Industrial Action

With so many Brits feeling "left behind" in a society run by an elite that doesn't care for them (bless!) with everybody and their dog feeling hard done by and an increasingly inflationary economy that is already pushing up prices, is it inevitable that we are heading into years of industrial unrest just like the good old days? Wages are set to be frozen or capped as soon as we get out of the EU if May's Government have their way so it seems inevitable that there is going to be a response.

The train drivers were doing it today and now airline crew have just voted "overwhelmingly" to go on strike. Is this just a one-off or are we heading back to the '80s as I suspect we might be?

A return to the 80's?

Well, given that you can now be openly racist, homophobic and misogynist with apparent impunity, I'd say it's 1973 already.

Especially seeing as it's looking like we're in with a good shout of securing promotion from Division 3.

Jimmy Armfield's Super White Army!

Wander, I think you're right. We're heading somewhere, and I don't think its going to be a nice place for many. I don't think the speculation by the press helps though. I saw an article, by the Telegraph, that had a heading of 'Prepare for petrol price shock'. Turns out that a full tank of petrol will cost a further £2.75 (that's for a 55 litre tank), in time for Christmas. Thats not even the cost of a coffee !

gloswhite wrote:Wander, I think you're right. We're heading somewhere, and I don't think its going to be a nice place for many. I don't think the speculation by the press helps though. I saw an article, by the Telegraph, that had a heading of 'Prepare for petrol price shock'. Turns out that a full tank of petrol will cost a further £2.75 (that's for a 55 litre tank), in time for Christmas. Thats not even the cost of a coffee !

Tip of the iceberg IMO Glos.
I just think the conditions are heading towards being the same as they were back then - a lot of similarities - so if inflation kicks fully in over the next couple of years as it's likely to with the devaluation of the pound and the trade disruption of leaving the EU, I can imagine a lot of unrest and industrial action coming our way for the first time in decades - which is ironic seeing as we have never had it so good as recent times.

You can, in most respects, have some sympathy for the "Workers." People see little or no increase in real terms in their salary. I am again going to get a 1% increase which on my payscale is about £400 per annum. Lots of the workforce are on minimum wage or zero hours contract. No overtime really as the seven day week has been created and it's normal to work unsocial hours, weekends, bank holidays without any pay enhancement. Yet the gobbmint are dead keen to get all these industrial relations problems sorted so that they can then give themselves a 10%+ payrise and extra time at the trough. People are disenchanted, and disenfranchised, by cost of living going up while monetary value plunges. More and more each day I can see the growing need for unions to protect workers rights. It's a merrygoround that is going to cause tears by bedtime. Even in the forces lots of my compadries are banging in for early release as salaries at NATS are superior to the forces. This is not just my branch but all branches in all three services. It won't be simply a winter of discontent, it'll be a disaster.

Bollotom2014 wrote:You can, in most respects, have some sympathy for the "Workers." People see little or no increase in real terms in their salary. I am again going to get a 1% increase which on my payscale is about £400 per annum. Lots of the workforce are on minimum wage or zero hours contract. No overtime really as the seven day week has been created and it's normal to work unsocial hours, weekends, bank holidays without any pay enhancement. Yet the gobbmint are dead keen to get all these industrial relations problems sorted so that they can then give themselves a 10%+ payrise and extra time at the trough. People are disenchanted, and disenfranchised, by cost of living going up while monetary value plunges. More and more each day I can see the growing need for unions to protect workers rights. It's a merrygoround that is going to cause tears by bedtime. Even in the forces lots of my compadries are banging in for early release as salaries at NATS are superior to the forces. This is not just my branch but all branches in all three services. It won't be simply a winter of discontent, it'll be a disaster.

It's when wages stagnate against a backdrop of rising prices that it usually kicks off but the workers are not united or even mutually supportive as they once were, so some sector or other will be demonised in the media as soon as they act. The Gov need to be divisive in order to justify clamping down on industrial action as they did with the miners although I appreciate that the forces can't strike and will be perceived as being heroes regardless that pensions are higher than many sectors. I think that the same attitudes that were at force in the referendum will prevail as soon as industrial action kicks in. As mentioned elsewhere, I don't believe that people are as happy as they once were despite being much better off so everyone will have their noses out of joint and I feel that there's trouble ahead.

Are we better off now than we've ever been though?

I've got grown men in their 50's who work for me who earn £14,000 pa.

That's shocking.

I started out as a graduate trainee on £10,000 pa in 1991. That's 26 years ago.


When you break it down, it works out at £7.70 per hour which is actually 50p above minimum wage and therein lies another problem.

The idea of a minimum wage is great in principle because it stops people being exploited for three quid an hour but on the other hand, it's a convenient kop out for employers who want to pay the absolute minimum they can get away with for what is perceived as "non-skilled" work.

I don't give a shit what anybody says about job satisfaction and all that guff; we all get out of bed in the morning because somebody pays us to do so - end of.

But in all honesty, I wouldn't do what my team are expected to do for £14k a year.

If we're serious about "Making Britain Great Again" post Brexit, we need to look at what we pay people because any malcontent could be avoided simply by paying people a fair wage.

For a minimum / living wage to be worthwhile, it needs to be capable of delivering a decent standard of living and the current set-up doesn't.

i work for the NHS and have forgotten what a pay rise is but i earn decent money (for washing bedpans) so can't complain too much.

We do have a lot of staff on low incomes in our department due to their low job banding and i do wonder how they cope but i suppose you have to cut your cloth accordingly.

The issue with minimum wage now is that its seen as jobs for immigrants and our lazy underclass will not be keen on fruit picking when Brexit finally happens

Norpig wrote:We do have a lot of staff on low incomes in our department due to their low job banding

What do they do dry them 

whatsgoingon wrote:

Norpig wrote:We do have a lot of staff on low incomes in our department due to their low job banding

What do they do dry them 

 no they have pick out the solids by hand 

Norpig wrote:

whatsgoingon wrote:

Norpig wrote:We do have a lot of staff on low incomes in our department due to their low job banding

What do they do dry them 

 no they have pick out the solids by hand 

Please delete this before Bonce finds a panda or Bruce related picture to match 

Bread2.0 wrote:
I've got grown men in their 50's who work for me who earn £14,000 pa.

But in all honesty, I wouldn't do what my team are expected to do for £14k a year.

Well pay them more then and prove you're a nice man after all!?!
Wait a minute, you'll be the middle man who kicks arse when the piper tells you?
So you all work for the same piper, but you're the one with no mates!!

Soul Kitchen wrote:

Bread2.0 wrote:
I've got grown men in their 50's who work for me who earn £14,000 pa.

But in all honesty, I wouldn't do what my team are expected to do for £14k a year.

Well pay them more then and prove you're a nice man after all!?!
Wait a minute, you'll be the middle man who kicks arse when the piper tells you?
So you all work for the same piper, but you're the one with no mates!!

Essentially, yes.

It's no surprise that this situation has arisen due to the demise of the Unions and the influx of not only high skilled labour, medics, IT, etc. and low skilled labour who can earn more than at home and still send cash back to their families. 
The working man has always been his own worst enemy, and generally, is too dumb to realise it till its too late!
I recall a situation when I was in my early 20's when pay negotiations were due. At the office Christmas party the ale was flowing and the music playing. Needless to say when the union reps were suitably oiled they were taken into the boss' office and pay wise the deed was done!
It would seem, despite their senior years, they were too dumb and fell for such a simple ruse, and the majority swallowed it like sheep on the grassy  meadow!!

Soul Kitchen wrote:It's no surprise that this situation has arisen due to the demise of the Unions and the influx of not only high skilled labour, medics, IT, etc. and low skilled labour who can earn more than at home and still send cash back to their families. 
The working man has always been his own worst enemy, and generally, is too dumb to realise it till its too late!
I recall a situation when I was in my early 20's when pay negotiations were due. At the office Christmas party the ale was flowing and the music playing. Needless to say when the union reps were suitably oiled they were taken into the boss' office and pay wise the deed was done!
It would seem, despite their senior years, they were too dumb to fall for such a simple ruse, and the majority swallowed it like sheep on the grassy  meadow!!

Spot on.

Years ago I was a Rep for the BFAWU but it only lasted about 6 months because some of the stuff that I saw and heard genuinely turned my stomach.

We had a full-time official on site who spent all his time playing golf and drinking 10 year old single malt with the big boss.

Monthly branch meetings were a farce, as the guy in question acted more like an extension of the senior management team than an advocate of the workers' rights.

I attended Conference and (naively) was shocked and appalled that everybody there seemed to be more interested in enjoying their own importance and how clever they were than actually getting anything done.

I'm a Socialist. I always have been and I always will be but I've got very little time for those running (what's left) of our trade unions.

At the end of the day everybody trys to improve their lot, and quite rightly so. I've often found that some folk become union reps because they're shit at their jobs and as such, use the position to improve their own standing. However they also take the willing sheep with them, as is required, to maintain their job.
As an example, I'm well aware of this with a former mayor and a MP!!

Unfortunately, the solidarity required to present a  united front to employers, and especially government, has been undermined by the influx of people who don't have a history of higher wages, and are happy to get by on lower wages, simply because that is what they are used to. The whole work and pay infrastructure is damaged, and there is no easy way back. As ever, everyone is blaming everyone else, and the only ones keeping quiet are the rich and mega rich. We all used to have a saying, 'Come the revolution', but in one form or another, I think its about to start.

Doubt it Glos.  At the end of the day people's arse holes will let them down. We are too staid in this country.

SK, if something isn't sorted fairly soon, the whole country will go to ratshit, for so many reasons. I'll have to keep the wife working for longer than she thinks 

The country will go to rat shit!!
People's attitudes towards other people and other folk's property and privacy has long changed. You and I are both aware of that given our ages and unfortunately it's every man for himself in the jungle. 
As an adage your own personal morals have to take a hit on certain occasions in order to prevent agro and that is a stress in itself!