Salary of tube and train drivers - why so high?

[D.P.]

Except how is that achievable? Is Dave the owner of company x going to want to be paid the same as Steve who cleans his toilet? Hell no. Pay Steve 100k and Dave will pay himself 2mil.

Well for starters, the company would have to be able to afford Dave that much considering that payroll would be higher with all the Steves earning more.
Additionally., the shareholder would have to be happy with that level of compensation.


But the real key is a mix improved social awareness and government policies including taxation. This is successful in many other countries including Japan and Scandinavian countries.

Income tax can be increased a lot, it is relatively low in the UK. It is also possible to have increased employer side taxation on all salaries above a certain threshold, perhaps at 200% above median. Even better is wage ratio limits or taxation penalties, e.g. addition on any employee earning more than 8x to 10x the lowest income employee average.

In German all medium and large companies had an advisory board made up of at least 50% employees. All executive pays have to be approved from non-executive employee committees. These boards in general follow wage ratio rules unless there are clear reasons not to.

This doesn't mean that Dave gets paid the same as Steve, but is more likely to earn within a certain ratio.


The wage ratio in the UK is horrific but the rich have managed to pass the blame on to the poor while they exploit the majority of the population.

 

[d_brennen]

And some bin men are paid more than some nurses, but most aren't. I think people need to start looking past the headlines then 3/4 of the threads in GD would be gone and we could all talk about baby pandas and fluffy bunnies.

No cats?

These headlines are to froth up the masses. If you think you're not getting paid the right amount, skill up and go get a better paying job. There is no law stopping you, only fear and apathy. Hell, go be a customer service agent for TfL, work hard and keep your boss happy, then maybe you too could become a tube driver, right before it gets fully automated

Frankly £60k isn't enough for me to sit in a tunnel all day/night or whenever the bonkers rota says so. It is your function in life between rest periods. Getting home when everyone is getting to work and your kids are at school, going to work when your friends are going out for the evening etc.

Sauce: i'm friends with a tube driver, I feel I am renumerated fairly for the nature of my work and I have no salary envy

 

[Orionaut]

Now here's the thing.

If a group of Taxi drivers, Plumbers, Electricians (And so on) get together and agree among themselves a minimum hourly rate that they are prepared to work for, then it is called "Price Fixing" and it is considered a bad thing and indeed is actually illegal and you can get into a lot of trouble for doing it.

However,

If a group of Train drivers (or Whatever) get together and agree among themselves a minimum hourly rate that they are prepared to work for, Then it is called a "Union" and it is (Mostly) considered a good thing and indeed an important civil right.

Why is it OK for some workers to be able to fix their wages but not others?

 

[krooton]

Now here's the thing.

If a group of Taxi drivers, Plumbers, Electricians (And so on) get together and agree among themselves a minimum hourly rate that they are prepared to work for, then it is called "Price Fixing" and it is considered a bad thing and indeed is actually illegal and you can get into a lot of trouble for doing it.

However,

If a group of Train drivers (or Whatever) get together and agree among themselves a minimum hourly rate that they are prepared to work for, Then it is called a "Union" and it is (Mostly) considered a good thing and indeed an important civil right.

Why is it OK for some workers to be able to fix their wages but not others?

What you charge consumers is not the same as what you are paid for by your employer. Price fixing relates to the former, not the latter.

 

[dowie]

Except how is that achievable? Is Dave the owner of company x going to want to be paid the same as Steve who cleans his toilet? Hell no. Pay Steve 100k and Dave will pay himself 2mil.

Not just that but, as already pointed out, if the median wage was say 66k instead of 22k then what do people think would happen to say house prices... there is still a finite amount of space in say Central London and plenty of people who want to live there etc...

 

[Orionaut]

What you charge consumers is not the same as what you are paid for by your employer. Price fixing relates to the former, not the latter.

But the consumer always picks up the bill in the end, so the end result is much the same. In any case, are not employers consumers in their own way anyway?

 

[HEADRAT]

Self driving trains, sack 'em all

 

[MadMossy]

The transition to autonomous trains is likely to come way faster than cars/lorries. Certainly no where near as complex as driving a lorry around a town, trains literally drive on rails they can only go in one direction.

 

[Caracus2k]

No it doesn't, as long as you keep the total wealth the same and simply reduce inequality.

I going to assume you support 'reducing inequality' d.p?

If that's the case can you square the circle of how your adult life's intentional and apparently considered actions have sought to 'reduce inequality' by leaving the UK (which had paid to educate you), by having to be hounded to pay back the UK goverment when you easily had the money to pay it back (your student loan), by pulling your money out of the UK and by moving to a notorious tax evasion/avoidance (*depending on how good your accountant is) country (Switzerland)?

Let's not forget then boasting on this forum about the low taxation rates you pay in said country?

Tube driver are only paid what they are as they are near monopoly providers of a key service with the power to hold the capital to ransom.