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Chessington World of Adventures Resort

One of my worst ever train experiences was to take a rush train from Chertsey into Waterloo for an evening in the West End.
Oops, signals problem, oops, engine issues, oops, two and a half hours journey.
Saved us a fortune on southern beer money.
 
Never had an issue with the service to Chessington South and been on it several times on Sundays. As others have said, just tap in and out and it’ll charge you the best fare, which is really quite cheap, even more so if you have a railcard linked to an Oyster card. Just watch out for the frequency of service at the end of the day. I’m sure at some point it drops to 1 service an hour which is a bit miserable if you just miss it.
 

Chessington World of Adventure facing strike threat in pay dispute​


The popular theme park, Chessington World of Adventure, faces ride closures and disruption this spring and summer, due to its engineers balloting for strike action in a dispute over pay.

Engineers balloted​

The engineers, who are members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, are totally responsible for the safe running of the park in Surrey. They are fully trained in ensuring all the rides are operating safely and ensure that safety systems are fully functioning.

The engineers are seeking a pay rise in line with the real inflation rate (RPI), which currently stands at 13.8 per cent. The employer is seeking to impose a real terms pay cut on its workers.

Wealthy company​

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Merlin Attractions is a highly profitable company that could and should be offering a decent pay rise to its engineers, who are dedicated to keeping the park operating safely.

“Unite is wholly dedicated to enhancing the jobs, pay and conditions of its members. Our members at Chessington World Adventure will receive Unite’s complete support.”

Spring strikes​

The strike ballot closes on Wednesday 12 April and if the members vote in favour of strikes, industrial action could begin before the end of next month.

The owner of Chessington World of Adventure, Merlin Attractions is highly profitable and its theme park division recorded profits of £87 million in 2021 (the latest accounts) as the company recovered strongly from Covid.

Disruption inevitable​

Unite regional officer Lui D’Cunha said: “Strike action will inevitably cause extreme disruption to the operation of Chessington World of Adventure but this dispute is entirely of the employer’s own making. It has had every opportunity to resolve this dispute through negotiations but has chosen not to.

“Our members are simply seeking a pay increase in line with the real inflation rate.”

Article from unite the union.
 
Given that Chessington appears to be the wealthiest non-Lego attraction in Merlin's UK portfolio (look at all the investment they've been pumping into the park) they have no excuse but to pay their skilled workforce. Here's hoping something positive comes out of this.
 
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Weird how it's being reported. You would have thought similar roles at the other Merlin parks would be represented in the same way, but who knows.

Not sure what percentage they have actually been offered? They have increased gate prices by about 5% year-on-year, which could be used as an argument of sorts, but overall I agree - they are massively underpaid and further embedded wage erosion is the last thing people need.
 
Tom said:
Weird how it's being reported. You would have thought similar roles at the other Merlin parks would be represented in the same way, but who knows.
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It might just be that the other attractions don’t have as many staff joining the union. One active person can get the rest of their team to join and therefore putting the whole team in a stronger position. If the Legoland staff choose not to unionise then that’s their choice.
 
John_P said:
I'm going to be in London in June, is the train service from Waterloo to Chessington South a reliable service? Figure may as well try to get on Mandrill Mayhem if I'm nearby.

Also for said train service is it tap and go with your card like the tube or book another ticket instead?
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We've used the chessington premier inn as a base for the southern parks a couple of times a year for the last 5

Always go into london one day using the train and have never had a problem once either way
 
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You must have a lot of people that do it there for the love of it and little else, and then others that simply use the place as a stepping stone to other things. Sad, but that will potentially play a role in the poor reliability of many of Merlin's rides.
 
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