Are you angry? - stagnating pay and increasing bills

[battenburg100]

Hi Mumsnetters - I feel so angry and want to know if you feel the same too and also what we can do about it.....

So many of us have not had a pay rise for MANY years now and yet we have to put up with more and more bill increases - council tax, gas, electricity etc.

I understand bills have to go up, but my issue is that salaries are NOT increasing in line with this, which I find very unfair.

I feel so powerless in a world where unions are not strong or respected - in the past, unions would have taken on this issue.

Do we just put up with the status quo ? What can we do to change it?

[mum2jakie]

I suspect you are public sector, with minimal pay rises for the last decade!

Private sector, you might stand more chance of trying to negotiate a pay rise if you can argue the case for it.

I'm not angry but do agree that wage stagnation is very frustrating. Is there anything you can do about your bills though? Have you switched supplier recently?

[Mousetolioness]

Public sector worker here. Totally cheesed off with it. Job has become shitty and now expected to just take on extra responsibilities for the love of it. I would be looking harder for another job if I wasn't so sodding tired (mentally). And today, two colleagues have told me they're also looking for another job. Another one is leaving in two weeks and counting the minutes!!

[notanothernam]

I've had a really bad day at work today. More cuts, despite senior management buying shit for themselves. Had a number of communications about bills going up and now my pay won't be increasing, the city I live in is strangled by cuts, incompetent local government, we are the FIFTH richest country (I think!) in the world but it's ran by selfish, moronic individuals, I'm so sick of it.

[MT2017]

Public sector pay - in real terms, so much worse off.

It is depressing to find old pay slips .

[Papillon45]

Not just public sector. Some parts of the legal profession are seeing big drops in salary and have been for a few years now. In some areas it does not pay well at all when you take into account how long you have to train for and how much that training costs!