Rail strikes: 'Working from home just isn't an option'

Wazhma Mansouri has worked as a nurse in central London for 16 years

While some might welcome an extra day or two working from home as a break from the daily grind, or a chance to save money, many workers will see their routines disrupted by this week's rail strikes.

"Working from home just isn't an option for me - and it hasn't been throughout the pandemic," says Wazhma Mansouri, who has worked as a nurse in central London for the last 16 years.

The strikes saw only one in five services running across England, Scotland and Wales on Tuesday, with the same expected on Thursday and Friday, and there will also be knock-on disruption for the rest of the week.

Wazhma, who works in palliative care, said she was anxious about the journey to work ahead of a 12.5 hour shift on Tuesday evening.

She has picked up extra shifts for colleagues who might not be able to travel at all. While the hospital is putting taxis on for staff, traffic jams and cancellations have caused problems.

"We are already facing a backlog in the NHS due to the pandemic and this could delay things further... I do find it quite upsetting that it could affect emergency operations or patient care."

While she does understand rail workers striking over job cuts, pay and conditions, she wishes that action could be undertaken "in a sensible way".

"We nurses work round the clock in low-paid, stressful jobs, dealing with life and death situations... I just wish there were some better services provided for frontline workers, rather than everything stopping."

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Although the pandemic has seen more people work from home and in many cases do some days at home and some in the office, most workers, like Wazhma, do commute to work every day.

According to official figures, 46% of workers in Britain exclusively travel to work versus a quarter who spend some time on-site and some at home, or 14% who work from home full-time.

'Need for understanding'

Ben Willmott, head of public policy for HR trade body the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, says more flexible ways of working have helped employees work from home with short notice.

"This also takes pressure off the public transport system and reduced services for those who do have to travel to work," he says.

"However, for workers who need to be in their place of work, there will need to be flexibility and understanding around the disruption to journeys."

Ruth Sadler's work as a project manager at a naval base in Portsmouth has also been disrupted by strike action, but she says her colleagues have been understanding so far.

Day-to-day, she commutes from Southampton to Portsmouth using regional train services. She doesn't have a car so she's fully reliant on trains for her journey.

"I can't work remotely today [Tuesday] and thought I'd be able to get an alternative train and a bus replacement service but I was stopped along the way as there were no trains available at all," she told the BBC.

On her way back home from the station, she said that she wouldn't be able to work as many of her tasks must be done face-to-face.

She added: "I completely support and understand that the strike action in necessary but it is obviously an inconvenience.

"Hopefully, I'll be able to get my work laptop for later in the week".

'Possible, not productive'

Accountancy tutor John Whittaker is working from home this week but says while it's "possible, it's not as productive."

He joined Canterbury College in his new role around November 2020, returning from China at the outset of the pandemic.

"Because of that, most resources I developed initially geared towards working from home."

Today, though, he relies on public transport to get into work as he has never learnt to drive. While working from home is possible, he says it's far from ideal when delivering his lessons.

"Hands down, it will be harder to teach this week because I've not had enough time to properly prepare.

"And there are always a few people, of course, who put the camera off and walk away and just listen to the lesson. You can clearly see the difference in quality of work they return while we're working remotely."

Despite that, he told BBC News that he supports this round of industrial action.

"Rail companies put prices up each year for commuters like me, and I can't say I've ever noticed services improving...unions exist for a reason and occasionally, they have to remind employers of that."

Tom Cheesewright, a consultant and author focused on future business trends, suggests that the strikes might also provide a timely reminder for bosses on the importance of embedding new ways of working.

He estimates that about 40% of workers in the UK now have the capability to work from home, based on levels seen at the peak of the pandemic.

Moving forward? Tom suggests that although big strides have been made during the pandemic, much more will need to be done on training and support to make sure working from home is a viable option for more people.