By silicon.com, 30 June 2004 16:55
Once again London's tube drivers have attempted to hold the capital to ransom with a day of strike action.
Clearly aggrieved at being paid 'just' double the wage of a graduate teacher in the UK these track jockeys have taken the day off and left companies and organisations in the country's financial heart to pick up the pieces and attempt to operate normally, often with skeleton staff.
But while the contempt for the tube drivers' actions shows little sign of lessening with each strike, the impact of their actions is surely diminishing. With widespread broadband access around the UK, increased awareness of flexible working models and remote access, teleworking companies are better positioned than ever to get a full days' work out of staff stranded at the end of the Northern Line.
Because of the ease of remote working many simply take the 'lifestyle choice' not to fight for space on crowded buses or overland trains and while there are many kinds of workers who cannot perform remotely, the actions of the stay-at-home brigade at least ease the strain on remaining forms of transport.
But rather than being merely an opportunity to vent some spleen about unpopular sections of the society and their tendency to strike, these days of hassle should remind us of the need to ensure where possible we have flexibility in our working models.
Tube strikes, broken legs, sick children, workmen on the roof - whatever the reason you're at home, and many are far more unseen than a Tube strike, there should now be no excuse for not working remotely if it's at all possible.
Companies need to seize the initiative and should be looking at expensing broadband, ensuring VPN access and doing what they can to make this a reality.
Estimates out today suggest the tube strike could cost the UK as much as £100m. We could install a lot of remote access for that.
Right, where's that bus map...
Comments
There are 3 comments. Join the discussion
1. Alan Denbigh
It probably takes something like tube strikes for people to realise that in London the average strap hanger uses 10 hours per week at their own expense to get to work - almost a working day and a half - you wouldn't run a business like this would you ? Teleworking is growing faster than ever and doubled in the past six years to around 2 million people... Around 25% of the country's teleworkers live in the South East so far...
2. John Bailey
Some of us don't chose to receive silicon.com in order to read a Daily Mail type diatribe about the rights and wrongs of the Tube-workers strike action, especially when they are condensed into a couple of sentences. And to have introduced facile pay-comparison arguments was just mindless. Has your correspondent heard of Peter Davis or read anything about the scorn that has accompanied his Sainsbury's pay-off?
(Ed note. John, isn't that a bit rich coming from somebody who talks about others making 'facile pay comparisons'? But we'd argue comparing public transport workers with other public service workers such as teachers is a lot less facile than comparing to them to the head of a large plc. But thanks for taking the time to comment.
Also, the piece was actually about teleworking and not the tube strike - hence we didn't go into lengthy detail about the strike action, though I think you'll find our comments are pretty much in keeping with most Londoner's take on the strike action and not just Daily Mail readers.)
3. Chris Tolmie
Come on guys - five years have passed and we still have the same issues. The technology worked then and has got better since. More people can work from home (at least for some days) than are currently enabled to do so by their employers.