Who are you referring to as Bunter?
Boris of course. You must have seen Billy Bunter films when you were a little girl.
Yes I loved the Greyfriars Books, I still have some of the Magnet Stories about the school. I also have some of the Audio Books, they have me giggling till I’m helpless.
I just don’t see Boris as Bunter. 
Boris Johnson. Egotistical, fat, and stupid.
If you say so. 
I actually thought it was someone else.
@JBR , " Are the drivers also demanding a large pay rise "
I believe they are, it’s in order that the lower echelons dont catch up with them,
That’s standard practice in the unions, and indeed in society too isn’t it ??
However, the main reason for the strike, imo, is to stop the march of
’ progress’ such as automation, which will completely do away with the need
for a driver eventually ?? This obviously is not welcomed by the unions and
union leaders as they also will be redundant ??
I must say that l ,agree with them ??
in this respect, as the only ones to profit
from having a railway will be the allready rich shareholders !!
The passengers wil be the means to justify the continuance of the system !!
Luckily it is not so easy to robotise the maintenance and building of the
system so some actual workers will still be needed !!
Donkeyman! 
If they are granted a huge payrise - the fares will go up again to cover it.
If the fares go up more people will stop using the railways.
If people stop using the railways … end of jobs!!
They really are thick!
@SilverTabby , Yep, but the unions argue that shareholder must take a cut
to fund the rise ??
Could this be the end of capitalism??
Or the beginning of the end ??
Donkeyman! 
He speaks highly of you though.
Understandably.
Train drivers are highly paid, not just because of a strong union.
It can take 2 years to become fully qualified before you can be passed out. Their pay reflects what they know, and ability to cope with all circumstances.
Trains are outrageously expensive as it is no where in Europe or much of the rest of the world has train fares as dear as ours.
Well here we go…
Labour MP Asks Speaker if They Can Get Away With Not Declaring Their RMT Donations in the Commons Labour MP Asks Speaker if They Can Get Away With Not Declaring Their RMT Donations in the Commons – Guido Fawkes
I think both are true.
The more the train drivers go on strike; the more automation will follow and drivers will lose their jobs.
The more the fares go up; the fewer people will use the trains and again the drivers will lose their jobs.
Isn’t this what happened to the miners. Scargill persuaded them to strike, costs increased, Maggie decided to source coal from elsewhere or to use alternatives - the mines were closed down and miners made redundant.
What the drivers should do is make their trains more attractive but, as others have said, the owners are only interested in profits. It appears that if customers go away, there will not be any profits for them.
Consequences: everyone loses.
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Nationalise .
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Has any body seen or heard about the mayhem caused by the rail strike ??
I have seen plenty of video showing deserted stations and rail yards !
But as yet no video of huge traffic jams or people queing for buses etc
as yet ??
Maybe the drastic reduction in passengers due to covid and WFH has
had an effect. ? As l predicted l might add !!
Donkeyman! 
If true, and they are deservedly highly paid, why do they want more and more?
Perhaps, like the miners, they will eventually make themselves redundant.
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Can you believe the old B is still above ground .
Of course the miners were doing a dirty dangerous job rail workers are not .
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This is certainly true in Germany where we stayed a few years ago. The trains were on time, clean and inexpensive. A very pleasant journey.
Perhaps our company owners, drivers and all other employees should take a leaf out of their book, because everyone would benefit, including the customers who would be more inclined to use the train than drive.
You reach a certain age muddy and get a free pass.
Millions (x10s) of commuters use trains daily: season tickets are half price.
The casual user gets a poor deal.