other due to staff 'sickness'). Can you imagine running at 2230 on a Sunday night with 5 standing on a Routemaster (actually I allowed about 15 standing but that's another story!). Hell of a hard job, but worth it at the end of the week. I suppose the public benefited too from the overloading - at least they got home!!
As for the rest, that's far bigger involving buses carving each other up at traffic lights, drivers deliberately ignoring passengers at a stop, buses overtaking one another and getting out of turn, different garages covering the same routes setting out to pinch each other's passengers, buses going the wrong side of traffic bollards to get past another bus and steal it's passengers.........and so on.!
It didn't last - it couldn't. It was abandoned after a couple of years
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prjb
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LU move customers from A to B, they used to do it via 'C'.
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Post by prjb on Apr 8, 2006 18:53:10 GMT
PRP is an extremely devisive tool, it annually causes local management to self destruct and is no end of trouble.
Ultimately, money is a short term motivator and senior management know this. Conditions are the key to any modern negotiation and they know this too!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2006 19:05:29 GMT
At the DIY store where I worked, there was a DAILY team talk before the store opened about yesterdays sales figures. HQ would draw up a 'target' for the day, if that was exceeded all well and good, but if it wasnt reached, then the next days target would be 'upped' by a proportion of the deficit. This system probably explains the ridiculously high turnover of frontline staff, and the department managers, who, were literally falling over each other persuading a customer to buy everything in the store. There was a subtle marketing tactic, If a customer bought paint, they would leave the paint isle, and be approached by a member of the sales team persuading them to buy, not brushes [too 'direct'] but wallpaper stripping tools. "Yes ok, I will have that" says the duped customer, who them makes his way to the tills, but gets asked by someone else to buy paint remover! It would go on and on and on.
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prjb
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LU move customers from A to B, they used to do it via 'C'.
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Post by prjb on Apr 8, 2006 22:55:29 GMT
Whilst PRP for lower level management such as DMT's/DSM's is (obviously) performance led, it doesn't quite equate to that degree of detail.
I have been awarded an 'A' (achieved) rating in the past but got no pay rise whatsoever as an 'A' for that year worked out to zero percent! So you can meet your targets and still get nothing, and targets in a local managers case are things like all your teams P&D's completed on time, all your team have had a team talk, or you have dealt with all your teams attendance warnings etc.
The real problem though comes in when one DMT/DSM gets an 'A' whilst his colleague gets an 'E' (Exceeded) rating and ends up with a substantially higher pay award. It all comes down to your employing manager, and boy do the sparks fly! ;D
I have always looked at PRP like this: if I get it - great, but if I don't - what the hell. I don't care what someone else is earning as long as I don't lose money and I can pay all my bills thats all that really matters.
It is an unfair system in an unfair world and it is in the companies interest to keep it going for as long as possible because year on year it saves them money over other proposed award systems. That is why it is not uncommon on LU for your boss to be earning less than you, it is not in LU's interests to review the grading system because they know itwould cost them a fortune. Just look at the Service Control Review, LU is out of pocket to the tune of millions in both increased pay and improved conditions (more annual leave etc).
Hmm, maybe I should post the above in the rants section! ;D ;D
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 19, 2006 3:04:00 GMT
Similarly, how on earth have we any control over the amount of people who are crushed on our trains? I can imagine, under PRP "This train will not be stopping at Bank [substitute for another busy station if necessary, I don't know all your lines] due to too many people being on the platform waiting for a train" |
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prjb
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Post by prjb on Apr 29, 2006 0:13:25 GMT
AlanL is right (unfortunately) a reliable source told me today that this offer is indeed on the table.
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