Each strike has a different cause. Some right, some not imo.

Or don’t join a union, and get walked all over by your employer

OP, you’re doing that thing that people like you do. Where you think your own personal experiences are the only thing that’s relevant in these discussions. The same kind of logic as ‘I used to wear three jumpers in the winter so therefore people today are woke snowflakes because they have central heating’ or ‘if people didn’t have Netflix and Starbucks they’d own a 4 bedroom house in Surrey’.

Unions had their purpose once.
If you are not man enough to let your employer walk all over you then you are not man enough.

comment by goadocwatson (U1016)
posted 34 seconds ago
Unions had their purpose once.
If you are not man enough to let your employer walk all over you then you are not man enough.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Stop accidentally doing my job for me, please

comment by goadocwatson (U1016)
posted 41 seconds ago
Unions had their purpose once.
If you are not man enough to let your employer walk all over you then you are not man enough.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Eh?

Since our company was taken over around 12 years ago, the new owners have repeatedly tried & failed to take away our monthly bonus, October week off, stop the pension scheme, and change many working practices along with trying to freeze pay

Only being in a strong union with other trade unions within the same industry fighting together has stopped those things happening

comment by goadocwatson (U1016)
posted 16 seconds ago
Unions had their purpose once.
If you are not man enough to let your employer walk all over you then you are not man enough.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
What a very strange way to look at things!!

It doesn’t matter these days if you’re “man enough” is this about being a tough guy? (Obv you think it is)

I did actually used to own a 4 bedroom house in Surrey but hated making my own instant coffee and only having access to Skys basic package so I sold up and moved back home.

Netflix and Starbucks are good but I’ve also got an Audi A1 on finance plus an iPhone 14 pro.

If you’re willing to make sacrifices you can have all of these things too.

comment by Patrizio Billio (U1734)
posted 4 minutes ago
comment by goadocwatson (U1016)
posted 34 seconds ago
Unions had their purpose once.
If you are not man enough to let your employer walk all over you then you are not man enough.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Stop accidentally doing my job for me, please
----------------------------------------------------------------------

The UK has some of the most restrictive, anti-union laws of any democratic country. The threshold for participation levels in a vote to strike is set very high. A vote to strike therefore indicates a situation where the unionised workforce is highly motivated to participate in the ballot, and a clear majority in favour of taking action. Let's remember that withholding their labour also means going without their salary. It's hard to imagine this being done for frivolous reasons, nor credible to imagine workers being induced to strike against their wishes or interests by pampered union bosses. Let's also remember that we have a modern phenomenon of in-work poverty: wages have badly lagged behind the cost of living, and public sector wages in particular since the austerity policies brought in by the Cameron government.

Robb - Which part of my post are you referring to? And it is always sad when sad people say "people like you" and do not explain why because they haven't got an effing clue!!!

The strikes in the NHS aren't just about wages. They are also about dangerous staffing levels. Please don't generalise like so many others have on this issue. We have a huge shortage of doctors and many are turning away from nursing profession too.

Weird OP.

The normal position of any decent person is to support their fellow citizens in fighting for improved wages, terms, conditions and security - particularly in the midst of a cost of living crisis, stagnant wages, a rampant gig economy, house prices, and so on.

comment by Patrizio Billio (U1734)
posted 9 minutes ago
comment by goadocwatson (U1016)
posted 34 seconds ago
Unions had their purpose once.
If you are not man enough to let your employer walk all over you then you are not man enough.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Stop accidentally doing my job for me, please
----------------------------------------------------------------------

comment by Patrizio Billio (U1734)
posted 10 minutes ago
comment by goadocwatson (U1016)
posted 34 seconds ago
Unions had their purpose once.
If you are not man enough to let your employer walk all over you then you are not man enough.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Stop accidentally doing my job for me, please
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Maybe he thought you were on strike too.

comment by goadocwatson (U1016)
posted 9 minutes ago
Unions had their purpose once.
If you are not man enough to let your employer walk all over you then you are not man enough.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

How do you channel your manliness with your employer? By bursting into the board room and growling? Or stating your worth and threatening to leave for another employer? (That is, be prepared to withhold labour, like a unionised worker.)

And how do you apply this principle to large organisations such as the NHS and the railways, where salaries are not based on individual negotiations but blanket pay grades?

comment by goadocwatson (U1016)
posted 6 minutes ago
Robb - Which part of my post are you referring to? And it is always sad when sad people say "people like you" and do not explain why because they haven't got an effing clue!!!
----------------------------------------------------------------------

You have made several baseless generalisations already on page 1 of this discussion.

comment by goadocwatson (U1016)
posted 7 minutes ago
Robb - Which part of my post are you referring to? And it is always sad when sad people say "people like you" and do not explain why because they haven't got an effing clue!!!
----------------------------------------------------------------------

I think your OP pretty much says it all. The world doesn’t revolve around your own experiences. Maybe try and see the world through other peoples eyes.

I hope my intelligence doesn’t degrade to this extent when I retire.

Sounds like the OP is a race to the bottom loving cretin

It is called personal pride.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

comment by Patrizio Billio (U1734)
posted 16 minutes ago
comment by goadocwatson (U1016)
posted 34 seconds ago
Unions had their purpose once.
If you are not man enough to let your employer walk all over you then you are not man enough.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Stop accidentally doing my job for me, please
----------------------------------------------------------------------
best comment Barry has ever made

One of my closes mates is a teacher at a primary school, yeah I mock him a bit with ‘banter’ around working 9-3 and having all the holidays etc but genuinely he’s been struggling the past year because of the lack of funds and the state of the school. He teaches because he loves doing it not because it’s just a job, the strikes aren’t just about money. He has to fork out his own money going out to places like Costco to get supplies for his class, stationery or arts and crafts materials just to make the lessons what they should be for kids that age, otherwise it’s just sit down and teach the stuff from the script because that’s what fits the budget.

comment by Red Russian (U4715)
posted 7 minutes ago
The UK has some of the most restrictive, anti-union laws of any democratic country. The threshold for participation levels in a vote to strike is set very high. A vote to strike therefore indicates a situation where the unionised workforce is highly motivated to participate in the ballot, and a clear majority in favour of taking action. Let's remember that withholding their labour also means going without their salary. It's hard to imagine this being done for frivolous reasons, nor credible to imagine workers being induced to strike against their wishes or interests by pampered union bosses. Let's also remember that we have a modern phenomenon of in-work poverty: wages have badly lagged behind the cost of living, and public sector wages in particular since the austerity policies brought in by the Cameron government.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
UK also has the worst productivity amongst comparable nations.

When I travel my unscientific observations abroad note bins being emptied diligently, tradesmen working hard, shop workers looking interested, lanes coned off generally having real work being done. All too typically here are guys in vans reading The Sun, swathes of roads coned off for months with no progress, queues at checkouts and the roads don't get swept., which blocks the drains, which burst the road that gets coned off for months...

As I said, unscientific but hey.

comment by FFS Mike. (U1170)
posted 1 minute ago
One of my closes mates is a teacher at a primary school, yeah I mock him a bit with ‘banter’ around working 9-3 and having all the holidays etc but genuinely he’s been struggling the past year because of the lack of funds and the state of the school. He teaches because he loves doing it not because it’s just a job, the strikes aren’t just about money. He has to fork out his own money going out to places like Costco to get supplies for his class, stationery or arts and crafts materials just to make the lessons what they should be for kids that age, otherwise it’s just sit down and teach the stuff from the script because that’s what fits the budget.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Unfortunately, a lot of schools find themselves in this situation. Add to that the reduced budgets for schools (in Wales) next financial year, and it’s set to get far worse. About a 5% budget cut. Headteachers will have a difficult choice of letting staff go, or children go without the necessary equipment for their learning. Bit of a catch 22, because you need teachers to get the best out of said equipment so the children can fulfill their potential.