This governments shenanigans

Discussion about miscellaneous topics not covered by other forums
rayf
Posts: 1806
Joined: Fri Nov 12 2010 8:50pm
Has thanked: 530 times
Been thanked: 799 times
Contact:

Re: This governments shenanigans

Post by rayf » Tue Jun 21 2022 11:33am

What more do people want? Millions of jobs have been paid/saved for the best part of two years and now they want an immediate pay rise. I agree that a pay rise would always be welcome but if everyone gets a pay rise, inflation will increase even more. This makes it harder for pensioners and others on a very limited or no income. It also leads to a devaluation of the pound which further increases inflation and so the cycle continues.
Pay rises are not the solution. This is just for the selfish. We've had a couple of very hard years, not just for individuals but for the country as a whole - it doesn't hurt for people to cut back a little until things settle down. Its strange that those going on strike are in one of the better paid industries - I'm sure there are millions of people who would welcome their salaries.
This should not be a matter of politics but common sense.

I know many of you are going to slam this but i've not heard of any sensible solutions....
Thanked by: annfen

Richard Frost
Posts: 13232
Joined: Tue Jun 29 2010 8:14pm
Location: The Isle of Dreams
Has thanked: 2874 times
Been thanked: 6862 times

Re: This governments shenanigans

Post by Richard Frost » Tue Jun 21 2022 12:00pm

rayf wrote:
Tue Jun 21 2022 11:33am
What more do people want? Millions of jobs have been paid/saved for the best part of two years and now they want an immediate pay rise. I agree that a pay rise would always be welcome but if everyone gets a pay rise, inflation will increase even more. This makes it harder for pensioners and others on a very limited or no income. It also leads to a devaluation of the pound which further increases inflation and so the cycle continues.
Pay rises are not the solution. This is just for the selfish. We've had a couple of very hard years, not just for individuals but for the country as a whole - it doesn't hurt for people to cut back a little until things settle down. Its strange that those going on strike are in one of the better paid industries - I'm sure there are millions of people who would welcome their salaries.
This should not be a matter of politics but common sense.

I know many of you are going to slam this but i've not heard of any sensible solutions....
I have no intention of slamming you, but just want to point out a few facts. I also want to say that I do not support the strike and to an extent think that the RMT wants to have a dispute with this government to try and break it up. Having said that the government could have done a lot more to avert this strike a long time ago. Some of the rubbish being spouted by some people in government including Grant Shapps is just a mouthful of untruths.

Yes the rail industry is one of the better paid industries. But the people on strike today are not the better paid within that industry, They are cleaners/maintenance workers and other lower paid workers within that industry. Some who have not had a pay raise for a couple of years because of restraints within the industry. Pay is not the only thing that is on the agenda. It is also about large scale redundancies with notices due to to be sent out on 1st July. In a years time it is planned that all ticket offices will be unstaffed with ticketing fully automated within the industry. (Some may say that is a good thing and that technology should be embraced) It is also about safety issues that the unmanning of many stations across the country will bring. A vital conversation that needs to be had.
Talking about the RMT strikes on BBC Breakfast, Grant Shapps said the median salary “for the whole of the railways” was £44,000.

The RMT union disputes this figure because it includes train drivers, who belong to a different union, and does not include cleaners, 10,000 of whom belong to the RMT.

When challenged on this, Shapps said the figure was “including the cleaners… these are factual figures”.

But he is mistaken.

The £44,000 figure comes from the Office for National Statistics, which bases it on five categories of workers:

Rail travel assistants, including ticket collectors, guards and information staff
Rail construction and maintenance operatives, who lay and repair tracks
Rail transport operatives, including signallers and drivers' assistants
Train and tram drivers
Rail and rolling stock builders and repairers.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-61827345

The people currently on strike have a median salary of £24 - £28.000

If you think this is bad, then heed the warning more is yet to come with teachers, NHS and other public sector workers all saying they may ballot for industrial action in the near future.
Last edited by Richard Frost on Tue Jun 21 2022 12:29pm, edited 4 times in total.

macliam
Posts: 11226
Joined: Thu Jul 18 2013 12:26pm
Location: By the Deben, Suffolk
Has thanked: 1630 times
Been thanked: 9281 times
Contact:

Re: This governments shenanigans

Post by macliam » Tue Jun 21 2022 12:48pm

rayf wrote:
Tue Jun 21 2022 11:33am
What more do people want? Millions of jobs have been paid/saved for the best part of two years and now they want an immediate pay rise. I agree that a pay rise would always be welcome but if everyone gets a pay rise, inflation will increase even more. This makes it harder for pensioners and others on a very limited or no income. It also leads to a devaluation of the pound which further increases inflation and so the cycle continues.
Pay rises are not the solution. This is just for the selfish. We've had a couple of very hard years, not just for individuals but for the country as a whole - it doesn't hurt for people to cut back a little until things settle down. Its strange that those going on strike are in one of the better paid industries - I'm sure there are millions of people who would welcome their salaries.
This should not be a matter of politics but common sense.

I know many of you are going to slam this but i've not heard of any sensible solutions....
Perhaps what people want is a little honesty and transparency. Those striking have not had a pay rise for a couple of years - and, as said above, they are not the well-paid drivers, etc. - but all this is ignored by a government keen to set worker against worker and to drive down the terms and conditions of people and make their employment unstable. This is a government that likes the idea of agency staff and casual workers and those on zero-hours contracts because they have no rights, whilst voting for pay increases for themselves and their cronies.

Much of what was done in the pandemic was a calculated cost, not altruism ...... because the thought of millions on the dole queue and then having to restart commerce post-pandemic was unacceptable - and let's be honest, it helped the owners and shareholders of companies as much as the workers. We will all pay for that handout..... just as we are all paying for the failure to regulate the energy sector and the short-termism of energy policy. However, all this has not stopped the gap between CEO pay and worker's pay increasing.... so, like after the banking crisis, it is not those that profited that are asked to pay, but those whose earnings can be controlled.

Until yesterday, a pay settlement had not even been suggested by the rail companies.... who insisted that the unions agree to "economies" before even giving a figure. There may be economies to be made in the Railways, but not by cleaners and booking-office people.... except by losing their jobs. Meanwhile the rail companies continue to fill their pockets from the public purse.... and expect subsidies to do what they are contracted to do.

What is crippling the country are the chancers in charge who come up with wonderful reasons for pay constraint year after year, such that people are earning 20% less in real terms than they did before.... and then claim that a rise to stop the slide is "greedy".
Thanked by: parchedpeas
Just because I'm paranoid, it doesn't mean they're not out to get me

Richard Frost
Posts: 13232
Joined: Tue Jun 29 2010 8:14pm
Location: The Isle of Dreams
Has thanked: 2874 times
Been thanked: 6862 times

Re: This governments shenanigans

Post by Richard Frost » Tue Jul 05 2022 6:14pm

Health Secretary Sajid Javid has just resigned from his role, saying he has "lost confidence" in Boris Johnson.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-politics-62048657

Apparantly Rishi Sunak has now also resigned.

macliam
Posts: 11226
Joined: Thu Jul 18 2013 12:26pm
Location: By the Deben, Suffolk
Has thanked: 1630 times
Been thanked: 9281 times
Contact:

Re: This governments shenanigans

Post by macliam » Tue Jul 05 2022 6:34pm

Richard Frost wrote:
Tue Jul 05 2022 6:14pm
Health Secretary Sajid Javid has just resigned from his role, saying he has "lost confidence" in Boris Johnson.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-politics-62048657

Apparantly Rishi Sunak has now also resigned.
Both setting themselves up for a leadership race........ who will be the next rat?
Just because I'm paranoid, it doesn't mean they're not out to get me

Sarah
Posts: 5830
Joined: Sat Jun 26 2010 10:01am
Has thanked: 432 times
Been thanked: 4414 times
Contact:

Re: This governments shenanigans

Post by Sarah » Tue Jul 05 2022 6:43pm

Truss surely should be making a move now if she really fancies the leadership role herself.

Raab, Patel and Kwarteng are allegedly affirming support for Johnson.

Sarah
Posts: 5830
Joined: Sat Jun 26 2010 10:01am
Has thanked: 432 times
Been thanked: 4414 times
Contact:

Re: This governments shenanigans

Post by Sarah » Tue Jul 05 2022 6:55pm

Truss, Braverman and Mogg also say they're staying:
https://twitter.com/TomLarkinSky/status ... c8EZ-tSxNw

macliam
Posts: 11226
Joined: Thu Jul 18 2013 12:26pm
Location: By the Deben, Suffolk
Has thanked: 1630 times
Been thanked: 9281 times
Contact:

Re: This governments shenanigans

Post by macliam » Tue Jul 05 2022 7:03pm

Larry the Cat makes a personal statement....Image

"I cannot, in good conscience, continue to chase rodents in Number 10, when so many are jumping ship...."
Just because I'm paranoid, it doesn't mean they're not out to get me

macliam
Posts: 11226
Joined: Thu Jul 18 2013 12:26pm
Location: By the Deben, Suffolk
Has thanked: 1630 times
Been thanked: 9281 times
Contact:

Re: This governments shenanigans

Post by macliam » Tue Jul 05 2022 8:39pm

Sarah wrote:
Tue Jul 05 2022 6:43pm
Truss surely should be making a move now if she really fancies the leadership role herself.

Raab, Patel and Kwarteng are allegedly affirming support for Johnson.
No surprise, if Johnson goes they are dead meat.
Just because I'm paranoid, it doesn't mean they're not out to get me

macliam
Posts: 11226
Joined: Thu Jul 18 2013 12:26pm
Location: By the Deben, Suffolk
Has thanked: 1630 times
Been thanked: 9281 times
Contact:

Re: This governments shenanigans

Post by macliam » Tue Jul 05 2022 8:40pm

Sarah wrote:
Tue Jul 05 2022 6:55pm
Truss, Braverman and Mogg also say they're staying:
https://twitter.com/TomLarkinSky/status ... c8EZ-tSxNw
Truss has made the kind of judgement for which she is famous..... i.e. the wrong one. Braverman has no life beyond Johnson and Mogg is irrelevant.......
Just because I'm paranoid, it doesn't mean they're not out to get me

Locked

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 11 guests