‘No hard feelings’: the people’s view of the rail strikes

theguardian.com:

Commuters and travellers from across the country are bracing for three days of rail strikes this week, as more than 40,000 workersgear up for the largest walkout on the rail network in over 30 years.

Four people tell how they will be affected by the disruption, and share their views on the looming strike action.

Nick Georgiou, 63, will cycle the 13 miles from Oldham to the library in Manchester where he works part-time. It won’t be the first time he’s made the journey on his electric bike due to disruption on the rail service on the Greenfield to Manchester Piccadilly route. “More often than not, I get the train. But the strike’s been predated really by lots of cancellations – I’ve had to cycle before because I’ve not been too confident that there’ll be a train to catch.”

He says the strike will affect some colleagues’ ability to commute, but the disruption caused by industrial action is “a necessary evil”.

Georgiou backs the strikes “wholeheartedly”. “There needs to be a reckoning,” he says. “Strikes are last resort. Nobody wants to deny themselves a livelihood, [but] the only thing workers have to withdraw is their labour.”

Anne*, a 53-year-old manager of an NHS mental health team living in south London, is anticipating her whole team being affected by the Transport for London strike on Tuesday and national rail action this week. “Everyone in my team lives in outer zones because we can’t afford to live close to our office in central London. I’m really worried about staff getting to work. During the last strike, we had a doctor who was trying to get in for three or four hours,” she says. “We’re having to think about skeleton coverage.”

Anne says she will try to get the bus at 7am on Tuesday in order to get to work by 9am.