Are the TUC now out of touch?

[dave50]

The only people that are in unions these days are those working in the public sector. So for them to be planning strikes and civil disobedience in order to protect their pensions and jobs which I pay for through my exhorbitant taxes I find disgusting. They will get no support whatsoever from those working in the private sector as it's they who pay for it all.

[sandyRoe]

I believe Voltaire wrote about England that is was considered a good thing to kill an admiral now and then to encourage the others.
If a few of the fat-cat bankers had been put up against a wall and shot the others might not be as keen to gamble with our money and then expect the poorest in society to pay the bill.

[Sqad]

Dr Filth... ever body makes mistakes..........but don't get the sack.

The bankers had employment contracts which didn't depend on results in many cases.

I couldn't care less about the Banker's condition of employment and "hammering" them with taxes and restrictive pay deals, will not affect the general economy one bit.....in my opinion.

[jno]

belonged to a union all my working life, never regretted it, it was a great help to me and others in times of difficulty, so good luck to them.

In America they put crooked bankers in jail; in Britain they don't. They've even given up shooting admirals. Only workers get blamed for anything these days.

[emmie]

The Labour party relies to a large extent on the unions to keep them in business, without them, they will find life very difficult indeed. As to pensions, no one is entitled to a gold plated one, ring fenced or call it what you will. Million of people in the private sector have paid into theirs over years, and seen them plundered, and wrecked. Fat cats should also apply to Union bosses, let's not forget that, large salaries, car, travel perks, and so on. And a pension that would i'm sure be gold plated.

[DrFilth]

think some people on this site would love to go back to these good old days


http://s655.photobuck...iew¤t=IMG-5.jpg

[Sqad]

DrFilth.... you failed to mention the children up the chimneys...;-)

[DrFilth]

notice your mates were making money out of it


>> but they had to be examined by a doctor and this cost was deducted from their wages << :)

[Bobbisox]

I dare not answer here...I am very Labour and don't hide it nor would I want to, I have witnessed first hand what happened when Thatcher took the Unions by the balls, the Unions haven't done anything for me but then I haven't needed them to +as a BT employee, I had to be in a union, what I am saying is, yes, everyone has a democratic right to withdraw their labour but we are in a Financial mess through the fat cat Bankers and co, the Strikes will never achieve their objective with this Government and will only hurt the people

[emmie]

DF, people dont have to work on sat/sun, its beneficial if they do
Many people work at weekends, emergency workers for a start, and some who balance children, home, work.
Life has moved on from children up going up the chimneys, and down coal mines. And thank heavens for that.
Do you shop at the weekend, go to the laundry, or need some parts for your car, motor bike, cycle, all these outlets keep people in jobs, and customers are happy they can do these things at the weekend.
if you work 9-5 monday to friday, that would be the only time available.

[DrFilth]

em >> people dont have to work on sat/sun,<< you must be joking

lots of firms class saturday or sunday as a normal day and please do not tell me that you don't have to accept these jobs

[Old_Geezer]

Were that so B00 then you'd have a point. But honouring the agreements with the staff who provide the product/service is not, "something else entirely", it is part of the costs.

[Slapshot]

Tell you what folks put yourself in my and the rest of the public servant in the UK's shoes.

We are in the midst of a three year pay freeze with inflation at 4.5%, we've had our overtime rates cut, shift allowances cut and all the while prices rising. Now after 25 years service we are being forced into pension changes which will cost us more of our take home pay. Great theory, pay you less and then demand you pay more for your pension.

As a citizen I don't mind the austerity measures if the were fair to everyone but stop making the public servants be the whipping boys of the austerity measures. For the record my basic salary is less than £25000pa.

The right to protest is there for a reason and my own view is that people should be getting behind the people who provide the infrastructure services the country needs, rather than slagging them off for daring to want to protest.

Get behind public servants, join them in tackling this pathetic government and their blatant pandering to the rich, the fat cat bankers and their tax breaks that short change this country in the region of £40 BILLION a year in uncollected taxes.

[jd_here]

'BrainTracy' .... you should change your name to NoBrainsTracy with an answer like that!

[flip_flop]

I don't think anybody is denying that bankers well and truly ballsed up - but that is an entirely different subject to public sector workers deciding to strike.

Yes, agreed, there is a dearth of money largely due to the bankers which has resulted in the austerity measures we are facing, but these measures are being faced by all of us.

As my father used to say - 'I can't give you what I haven't got'

If the public sector workers are having to take pension cuts or (the inhumanity of it) having to work longer, well so what?

Aside from the fact that I've never understood why I am required to pay for a public sector worker's retirement, if their pensions are taking a hammering, they can do what I and hundreds of thousands of other people do and take out a personal pension.

I'm sick of their bitching and moaning

[Slapshot]

Unfortunately Flip-Flop we can't, we have to pick up the CS package. There was a time years ago we could opt out but we would have lost much of what had already been earned, it wasn't popular.

When you're bins are not collected or your kids cant go to school or you cant get hospital appointments or you cant renew your recently expired passport for your expensive hioliday or any of the rest of the infrastructure elements people take for granted are not there any more, who will be whinging and complaining. All Civil Servants want is a fair crack at the whip, nothing more.

When most join up they do so in the knowledge that pay isn't brilliant but there is a fair pension in place, that's now being challenged too. I pay into my pension scheme the same as most of the private sector and MOST of the Civil Service as well. The only freebies out there these days are the politicians

[Jayne-123]

Our union want £18 a month to join, fat chance I am paying that. In previous jobs the union didn't help me when I was being made redundant so a big waste of money.

[jno]

regarding union pay: our union boss got about £65,000. Our CEO got £2.5 million. The union man was not the fat cat!

[flip_flop]

With respect slapshot, you are confusing 'can't' with 'won't'.

There is nothing to stop public sector workers from taking out their own plan to supplement their public sector pension.

My pension pot has taken an absolute hammering of late......I just have to live with it.

[bazwillrun]

Try sacking a public sector worker when they cock up, virtually impossible.
thank the unions for that

[vulcan]

And a strike will help... how exactly ?