Notting Hill Crimeathon

[ToraToraTora]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-23828099
You can always rely on the unions eh?

[Quizmonster]

The turnout for the 2012 mayoral election was 38%. That got Boris Johnson elected with somewhat less of a percentage than the votes for the present strike action.
I've no objection to having 50% as a necessary turnout, PROVIDED it is applied to ALL voting situations! If the strike should be a non-starter, then Johnson and his ilk should be thrown out, too...simple as that.

[jno]

what on earth has this strike to do with the carnival? As far as I know the overground doesn't run anywhere near Notting Hill. People take the tube.

[SlackAlice]

You can always rely on the unions eh? please redefine your comment.

Unions are paid to look after there members. So hopefully the members do rely on union advice. I notice that TFL haven't rushed of to the courts yet to get an injunction, they normaly do.

[jno]

I expect TfL bigwigs are all away in their country homes for the weekend, SlackAlice.

[ichkeria]

I can't work out if this 'question' is primarily a gratuitous dig at the carnival or trade unions or a subtle and equal combination of the two :-)

[mushroom25]

//I expect TfL bigwigs are all away in their country homes for the weekend, SlackAlice//

quite likely - but this has been known about since the 16th, so plenty of time to sort injunctions if they'd wanted.

[jno]

ichkeria, I can't see why the original BBC story brought the carnival into it, so you can't blame poor TTT for being confused. I doubt London Overground is used much more on thjis weekend than any other; it doesn't particularly take you into town (like the tube) or out of town (like national rail).

[mushroom25]

jno, whilst overground wouldn't serve the carnival directly, it would have provided a number of useful alternatives for overcrowded routes that do serve the area, and for stations that are closed or which will be exit only on the day.

[Gromit]

Crimeathon?
The carnival doesn't cause a significant rise in crime.

// you can always rely on the unions. //
Do you mean to have a strike on an sunday and bank holiday monday thereby not affecting as many people travelling to work and lessing the strike's economic damage?

[ichkeria]

jno: The BBC didn't refer to it as a crimeathon tho. And the only mention of the event is in the title of the question. I read Quizmonster's reply before seeing the link and so was hugely confused!

[baza]

rely on the unions to defend their members, yes of course you can, as for the carnival, well there are other ways to get to Notting Hill.

[Quizmonster]

Sorry to have confused you, Ichkeria! I know little of London's internal transport arrangements and about as much as regards where Notting Hill even is, so I was replying solely to the OP's perennial anti-union jibe.

[jno]

agreed, ichkeria, I have no idea where the crimeathon came from. Too much Red Stripe being consumed perhaps?

[emmie]

usually Boxing day when all the sales start.

[emmie]

people still have to get the overground to get into London don't they? unless you think it's only Londoners that attend this festival. I didn't look to see which lines were closed, but never mind eh?

[New Judge]

The “Overground” mentioned here , emmie, is a collection of routes, some formerly part of the National Rail network and some former London Underground routes which have now been taken under the control of TfL. They are:

Euston to Watford Junction
Richmond/Clapham Junction to Stratford
Barking to Gospel Oak
West Croydon/Crystal Palace/Clapham Junction/New Cross to Highbury & Islington

There is a nice map here:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/london-overground-network-map.pdf

As you can see, with the exception of the northern end of the Watford stretch, all are entirely within London Boroughs.

[jno]

emmie, yes, the Overground now has a sort of outer circle line, though it does involve changing trains; but it means you can ride around London all day with a freedom pass, should you have one, and without going into the central area at all.

[Svejk]

Bob Crowe does a good job for his members and is usually a straight talking bloke. But surely it's disingenuous to compare a strike ballot to a political election.
Someone HAS to run the government and local authorities. Whereas no-one HAS to go on strike.
Political elections,generally, have several candidates so it's probably rare to poll over 50% of the vote.
Surely a strike ballot should be a 2 horse race. Yes/No.
I can only presume the RMT had a 'don't know' option. I've no idea why (a legal requirement, possibly) perhaps someone knows?

[Quizmonster]

It depends on what you mean by "has to", Swejk. By your apparent definition, we could say, "No one has to complain about poor medical care" or "No parent has to keep his/her children under control" or "No citizen has to speak up against crime in his local area" and a multitude of similar points. Union members DO sometimes have to strike.
If more than six out of ten of London's electorate couldn't be bothered to vote for any mayor, why should the winner's election be valid? I refer to Boris Johnson specifically because he is the one who constantly whines that union votes should be invalid if less than 50% of the union electorate voted.
What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander!