Its interesting, this business about Workplace Bullying because weve seen so many alleged instance of it just recently, particularly in the television industry. Have you ever seen it . Have you ever seen it . Well, certainly back in the days , i used to work on tabloid days, i used to work on tabloid newspapers and i would often see grown men crying in pubs in breaks because they were getting so carpeted. But that was just so carpeted. But that was just the norm. Then im not saying it was right, but it was absolutely the the late the norm. This is like the late 90s the norm. This is like the late 905 2000. 90s 2000. Yeah, certainly i think yeah, it certainly i think there are some jobs, some professions where its almost seen of rite of seen as a sort of rite of passage to be bullied. Editors of newspapers in the olden days, when i was a trainee , they were when i was a trainee, they were they were absolute demons. You almost said the word there. Yeah, exactly what you mean. Yeah they were horrible people. And it was seen as if you cant stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. Thats. Thats the james would be the answer if you complained at all of like that that might of anything like that that might be bullying or. Im feeling harassed. Yeah youd to, you know, youd just be told to, you know, get it. This is the job. Get on with it. This is the job. Made of. The you werent made of. The right therefore, you right stuff. Therefore, you cant grade. Therefore cant cut the grade. Therefore you stand the heat. Get you cant stand the heat. Get out of the kitchen. And of course, nowadays were seeing a complete that. The complete flip of that. The dominic are we dominic raab situation are we turning generation turning into generation snowflakes . Line . I dont know. I was thinking where what other professions would you think would have it . And you think inside know those inside hospitals, you know those consultant people consultant surgeons and people like who used to swan like that who used to swan around were around the wards and they were seen gods , but they were also seen as gods, but they were also horrible to deal with and they made their business to to, made it their business to to, really the Junior Doctors i and the same with police. Dont forget, theres many dont forget, theres so many cases bullying. But cases of police bullying. But again, that a kind of again, was that a kind of hangover from a previous generation, retrograde, bullying, racism, all bullying, sexism, racism, all that stuff . My mrs. As a teacher she tells me now you cant say boo to a goose. You cant say anything without being on an air wrap. Its so politically correct. Has it swung the other way where you cant even you cant be forceful about be grown up and forceful about things youd be accused things because youd be accused of bullying . Cant call out well, you cant call out bafic well, you cant call out basic incompetence of basic incompetence for fear of being tyrant. Thats being called a tyrant. Thats what i think, with the what happened, i think, with the dominic raab case. So theres a really line between really fine line between criticising which criticising work, which is completely being completely legitimate and being an tyrant, which of an overbearing tyrant, which of course too far. But who course is going too far. But who decides that line decides where that line is . I think very confused then. Yeah, i think people like dominic are confused about dominic raab are confused about it. I mean, he must have asked himself, i go too far or himself, did i go too far or didnt i . You dont want a minister, particularly during a crisis this time like covid. You dont want a minister to just be, oh, you know, soft and gentle and you need to get things done, dont you . And if somebody is not working, why shouldnt you actually tell them . Hand , and we them . On the other hand, and we live in the century now, live in the 21st century now, and should be able do and you should be able to do yourjob and you should be able to do your job without being and you should be able to do yourjob without being a bully. Id love to hear from anyone who. Have a view on who. Well, youll have a view on whether we are snowflakes nowadays or or whether we have a right to expect to be treated as human beings at work. Id love to hear your story, if youve got one to tell us. Do you get in touch . Of course. Usually gb views at gb news. Uk. No yes. No. Com. Com. These days. Com. Com. These days. Sorry. Yes i know weve gone progressive, but i still cant get it right. Gb views gb news. Com. You know im going to have to have it writ large somewhere so i can read it every time but on my forehead. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, ill do that. Its nice to be with you this morning. And you for steven is off this weekend. Hes going to be off you for steven is off this we theyve theyve got me in absolutely theyve theyve got me in absyeah. Y weve lot yeah. Yeah. Weve got a lot to talk about today. So shall we get on our story this get on with our top story this morning . Passengers facing morning . Rail passengers facing more disruptions as members of the out the rmt union are walking out again. Again today. 14 Rail Companies will be factored and large part of the factored and a large part of the rail Network Little or rail network will see little or no service at all today. Services that do run today will finish earlier than usual. Services that do run today will finiwell earlier than usual. Services that do run today will finiwell , earlier than usual. Services that do run today will finiwell , who rlier than usual. Services that do run today will finiwell , who can than usual. Services that do run today will finiwell , who can wein usual. Services that do run today will finiwell , who can we talkual. Services that do run today will finiwell , who can we talk to l. Well, who can we talk to about all this . Our travel guru, simon calder. About all this . Our travel guru, simon calder. And very good simon calder. And a very good morning you, simon. Morning to you, simon. Morning. From a station good morning. From a station where things are running normally. Unfortunately, its in france and actually things are running pretty normally in lovely Northern Ireland, beautiful scotland and wonderful wales because those Railway Companies are not affected by the National Strike. However, thousands upon thousands of trains are being cancelled today because of yet another strike by members of the rmt union in an extraordinarily long and bitter dispute over pay and working conditions trains. And that means that if you are making an intercity journey, a journey to or from the seaside, well, you absolutely need to check in advance. Interestingly, there advance. Interestingly, there are more trains i calculate running today on a National Strike day than they have been before. But even so, exactly as before. But even so, exactly as you say, things will be wrapping up at about 7 pm. And the message very much from the train operators is do not start a journey unless youre absolutely sure that you can finish it. And to be fair, ive travelled a lot ever since the first strike day , well, since the 1980s, which was 21st of june last year. Most strike days ive travelled by train and the services which are advertised tend to run pretty efficiently. Efficiently. Simon this has been going on for so long now. We know mick the grinch lynch tried to steal christmas. The grinch lynch tried to steal christmas. Now it seems hes trying to steal the summer. This has been going forever. Its has been going on forever. Its got to be the longest strike since i was kid in the 1970s. Since i was a kid in the 1970s. What are they after and what do you think going to take to you think its going to take to reach some kind of breakthrough . Summed it up well, youve summed it up beautifully martin yeah , beautifully there, martin yeah, i was all going to be i thought it was all going to be over by christmas. But last christmas, id be glad if its over coming christmas. Over by this coming christmas. There is a fundamental gap between what the unions want and expect it. And were not just talking here about the rmt. Weve got the usual aslef overtime bans , a whole series of overtime bans, a whole series of them which are basically running on monday to saturday very regularly through the saturday and through through the summer , and through through the summer, and through through the summer, and unfortunately next saturdays pride event in brighton, one of the biggest pride events in the country there will be no trains to brighton because they didnt think that they could run enough with the overtime ban going on. But lets lets have look at but lets lets have a look at whats happening the rmt whats happening with the rmt and actually its the Train Drivers Union as well. The same thing which is they many in many cases havent had a rise for four years. They say we want a decent increase in pay and please give us that because obviously we worked all the way through covid and were expecting inflation to continue to be high. So we want that decent pay rise. The train operators who actually are basically just doing the governments bidding say, well, you cant havent you seen what a disaster finances are in the Rail Industry since covid . And basically the bedrock of season ticket sales people paying thousands of pounds every year to commute in from places like winchester and woking . Well thats all gone. And not all gone, but large parts of it has as people tend to work more flexibly. Therefore we have really short of money and the only way you can get even a modest increase is if you agree to changes in working conditions. And the unions who are used to and good luck to them every time theres a so called modernisation or an efficiency , they would extract efficiency, they would extract an extra few for that. They say an extra few for that. They say no, you know, give us a decent pay no, you know, give us a decent pay rise and then we can talk about modernisation. And im afraid those two sides are far apart and theres no sign of. Apart and theres no sign of. Well, its interesting , well, its interesting, simon, that talking to you there in france at a Railway Station , in france at a Railway Station, how do we compare with other countries . Is it just us having problems with our travel unions , u5, problems with our travel unions , us, or is are we fairly typical of the rest of europe. Typical of the rest of europe. Live tv yeah. Live tv yeah. Live tv yeah. Well, at least it proves the trains are running somewhere. Go on, simon. Well try and. Yes, thank you. Yes, thank you. That was the longest free Freight Train in history. So yeah, let me tell you whats what the situation is in france. We have had terrible strikes. We have had terrible strikes. I mean, i dont know what the equivalent of Michael Lynch is. Equivalent of Michael Lynch is. Mick lynch here, but he certainly was the grinch who stole christmas because they did actually cancel a whole load of services due to strikes over christmas. This was mostly due to the shocking suggestion that they might raise the pension age, too, from 62 to 64. And the same thing with air Traffic Control, by the way, although theyve all gone quiet, thank goodness. And can i im slightly straying off the trains just for a moment, but great news overnight, which is that the air Traffic Control , euro control Traffic Control, euro control strike, which was threatening thousands of flights every day, thatis thousands of flights every day, that is effectively off. And they reached a deal last night. Theyre putting it out to the voters recommended to accept. So voters recommended to accept. So thats one thing crossed off my thing list of things to worry about. But anyway , germany also. About. But anyway, germany also. And the thing about germany is that they dont have this minimum two week war warning. So that mean the good thing is that, you know, in the uk, if you are going to be disrupted because they have to give two weeks warning in germany, they just sort of say almost at the drop of a hat, oh yeah, were going on strike tomorrow, no trains. So yeah, there are, theres a lot of unhappiness. But the uk is different because the does not subsidise trains the uk does not subsidise trains to the same extent as other European Countries is and therefore the government wants some more money from the passengers which it isnt getting. So the only other thing they can do is try and make the whole whole train set a bit more efficient. Well, simon, isnt part of the problem back to the uk situation with the with the train strikes. We have a very different world now post pandemic journeys themselves are a fraction of what they were before. Were seeing a work from home. It was about 54 of pre pandemic journey rates and profits are plummeting as a result. And of course 62 there or thereabouts out of profit from Train Companies who are private is actually from the state who are propping it up. So this pay deal is almost a pay deal of a different time in in as far as it relies on the pubuc as far as it relies on the public purse at a time when the revenue simply isnt coming in. So its government money at a time when the magic money tree has simply been burnt to the ground. Oh, very much so. Yes. And anybody the rail unions say, oh, well, youve got all these shareholders, all these Foreign Companies who are making money, and if only that money was put back into the railway, then wed be able to afford pay increases. Well, im afraid its only a couple of that youre talking about thats effective. A about thats effective. A management fee. We dont have management fee. We dont have the same franchising system as we did before covid. Its effectively youre a train company, you do what the department for transport tells you and you get a couple of fee on top of that. It is. Its looking pretty intract all the passenger numbers are coming back. Martin but whats happening is that they are coming back on leisure journeys where typically, thank goodness , we pay a heck of a lot less for our tickets than you do if you are buying a season ticket. So that allows you to get to work in a big city every week. Work in a big city every week. So were not spending as much. And the trouble is, leisure is exactly where the rescue of the railways is coming from. But every time people want to plan a trip, they say, well, actually, we cant do it more than two weeks ahead because we dont know how disrupted the trains will what were now seem will be. So what were now seem to be in is a kind of war of attrition with the unions saying were going to keep striking or having overtime bans for as long as takes. And the government as it takes. And the government and operators saying, and the train operators saying, well, actually were well, we think actually were detecting signs that people are coming back to work. Theyve lost thousands pounds lost thousands of pounds already. Therefore, what already. And so therefore, what were is just keep were going to do is just keep taking these strikes and. Well, i mean, last last saturday, for instance, i managed to travel from canterbury to london on a strike day. And thats the first strike day. And thats the first time trains have run there. Time trains have run there. Increasingly, there are kind of pretty Reliable Services on strike days. And so that the train operators say indicates that more and more people are kind of drifting back to work. But its a miserable situation because, of course , stuck because, of course, stuck absolutely in the middle. Is the poon absolutely in the middle. Is the poor, old, long suffering passenger. Passenger. Yeah, absolutely. And families who are trying to get away with their kids at the moment as well because theyve just gone on holiday. Im always fascinated. Simon join fascinated. Simon when we join you, p0p fascinated. Simon when we join you, pop in various you, you pop up in various different places throughout the world. What is it, work or leisure that to the leisure that brings you to the south france this morning . South of france this morning . And look, life is one oh, and look, life is one long holiday when youre in the travel journalism business. Occasionally i will pop up and pretend to do a bit of work, but most of the time ive got my feet up with a cup of coffee or depending on the time of day, maybe glass of wine and maybe a glass of wine and enjoying sunshine and the enjoying the sunshine and the beautiful mediterranean. Temperatures here. You cut a striking figure, dont you just of plonk dont you just sort of plonk yourself the middle yourself in the middle of an arrivals at heathrow arrivals hall at Heathrow Airport there you are on a airport or there you are on a Railway Station in france. Anyway, whatever it is, have a good time. And we look forward to seeing you very soon. Thank you. Popping up somewhere else in the world. Thank thank you. And just love the fact that and i just love the fact that even a Freight Train cant stop. Theres anyone simon, if theres anyone going sees going past and sees simon, i want to know what he looks. Is he sitting down a little he sitting down on a little bench on the. Yeah, i think theyre there. And anywhere he goes, he and coffee anywhere he goes, he makes a hotspot and makes an office. Very, very adaptable. 5 adaptable. Does he carry a little carry one of those suitcases that you can and set it up and can sit on and set it up and have a little camera there . Id love to what he looks like love to see what he looks like from and people think from afar and what people think when walking past him, when theyre walking past him, too. Thats simon calder too. Anyway, thats simon calder. Amazing. Man. Absolutely amazing. The man who everything about who knows everything about travel. Goodness. Right. Travel. Thank goodness. Right. Shall move on . The time is shall we move on . The time is 615. Very good morning to you. 615. A very good morning to you. Youre watching me and martin here on breakfast on gb news next door. Now, donald trump, the former us president , said he would not end his 2024 president ial campaign if he is convicted and sentenced on the charges against him. Its extraordinary , isnt it . We actually could get into that scenario we were all that scenario that we were all talking about. We were almost laughing about it. The idea that