People Striking

I'm not the hugest fan either due to having to take a day off at work (unpaid I might add!) to accommodate the teachers' strike on Thursday.

I think it depends on the reason...and how much it affects me!

Certain unions strike more than others, and quite often for very petty reasons... the trains and Bob Crow for one...

Mr C is still at school on Thursday, he is not striking. I know that their pensions are being changed but they are still in line with the private sector, if not better off!!

Rant over!!

I can see where people are coming from. I work in the public sector and fully support the strike action as we're getting a very rough deal pay/ pension wise. Saying that, I feel for the parents who have to take a day off work to look after the children whose teachers are striking.

My organisation has cut loads of posts, and those left have had to relocate which has cost a lot of money - me being one of them. I appreciate everyone is affected by the downturn in the economy, however the public sector seems to be struggling the most.

I really hope your airline don't stirke, Moo. Apparently RB appealed to them & they are still in talks so fingers crossed.

Red Baroness?! has she got pull then with Virgin Airlines?!

As a teacher, Mr RB is striking on Thursday. With schools the way they are these days, having a good pension is one of the few things keeping people in the teaching profession.

The proposed changes mean that they will have to pay up to £100 per month more in their pensions, work longer to get it and receive less. I think when calculated that some will lose over £250,000 over their retirement. Mr RB alreadys pays a lot into his pension, and this increase might force him, and others, to withdraw from it altogether.

Mooey, I hope Virgin don't strike and that you manage to get away.

Hahahaha. I do what I can.

Thank you RB for taking one for the team to stop them striking.

Has he taken you to Necker Island?

Not yet. I'm working on him it.

Airline related ones do my head in I have to say, try working in the real world where people haven't received a pay rise for god knows how long! it's alright for pilots and cabin crew to strike, but those of us who work in the head offices of large tour operators don't have a union, and don't get a sodding pay rise full stop!

The problem is, you have a government who want the best qualified teachers possible, and to stop them from going into the private sector. They will only enter the profession and stay in the profession if there is an incentive to do so. If the government are intent on cutting their pensions they should raise their salary in line with the value of the job that they are doing.

BTW, I'm in the private sector and my pay has also been frozen for the last 4 years.

I don't agree with strikes.

I don't work in the public sector but I haven't had a pay rise in my current job for over 3 years. And I haven't had a company pay any money into my pension for the last 5 years. I've had my pension for around 13 years and there's a pittance in there as it's mainly been me putting money in.

Should I go on strike?

Mooey - hope everything goes OK with your flights. We had loads of issues before our honeymoon (though Mr GB had to deal with it all single handedly) from trouble in Bangkok to changing destinations and then BA going on strike on the day we flew. Luckily, out of 3 flights a day to HK, our was the only one to take off! Fingers crossed!!

My organisation stopped final salary pensions years ago. I pay a helluva lot into my pension per month. I do a demanding and potentially dangerous job and my pay is the same of that as someone who works in an office & doesn't have the same pressures. (Clearly not saying there are no pressures involved in the private sector).

Salaries in the public sector are suffering hugely. My last few PDRs (Performance Development Reviews) I have had excellent feedback, however this equates to about a teeny amount more per annum. If our only incentive to perform well & continue providing a good service is a good pension, then I think teachers & public sector employees are well within their rights to strike.

Also completely agree with Red Barry.

Yes, and if the profession paid better, the selection of those entering it would be much higher.

I work in Retail and we have had pay freezes for the last 2 years, the only increases have been in stores where they are on NMW. We haven't hit any bonuses for 2 years either.

Our FS/DB pension was closed 5 years ago, the DC scheme closed 2 years ago and now we have a Stakeholder only scheme.

Incentivising and rewarding employees with no money to do so is a problem across both Public and Private sectors.

We feel lucky to have jobs in Retail, another 3 brands went into adminstration yesterday.

WSS

Thanks GB.

If I don't see you before on here, I hope everything goes well with the baby. I can't believe you're almost a mummy - yours was the first Hitched wedding that I remember!

When I first read the title of this thread I thought you were going to ask which people I would literally like to strike. That list would be quite long.

On the subject of striking - I do agree with the right to strike. As quite a few people have said - the people in a lot of these positions have accepted lower salaries for years on the basis that they would have a decent retirement. I don't agree with the position the police are in - they pay a fortune into their pensions every month and put up with dangerous situations daily for a scandalous wage - yet their pensions are under threat and they don't have the right to strike.

No news about the strike and no dates have been announced like they said they would today and as they have to give seven days notice of any strikes, it looks like I'm going on my honeymoon. Yay!

Top news.

I am a public sector worker. I get paid less than my private sector colleagues, I get far fewer bonuses than my private sector colleagues and have far less opportunity for career advancement than my private sector colleagues. I could have jumped ship a while ago but, bizarrely, feel that I want to do my job for the right reasons, not solely for financial gain. My reward? A pretty nice pension scheme and an (at least an inflationary) annual payrise.

Do I support the right to strike over the loss of public sector pensions when it's the private sector that have dropped this country into the sh*t? Yes.

If we went on stike- no one would care in the slightest however I do think that the right to strike has to be encouraged as a last resort.

I frequently out perform my targets and my last apprasial saw me top of 52 of my peers in my area of work- my payrise of £500 per annum equated to an extra £3 a month in my pay packet once tax/national insurance/student loans company had thier chunk.

I support strikes if for a good cause. I usually think that Tube strikes are not a good cause. I support the teachers. From what I can gather, their pensions are not losing money and are in fact doing rather well but the government are still changing the pension's terms and conditions. This is hardly fair ! And yes, strikes are inconvenient, that's the idea! It shows how much we need (and value) the service and we should therefore support the workers in it.

Agree completely, Footlong.

I also concur.

That is exactly it Lynnie and FTLOMB.

I also don't think that people should get into this private vs public sector argument. Doing away with decent public sector pensions doesn't in any way benefit the private sector. All it actually means is that our public services will suffer as good people with jump ship for better prospects elsewhere.

Very glad to hear that Mooey. You can enjoy the rest of the lead up to your wedding now without having to worry.

Great news! ? ? ? ?

you summed it up pretty well FTLOMB

I think support for strikes in general is a case by case thing, but as a daughter of teachers I grew up knowing that school holidays don't mean teacher holidays, and many teachers put in a lot of extra hours which they deserve recognition for, as they certainly don't get over time.

I for one will be striking tommorrow. The job is not that great but with the pension etc it makes it worth staying for. Some colleagues will loose a chunk of their pension, so yep, i'm going to strike for them! I think it's worth putting up a fight for.