Todays' Strikes - Food for thought

Regardless of the merits (or otherwise) of todays strikes, here's something to consider:

About 2 million public servants, financed by the council tax and income tax payers have withdrawn their services - should we taxpayers be offered a reduction in council and income tax equivalent to one days contribution against services not received?

Also consider this, the 2 million strikers will of course not be paid by their employers. Lets assume that the average wage these days is about £25k per annum, which is £96.13p per day. my simple mathematics makes that about £193,300,000.00 which the public sector employers have saved.

 

710,000 public sector jobs are predicted to go by 2017, according to today's Times, and there is a one in three chance of a recession next year. If the private sector goes to the wall, there won't be many public sector jobs left to strike over. I think it's time to give that Gardeners' Corner commune some serious thought. I've no doubt that there's enough practical knowledge here for us to be able to feed ourselves. Just one problem, though. Who is going to organise the armed militia which will be necessary to stop others from taking our stuff? How about Chopper and his 'club brothers'?

 

I make it an average of £4.56 per household, but by the time central government got their share of the rate support grant element back (so that could be re-distributed to those who pay NNDR), you might just be able to buy a pint/pkt of T&M seeds, but if administration costs were deducted it might be just be enough for get a treat for yourself from Poundland, but only if you live in a big house.

 

What I don`t understand is, the strike ballot was held in September, with a pro strike majority. Yet, on November 6th, an improved offer was made to the unions, which was NOT passed on to the members, and therefore no new strike ballot was held. Why are the union members allowing themselves to be steamrolled into this confrontation by union bosses on £100,000.00 plus a year?

 

Apparently 2 million people went out on strike today. Lets say it's just one day (I don't know if other strike days are planned), so that the country kept ticking along despite losing 2 million person/days out of the year.

And the government is ruthlessly looking to cut costs.

I wish people would pause to think for a moment before taking action. They see the government as their enemy on this issue (I make no judgement about that, it is their right). So why hand your enemy more ammo?

I wonder how many ministers are doodling on scraps of paper working out if today is proof that they can get rid of a few more people of the payroll.

 

When it comes down to it, the present government is trying to repair the immense damage the last government caused. Never mind the spoilt public sector, what about the overworked PRIVATE sector?

 

That MIGHT be one arguement, but one thing you are overlooking is, your bin will still be emptied, the police will still answer your call, your fire will still be put out, the elderly will still be cared for, etc etc etc....

Since none of us were party to the talks, I think it's not possible to REALLY determine what went on. However, it strikes me (pardon the pun) that the Government have been less than honest, saying that negotiations were still ongoing, when clearly they weren't. Also, apparently the Unions are STILL waiting for details of the renewed offer. If MY union guys were to tell me that there was a new offer on the table, the first thing I would want to know would be, how would it affect me. I wouldn't be very happy if they then told me that they didn't know!
Don't get me wrong, I can see both sides on this, but the language coming from some quarters, like that nitwit Michael Gove who said "they want to make economic recovery harder, to provide a platform for confrontation, just when we all need to pull together". Does he live in the real world? Also Cameron who said "a damp squib". Lets not forget, that the Unions are made up of members, and these members are just 'ordinary' human beings, like the rest of us, so it's ok to run down our fellow human beings? It's beginning to sound like the Thatcher era all over again.

The only reason that everyone is getting all excited over this, is because these workers are in the public eye. Indeed, if I and my fellow workers went on strike, no-one would take a blind bit of notice.

Oh yes, £25,000 is the average pay for a public worker? Well, some may well be making that, if not more, but lets not forget there are PLENTY that don't. Indeed, my wife gets around half of that for providing what I consider a professional service, that is to say, she has had all the relevant training and takes her job seriously. I mentioned in another thread, that she is in Homecare. It now looks VERY likely that her job is going to be put out to the private sector, and she will be made redundant. The basis for this is cost related, that is to say that the private sector can do it cheaper. "Fair enough" I hear you say, and in some respects, I would agree, but think on this, what about the quality of service? One often hears about neglect. I think we'll be hearing a lot more of these stories in the future. Maybe neglect of those less fortunate is a price worth paying?

Don't believe ALL you see and hear reported by those with an axe to grind and a story to sell.

Rant over...that's better

Cheers...Freddy.

 

Freddy, if I had my way people like your wife would be treated properly and we'd get rid of all the well paid non-jobs. Unfortunately I fear that, as usual, it will be the useful people who are in the firing line while the pointless bureaucrats will continue to draw generous salaries in return for passing treetreetree from desk to desk.

 

Same as it ever was......

 

Oh yes, there was a news article showing Mr Gove on strike himself, maybe 20 years ago? It would be nice to know how HIS pension is shaping up!

 

Several members of my family are Civil Servants, none of us went on strike.

However, before leaping to conclusions about how much public servants earn, it may be worth mentioning my youngest daughter (and all her contemporaries) ...

She is 24
She has a First Class BSc
It took her over 12 months to find any full-time job after leaving Uni
She's been a Civil Servant for a little over 2 years
Her salary has just reached £18,000 p.a. before tax, (which means she takes home about £14,602)
Her rail season ticket takes another £3,800 which means she has about £10,800 p.a. left to live on.
She's already been told there's a pay freeze for another 2 years at least and even if/when that's lifted she can expect only a 1% rise thereafter.
She's been told (if she stays a Civil Servant) she'll have to work until she's 69 to achieve a full pension.
She'd like to be able to save some money
She'd like to get married
She'd like to buy a house
She'd like to have a family one day
She'd like to be paid commensurate with her abilities and qualifications
She'd like a salary even approaching what the private sector get
She'd like to stop being used as 'an example' to the private sector
She'd like the Government to stop assuming the private sector will 'mop up' ex-Civil Servants since jobs in the private sector are as rare as hen's teeth

But most of all she'd like people to stop making assumptions about how much Civil Servants earn and how 'well off' they are.

 

I can see why you're cross about the misconceptions, FM. 'Public sector' is such a broad term, and as you point out most people who work in it are not exactly coining it in. (Mind you, some of the people OH works with are on very low salaries indeed, and have no security whatsoever if things go pear shaped over the next year or so.) I'm sorry to keep harping on about the same old thing ... but after my experiences with the local council I'm really hoping that the Director of Inclusion, the Deputy Head of Inclusion and the Wellbeing Officer are first in the firing line now that cutbacks have to be made. Somehow, I have the most horrible feeling that they probably aren't. Job titles are quite instructive, I find. If something sounds like a meaningless fudge, it probably is a meaningless fudge and the chances are that no one would notice if it were to go away. Unfortunately, however, another rule generally applies: the more grandiose the non-job, the less likely it is that its incumbent will feel the end of a boot.

 

Yes, I think that's it, Shiney. There really is little point in arguing about who is worst off, or who has endured the most broken promises. We're way past that point, and there is still a distinct danger that things will get a lot worse. If they do, the lucky ones will be those who can still eat and keep a roof over their heads. And the rest of us will rolling around in the gutter eating cardboard.

 

Just like to say that I moan and groan about my working conditions on a regular basis.

The usual response I get is, "why dont you get another job".

We all do it, but at the end of the day we stick at what we are doing for lots of diffeent reasons, we would all like more money, (I've not had a rise in four and a half years), and I dont earn the so called average wage.
And if I went on strike no body would notice, and I'd probably find myslf redundant in a short time.
So that just shows how unimportant I am.

Sometimes makes me wonder why I still have a job.:D